When Alaskan wilderness guide, Emlyn, is approached by the brother of her long-lost best friend, she embarks on a journey that forces her to confront the painful past she’s long since tried to forget. Together, they set out to find Janessa, uncovering secrets all three of them have buried for years. With the Alaskan wilderness supporting the idea of survival, Emlyn and Janessa face hard truths and try to reconcile the lost friendship they once shared.

This story covers hard topics, and deals with what it truly means to be a friend, and how to take accountability for one's own actions, or lack thereof. Raw and emotional, this story is a reflection on the past and how to move forward.

I don't think I was expecting this book to be so heavy, so I'm not sure I truly enjoyed it the way I should have. I felt it hard to stay invested because I was expecting something different, and that is totally on me, not the author. The writing, setting, and characters were fantastic, and I liked that the story covers hard topics and reconciles friendships in a realistic way. 3 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5 stars rounded up) — Quietly suspenseful, beautifully written, and emotionally resonant

Kimi Cunningham Grant has such a gift for crafting atmospheric, character-driven suspense, and The Nature of Disappearing is no exception. This book pulls you in gently, with lyrical prose and a strong sense of place, and before you realize it, you’re completely immersed.

The story unfolds slowly but deliberately, blending a tense present-day search with a deeply emotional past. The main character is layered and compelling—strong, flawed, and quietly fierce. What I loved most is how the mystery isn’t just about what happened, but why it matters, and how trauma shapes identity, memory, and connection.

It’s less about big twists and more about emotional weight and subtle revelations. That said, it still had me flipping pages late into the night. The wilderness setting is vivid and integral, and the relationships (especially the complicated ones) felt authentic and earned.

If you enjoyed These Silent Woods, this one has a similar stillness and intensity—but even more emotional depth.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I devoured this one and will definitely be recommending it widely.

i really liked this one. it was a nice slow-burn mystery about friendship, loss & secrets. also i love any book that takes place in alaska - it is such a unique setting that provides so much depth. i also love a book with a dual timeline - especially with a mystery. overall i enjoyed and i think it was a great slow burn character-driven suspense.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This is one of those books that keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. I loved all the twists and turns and the ending absolutely stunned me.

I enjoyed this book. I really liked the setting of the book with the wild, raw, nature aspect. It really added to the story. The characters were well developed and interesting. I would recommend this book to my audience.

Emlyn is living a life that is much different from the one she had several years ago. She has broken up with her boyfriend, lost her best friend, and might have a new love interest on the horizon. But everything she has built might just come crumbling down around her.

When Janessa goes missing, Tyler reaches out to Emlyn, asking for her help in locating her. While Emlyn is not sure it is a good idea, she does not want anything happening to Janessa. So, they set off, trying to figure out where they might have gone, and worrying over what they may find further down the trail.

I absolutely LOVED this book! This was, unfortunately, relegated to my "mood read" pile. But once I got into the few first chapters, I could not put it down. I was a bit disappointed in the ending of the book, hoping that more might be revealed but it was still a good ending.

Great read for the weekend!

I'm late giving feedback on this, but I had a great time reading this book! An edge-of-your-seat nature thriller with plenty of twists and turns to keep you entertained. Stretches believability at times, but still a fun time! Take it with you to read when you're out camping!

I really enjoyed this book, though the flashback chapters got a bit confusing at times since they weren't in chronological order. However, I see why they were organized the way they were, and all in all, it was somewhat easy to keep it all together. I will definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

4 stars

**I received a review copy from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and comments contained within are my own.**

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press/Minotaur Books for the digital copy of this book. I enjoyed the wholesomeness of this book. This read as a tasteful mix of suspense & mystery. I found myself rooting for the main character, although I did not love all the supporting characters. I wished there was an epilogue for follow up on the characters. 3.5 rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for an ARC copy of The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunninham Grant. This book takes you through the deep wilderness of Idaho with three estranged friends, Emlyn, Janessa, and Tyler. When Janessa goes missing, Tyer seeks out his ex-girlfriend, Emlyn, to help him find her. The story goes back and forth between timelines, showing the three friends' history and their current situation. The author gave detailed descriptions of the wilderness and wilderness survival which was interesting and captivating, and I loved. I thought overall this book was well-written and I enjoyed it. It was a quick, engaging read.

