A History of Wild Places is a spooky adult mystery/thriller combo that immediately hooks the reader with excellent, emotive writing and a fascinating psychological plot. Told in multiple POVs from Travis, Calla, Bee, and Theo, readers enter the world of Pastoral - a self contained compound in the woods that is hit by a disease called rot and their leader doesn't allow them to leave the confines of the community.

I started this book at night before bed and don't recommend you do that because it is so spooky! Definitely read it, but read it during the bright light of day! There is also just a smidge of magic in the storyline which was surprising and welcome. The characters are so thoughtfully written with interesting backstories but the true hallmark of this book is the writing Shea Ernshaw brings to the table.

I can't even bring up a criticism for this book because it amazed me. I truly enjoyed the experience and the journey Ernshaw took me on.

**Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

Starting 2022 off with a BANG


Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

While it took me a while to finish this book (I would argue that I was savouring it) it would have been in my top 5 favourites of 2021 had I finished it sooner. Everything about this was magnificent. The atmosphere was dark, mysterious, cruel, yet inviting. The characters had so many layers to them that even they were still discovering themselves. The underlying tones of identity, home, protection and trust were exquisite! Ernshaw’s past few YA releases have been great but this is by far her best work yet!! It’s best to go in blind. In the beginning I had no idea what to expect but I can try my best to sum it up by saying that it’s not quite a mystery, not quite a fantasy, but also not quite contemporary….. LOL. Please please please make add this to your tbr!

What an eerie, intriguing and beautiful read! The author kept me interested from page one as she created a simple yet complex setting with deep characters and an incredible plot twist. As a reader who typically avoids thrillers due to feeling they are all too similar, this is one I’m very glad I read. I will recommend to anyone looking for a well-written mystery! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read a digital ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy of this book. My review will also be posted on my Goodreads page.

A History of Wild Places is a wild ride! I haven't read any other books by this author, but I will sure be checking them out. The book starts with a man (almost a physic detective) searching for a missing woman- a children's author known for her darker tales. However, the detective goes missing, too.

Fast forward a few years to a community in the woods called Pastoral. Pastoral was created in the 1970's for those looking for a simple life off the grid. The residents of Pastoral cannot and will not leave- the outside world presents too dangerous a place. Calla and Theo are a married couple living in Pastoral along with Calla's sister, Bee. Life in Pastoral begins to unravel as secrets come to light.

I don't want to say more without ruining the story! This is one you have to experience....and the twist- wow! Although the story does start a little slowly, stick in there- the ending is well worth it! 5/5

Thanks #netgallery for this book. I thought the first half of this book moved slowly and I almost stopped reading. I'm glad I kept reading because I ended up enjoying this tremendously. A few things were a little far fetched but I won't say too much and give away any spoilers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 years ago Maggie, author of a series of dark fairytale books for children, disappeared into the woods of Northern California. Travis is hired by her family to find her and in his search he stumbles upon Pastoral, a forgotten community deep in the back woods, where he disappears without a trace. One day, a member of the community breaks the rules and risks going down the road beyond the border into the forbidden woods and finds Travis's truck abandonned. What secrets are hidden in this idyllic community that has rejected the complications and modernity of the outside world? This is a very atmospheric mystery about a cult with a dash of magical realism and a fairytale vibe. The prose has a poetic and dreamy quality that pleasantly lulls you. Underneath is a current of doubt and dread. It builds slowly, focussing on the characters and building the mythos and structure of the community. In the final act the pace picks up and things get actually dangerous. I was pulled in by the atmosphere and cared about the characters. This was emotional, reflective, and in the end thrilling.

I don’t think I have ever read a more atmospheric book, which is exactly what I needed for the after Christmas lull.

Travis Wren has a unique ability to find people. He can retrace their steps by simply touching an item. When Maggie St James, a prolific childrens author, goes missing, her parents get in touch with Travis for help. He is lead to a secluded community called “Pastoral” but what he finds there might be more then he bargained for.

Thank you so much to NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This novel starts with Theo, an unusual type of missing persons finder, on the hunt for a missing woman. Viewpoint then switches to three different people living on a commune who cannot leave because there is a contagious illness outside. And I will say no more to avoid spoilers!

This book is not exactly a mystery or a thriller but it is mysterious and a bit of a psychological suspense. Everyone said to go into this one blind, but even doing so, for much of the book I was just like “get on with it already” because I thought I had it all figured out. Well, turned out the book did have a few more surprises in store! Not sure they all made sense though…. But on the plus side, the writing was pretty good and I read it quickly because I wanted to keep reading.

3.5 stars.

