Through the Wilderness by Brad Orsted was one of the greatest nonfiction stories I’ve read in awhile.
This the story of Brads Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild.
And damn if it wasn’t such an emotional one at that.
His story and journey was at times hard to read, but at the same time I couldn’t turn away from it.
A beautiful yet poignant journey of the spirit— a journey to forgiveness and sobriety, to love and life, to memory, and ultimately, to Marley.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

After the death of his toddler daughter, wildlife photographer and film maker Brad Orsted descended into a haze of pills and alcohol. It took a close encounter with a grizzly bear and a surprising experience with two orphaned cubs to break through the fog he was living in and start him on a path to healing.

The author holds nothing back as he describes his downward spiral. His words paint vivid pictures of the terror of his grizzly encounter and the wonder he experienced following the orphaned cubs. He dramatically captures the spectacle and beauty of Yellowstone which brought him peace, salvation and redemption.

Brad Orsted tells his emotional story that is, at times, difficult to read. Yet, he tells it with honesty and grace. Having read his story and experienced the beauty of Yellowstone through his words, I immediately followed him on Facebook to continue to follow his journey.

Brad Orsted shares the story of life before and after the day his toddler was left in his mother's care and died there. He and his wife were left trying desperately to get answers of what exactly happened, and she would not tell them..

The account is raw and filled with descriptive sentences that took me through the events so clearly I could feel them too. They left me in tears.

I'm not surprised that Brad, let alone anyone in his position would look for ways to blunt the pain--for Brad that meant prescription drugs--which he was forced to give up, and alcohol that became his main crutch.

I can't even begin to imagine how devastating this was. But there is also hope as Brad gets wrapped up in photographing the animals at Yellowstone National Park, and through a series of events, he starts to heal.

It's quite a journey, and one that others might want to follow along with through this book.

Where do I even begin to write my review? Yellowstone is my favorite place in the whole world, but this book is not about Yellowstone. It is about one man who loses his world, and then finds a reason to go on in Yellowstone.
The author's imagery is from beautiful and inspiring to painful and bleak. But that is the story of life, especially when one has gone through as much as Brad Orsted. The author does go back and forth a bit between the present and the past which made it, for me, a bit hard to follow the timeline, but I couldn't put this book down. I feel I have not done justice to this book with this review, but as I stated at the start, where do I begin. I will be adding this book to my own bookshelves and it is already on order at the bookshop where I work. I thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance read on this amazing book.

Thank you to @StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for the digital arc of #ThroughTheWilderness. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I really struggled with this book and yet I liked it. I was expecting it to be more outdoors/wilderness focused, but that is really the secondary story here. This is a deeply personal, heartbreaking account of one man's struggle with depression and addiction following the tragic, unexpected death of his young daughter. Orsted writes with such honesty about his pain and his desire to end his own suffering, you can't help but root for him to succeed. I would have like a bit more detail on his wilderness experiences and the career he has built since, but still a good read.

A raw and thoughtful memoir of a journey through grief. Orstad had a fraught relationship with his mother, which he was just beginning to rebuild, when his small daughter Marley died mysteriously in her care, Orstad spiraled for 10 years through alcohol and drugs - and by some miracle, his wife and daughters stuck by him. And then she gets a job at Yellowstone where he meets a bear and sees the light. This is about his recovery and how nature and native Americans helped. The descriptions of his drinking do get repetitive and we don't get a great feel for Stacey but it's well written and insightful. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This is Brad Orsted's story. It was difficult to read, but one that I had to read. He put everything in this book, and you will feel it all. I had to read the book because I needed to understand how you survive such grief, pain, and come to where he is today.
I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

Brad Orsted lost his toddler daughter after her overnight stay with his mother went tragically and suspiciously wrong. He spends the next decade in a downward spiral of severe depression, alcoholism and guilt. With his remaining family, he moves to a home within the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park and slowly finds a way to heal while tracking and filming grizzly bears and mountain lions. Beautifully and honestly written, this book is very hard to read at times and you should be forewarned if you have sensitivity around these subjects, but I found his message that immersion in nature is an important aspect of healing very inspiring.

I received a digital Advanced Review Copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

When Brad Orsted’s fifteen-month-old daughter, Marley, died mysteriously at the home of Brad’s mother, he descended into madness. He blames himself. He descends into madness that is fueled by drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, his wife is trying to find new meaning in her life. She finds a job at Yellowstone National Park. She take their 2 girls and Brad to the park so that they can find a new way forward.

This was a memoir written by Brad Orsted about his time after his daughter died. He was lost and consumed with grieve. When things are not going well his wife decides to take a job in Yellowstone and move the family there. A chance for a new start to maybe heal their grief. Brad gets a job as a photographer. Yellowstone, a place that Brad finally begins to heal from the loss of his daughter.
This book was very inspiring. I believe nature can heal most wounds. Brad learns to find his purpose in Yellowstone observed and photographing wildlife. This book is very raw. Brad poured his whole heart into writing this book. I highly recommend it to anyone but especially those experiencing grief. We can learn so much from nature.
I would like to thank the Author for letting us into his life. He didn't hold back and that could not have been easy.
I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

The family tragedy in this one is heartbreaking, and frankly, hard to read. However, there is healing power in Yellowstone Park and I enjoyed the wildlife perspective.

Thank you to Net Galley and Publisher for the advanced eARC.