Absorbing and creative, this novels tells us of Travis Wren's search for Maggie St. James, missing for years, which leads him to Pastoral, a community in the woods like no other. With many twists and turns, this novel leads you into places dark and cruel, but also into beauty and simplicity. Such a good read, highly recommended.

When psychic PI Travis Wren ventures into the wilderness on a quest to find missing children’s author Maggie St. James, he has no idea what’s in store for him. His journey to find Maggie in the remote community of Pastoral intertwines with the lives of residents Calla and Theo in ways he can’t possibly imagine.

This story reeled me in immediately with the mystery of a disappearance and the involvement of a PI tortured by his own gift. The immersive prose made me feel invested in the fates of Travis, Maggie, and the residents of Pastoral as they came to life on the page. It was easy to get lost in the idyllic community in the wilderness as the mysteries of the past slowly came to light.

If you’re looking for an intriguing page-turner that will keep you guessing, read this now! It is a unique story with simmering tension and the gradual unraveling of a complex mystery.

I'm going to make this unpopular opinion short and sweet. A History of Wild Places did not do it for me. It is a wildly popular book published in December 2021 and a BOTM choice but no matter how much I tried to love it, I just kept putting it down.
In the beginning, I was hooked by Travis Wren's character and his unusual ability. He was on the search for a missing children's book author, Maggie St. James, who disappeared 5 years ago. Travis follows in Maggie's last known steps by using his ability to feel memories through other people's belongings. I was so invested in Travis when his POV just STOPPED. Ended.
Then we are introduced to the unusual (and in my opinion- ridiculous!) community of Pastoral, a group of people living off the land in the woods and trying to keep safe from "the rot" which is a disease that people catch if they leave the compound. The author DOES weave an eerie and unsettling atmosphere in Pastoral but I found the characters too impressionable. I figured out part of the plot early on. It was such a long road to the end of the mystery, I found it tedious to read.
This author is talented at world building and writing prose but the story fell flat and ultimately only got 2 stars from me. Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the ARC.

This story took me by surprise and wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I immediately was fascinated with the hidden society, Pastoral, woven into the beginning of the story. I especially was intrigued by the unconventional children’s author fleeing her life in search of this community in the woods.

I found myself a bit confused when we jumped forward in time and starting reading from the POV of members of Pastoral. The middle part of the book wasn’t as engaging to me and I found many scenes quiet repetitive. The ending was quiet a surprise but I didn’t love how the story concluded. I found it a bit rushed and a little too far fetched.
I was impressed that Calla, Theo and Bee decided to return and live their life out in the hidden community. I think the author was so close to hitting on why people would rather live off on their own in the woods than be apart of the larger world. But she kept brushing up against the idea without diving all the way in.

Overall, I thought the concept was great but the execution was lacking. I wanted something more than hypnotism being the culprit of the tale.

This book was a roller coaster ride. Just when you think you got a grasp of what is happening, BAM! The plot will change. The character development was really good. I did skim through the last few chapters only because I wanted to know the ending and felt like I didn't miss too much. I will definitely recommend picking this one up!
A true mind fudge!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me the opportunity to read this!

Travis Wren is hired by the parents of Maggie St. James to help locate her after she'd vanished 5 years prior. Following behind the route Maggie took, Travis stumbles upon Pastoral, an isolated community where families live "off the grid" in a commune. Soon after arriving, Travis also disappears.

The community leadership uses fear to keep members within Pastoral borders, but that doesn't stop the curious Theo from sneaking beyond the borders at night during his role as guard. One evening years after Travis disappeared, Theo finds Travis's abandoned truck, and it has Theo's mind whirling. Along with his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, Theo tries to determine what secrets are being kept.

My recommendation: read this book immediately. The description sounded intriguing, but I wasn't prepared where it would end up. I love this book! 5 out of 5 stars.

Maggie St. James, a famous dark fantasy writer for children has been missing for five years when her father after exhausting all other resources, decides to hire Travis Wren a man who seems to have a special talent for finding missing people (alive or dead). Maggie's dad just wants answers although Maggie's mom is very skeptical and seems to be hiding something that could possibly point Travis in the right direction since police and investigators have never found a helpful clue in the intriguing and certainly mysterious disappearance. Who could have predicted that Travis, a kind, gentle and tortured soul would also suddenly go missing early into his investigation of the whereabouts of Maggie St. James.

In another place deep within a forest resides a community who live off the land and have cut themselves off from society so they may live in peace and harmony and just enjoy the basics of life and work similar to how it may have been in The 1800's. One family Theo, his wife, Jess and her sister Bee who is blind have been keeping secrets from one another that seem to be cultivating a path of mistrust within members the community and it's enigmatic leader. As time goes by Theo discovers signs that there may have been a visitor to their community without being seen while Maggie also discovers something very strange and unusual buried in her vegetable garden. These discoveries are very unsettling to the couple since they know that no one has entered or left the community in over fifteen years. Something is very wrong within their safe haven and they must be careful of asking the wrong person certain questions or they might be risking their own lives trying to find answers.I

I enjoyed this atmospheric story dry much. The storytelling was magical keeping the secrets well hidden until close to the end of the story. I loved how the book told the whole story of how the community came to be back in the early 70's and how pure and simple it's development was at that time. The climax of the book was fantastic and caught me off guard which I really appeciated. The author also captured the darkness of the forest that the people feared and their reasons for not crossing it's boundaries. I couldn't get enough of the mystique of this story although I was disappointed with quite a bit of repetition throughout the book and there were several situations that were too implausible to ignore and that made the book to somewhat flat at times. Overall this was a a wonderfully, creepy story and I will be looking forward to more books by Shea Emshaw.

I want to thank the publisher "Atria Books" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this captivating story and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I do recommend this book to other readers have given a rating of 3 1/2 EERIE AND MYSTERIOUS 🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!

This wound up on my DNR pile. I was really interested at first when the guy (Travis?) was looking for the missing girl. I was even interested once the cult started being discussed but I lost interest shortly after.

4.5 Stars! Thank you Atria Books for the ARC! In no way does this impact the rating of this book.

A History of Wild Places was an capturing, haunting story that gripped my attention from start to finish. From the vague synopsis, I went into this book unsure of watch to expect and it ended up blowing my mind.

A History of Wild Places starts off following the perspective of a man named Travis, who has a special ability that allows him to track down missing people. As a result, he is hired to look for a missing author, Maggie St. James, who has been gone for five years. But in the pursuit of looking for Maggie, Travis also disappears. The story then cuts to an isolated community in the woods where we follow Calla, Theo, and Bee as they uncover dark secrets the community hides that slowly intertwines these two storylines.

The setting, combined with Ernshaw's beautiful writing, was so atmospheric and made this story stick out distinctly for me. Her descriptions of the woods were so descriptive and made me feel as if I were actually in the forest.

The twists and ending of this story was shocking and was a great pay off for the tension that was built throughout the novel. Overall, A History of Wild Places was an amazing debut into the adult genre that I will not forget anytime soon.

This was a unique and quietly unnerving story. Fast out of the gate with Travis searching for Maggie, an author who has been missing for 10 years. Travis’s secret weapon: he can “see” residual ghosts of people who have crossed his path. I’m not telling you anymore because it’s better to go in blind.

The story lost momentum at about 35%, but picked up at the 50% point when I started to suspect what was going on. Quick to the satisfying finish after that.

The epilogue was a little fluffy/Disney-colored for my tastes, but that’s normal for epilogues, IMHO.

A good story with beautiful writing. “Our house had been keeping secrets, and now they are being stirred loose, like dead leaves caught in the corner, blown free by an open door.”

*Note - at 24% there is either a typo or an Easter Egg. Either way, it was disruptive.

Thanks @netgalley and @atriabooks for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Shea Ernshaw is an auto-buy author for me. I’ve read her first two, The Wicked Deep and Winterwood and adored them both. Her writing is unlike any I’ve read, and her stories are truly compelling. They’re dark, mysterious, and addictive.

This book was much different than her first two. First, it’s not YA, and secondly, it’s very heavy.

Everyone who has read this book has described it as being atmospheric; it’s also heavily focused on characterization. Because you need to get to know each character, the plot unravels slowly. The twists were not predictable to me, and I oftentimes forgot I was reading because I was so entranced with what was happening on the pages. There’s a certain scene with the community leader that had me so spooked that I jumped when our doorbell rang and broke me from my trance. Pun intended..iykyk.

I very much loved this book and am very thankful to have had the opportunity to read it before it published!

Shea Ernshaw excels at adult books. I was super curious about this book beginning when she first started talking about it on social media and her newsletter. But I was nervous. I’ve only read The Wicked Deep of her two YA novels and wasn’t too impressed. I enjoyed it enough. The story, her writing. But it didn’t become an instant favorite.

This book, though, is something entirely different. This book entrances you and keeps you guessing. (And even when you think you’ve guessed it, something else comes along.)

I’m going to say very little about this book, because I truly believe it’s one you have to experience for yourself. Zero hints from me.

I’ll understand if some people don’t love this one (I mean, it’s pretty weird), but you have to admit that the writing is top quality and the story is mesmerizing.