“Nature has the power to heal because it is where we are from, it is where we belong and it belongs to us as an essential part of our health and our survival.” - – Nooshin Razani

This is the eventual discovery made by Brad Orsted in his memoir, Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild, but it took him years of agony to get to that point. Orsted documents his struggles in painfully honest terms, much like a 12-Step program, although formal therapy did not work for him, he says.

His mother was abusive, and his father walked out, saying he’d had enough of her abuse. Brad often wished he would have taken him along. The final tipping point didn’t come until he was married and had two stepdaughters and a baby girl of his own. He’d just begun to patch things up with his mom when the unthinkable happened. Marley, his baby girl, died unexpectedly and without explanation while in his mother’s care. Unable to console his wife or himself, Brad began to drink heavily and to abuse prescription medications. This went on and on for years. Somehow, his wife stayed with him, even though he spent what he describes as virtually every night alone getting drunk. He made plans, over and over, for how to kill himself. Yet, he never followed through.

When Stacey, his wife, landed a job in Yellowstone, the family packed up and moved from Michigan. Here was a chance at a fresh start. And it was – eventually. Here Brad had his first encounter with a grizzly, which showed him that he wanted to live. However, the drinking continued. Something did change, though. He found that he loved being in nature, photographing animals, and eventually filming them. He found kindred spirits and formed bonds. Perhaps eventually he would find himself.

Since the author has been so honest in telling his story, I will be honest in my reaction to his book. I appreciate his honesty. He’s been through a lot. I cannot imagine the depth of his pain, and I am happy for him that he’s come through it with the guidance of First Nation’s people and many others. I found many parts of the book a struggle to get through, however, mainly because I didn’t like this person when he described his drinking, over and over. He excluded his daughters and his wife, as if they were not a part of his life. Alcohol was his life, and I could not imagine how he was even functioning. There is so much sadness. I do love that Nature has played such an important role. And by the way, some of the descriptions of bears and other wildlife are amazing! When he writes about the orphaned bears and the quiet and serenity he finds in the solitude of the trails, I feel that he has changed. Kudos for sticking with it, for finding yourself.

I received a digital copy of Through the Wilderness as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for making it available.

3.5 stars rounded down

I received a complimentary ARC of this empowering memoir from Netgalley, author Brad Orsted, and St. Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Through the Wilderness of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Brad Orsted is an author I will follow. His work in film and print is from the heart and soul. I am pleased to recommend his work to friends and family.

And this book brought me to tears more than once. I too lost a daughter in the early 1970s, (Ellie died of SIDS) and could find no path forward through grief and the sense that I had failed to protect her until I spent time in the Gila Wilderness in SW NM. I hope that this route to peace and understanding will be available to many who need the closure that wilderness can bring to the heartbreak of loss and despair.

This was such a fantastic and compelling book. I've followed Brad Orsted on Facebook for a while and have loved his photography. Little did I know what an incredible story was behind his now love for animals in the wild. Brad tells readers of the incredible heartbreaking story of how he lost his 15-month-old daughter to a mysterious death while in the care of his mother. His journey of prolonged grief is felt by every word written in this book. Brad fell down a huge hole in drug and alcohol abuse.

Reading about everything that Brad went through makes the person he is now even more amazing! With the help of a Native American friend, he finally was on his way to finding inner peace and healing. Along with the help of some Grizzly bear cubs and following their lives, this also strengthened his spirit and love for animals and the wilderness and his own redemption. I love animals a lot so I could relate to many things Brad wrote about. I have also suffered great losses in my life, including an infant son. This novel spoke to my heart in many ways. I know others will also feel and see the path to healing found among these pages. This is a book that must be read by those looking for hope and healing.

This was a fabulous book, highly recommend! There were many personal reasons I sought out reading this book; from my own experiences of healing & finding myself in Yellowstone to my husbands journey in sobriety and this book exceeded any expectations I had.

I really enjoyed the flow of this book and how Brad’s story of healing & redemption through experiences in and around the park were interwoven with flashbacks to the events surrounding Marley’s death, the aftermath and the families eventual move to Montana.

Raw, honest, powerful & emotional. One of the most well written memoirs I’ve read recently.

I’m grateful to St Martin’s Press for the advanced copy.

Highly recommend! So powerful, emotional, and well-written. I couldn’t put it down. I’m grateful for the advanced-copy.

Very, very good book, excellent feel for being in the wilderness plus experience how it feels to lose your way over such a tragic end. Unless you find a path to stay on it's hard to live through it. Thank you for telling us and know that you have contributed to people with hearts broken. Hopefully it helped you to write it.

This was an excellent memoir. Brad shares his experience with losing a child and going from depressed, addicted to alcohol, and suicidal to finding healing in the Yellowstone wilderness. His story of loss will make you feel physically ill and yet he will teach you so much about processing loss (the wrong and right ways to do it) and the lessons he learned from the animals (mainly mountain lions and grizzlies) that he encountered. I will definitely be purchasing this book when it is released!

Video review coming to YouTube @BandanaBookmom soon!

This was a heart wrenching but beautiful book. The author was not shy about the trauma experienced and his own reaction. He writes so we'll that the reader feels like they are feeling what he is feeling. I thought it was a wonderful story that didnt glorify or sugarcoat anything to provide answers or closures. Instead you're just left wondering how you would behave in the same situation

Wow, what a journey! This book takes you from heartbreak, through the painful self-abuse of addiction, to the beautiful healing of the wilderness. I can't imagine losing a child, especially when you never really get an explanation of how it happened. Nor can I relate to such a strong need for alcohol. But I wholly understand the power of nature. I would like to read more stories from Brad, about his wilderness adventures and how he's now helping others.