3.75 stars, rounded up

This was a slow burn for me. It took me a little bit to get into it as it was a slow start, but once it started going, I was in.

I enjoyed the dual timeline of showing the main character present day being recruited by her ex to find her ex best friend who they think is in trouble with flashbacks to the past to show how everything unraveled. With this said, I wish we would have seen a bit more flashbacks as I didn't feel like it fully explained the fall out between the best friends. I also found the ending a bit rushed and it was a bit longer so that could have been flushed out a bit more.

Overall though, I really enjoyed the book. I loved the nature aspect of it! If you enjoy mysteries/thrillers and the outdoors, then this is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Whew, this started slow but picked up speed until the ending. This is a great story! I cried a few times at the end. It was very touching.

I liked the ‘original’ title that Kimi Cunningham Grant thought of as she wrote it - Wilderness.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the original copy. I’m sorry I didn’t read this sooner, but I’m so glad that I did.

I have loved everything I've read by Kimi Cunningham Grant, and her latest is no exception. Emlyn is a strong protagonist, and the setting was so well developed there were many times I was in the book walking through the woods with the characters. This strong writing definitely enhanced the mystery and suspense in this insightful and memorable thrill.er

I wanted to love this so much more than I did. With the dual timeline, you flip back and forth between present day when our main character is recruited by her ex to find her (ex but slowly reconnecting) best friend, and the initial timeline of their friendship and how our main character’s life imploded. I got how the two timelines were both necessary, but it kept bringing me out of the tense situation in the present timeline. It felt disjointed and caused me to not be hooked into the search. And then the ending was kind of there and over quick. Overall, it was kind of a letdown.

Emlyn has been living out in nature and making a living as a wildlife guide for years. She was found barely alive in the wilderness years ago and has been trying to piece her life together ever since. And now a piece of her past has walked into her store asking for her help. Her ex, Tyler, is begging for her help to find her old best friend. She did get a call last week from her. All that she heard before the call was dropped was her saying “I need to tell you something important” and then never got an answer when she called back. What if she was telling her she was in trouble? But how can she go with Tyler, when he was the one who abandoned her in the wild when she almost died?

Emlyn searches for her friend after a mysterious disappearance, soliciting the help of her old flame, Tyler. The premise and plot itself drew me in, but the atmospheric prose and the dark secrets revealed along their journey kept me captivated. It was chilling and stunning, taking me along into the wilderness like was there. As this genre isn’t my most read genre, I enjoyed just being along for the ride—I liked that the mystery was told in a dual timeline and that the suspense was slow-burn with the twist creeping up on me.

I've been recommended These Silent Woods by many people, and I own it, but I haven't read yet.

This book is a slow burn. Tidbits of backstory are sprinkled throughout. We have flashbacks to the past. It did feel like the entire story was building toward something but when we got there, it fell a bit flat. The slowness of the build, plus the rushed conclusion made it feel off balanced. I'd have liked more backstory on Rev and Varner. I truly didn't understand the breakdown between Janessa and Emlyn. The fallout felt like it could have been prevented by communicating.
I liked the nature and survivalism part of the story. It was interesting. The end mostly surprised me, but I also would have liked a bit more after the reveal with what was next for Emlyn and the new life she built.
3.75 rounded up to 4.

After reading These Silent Woods a couple years ago by Kimi Cunningham Grant, I knew I was IN and would enjoy reading more by her. This book lived up to my expectation. I would consider this read to be a slow build, but I believe the pay-off was worth sticking with it til the end. I love this author's writing style and will continue to pick up her books.

After reading the authors prior book, These Silent Woods, I was very excited to receive this book. I wanted to love it just as much as I loved her prior book. Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me in quite the same way and I'm not too sure why. I still greatly enjoyed it. It was a 4 star read for me. Some of the elements that I loved from the other book were also present in this book. There were similar themes and pacing, with the suspense slowly building.

But while I greatly enjoyed, I didn't love it like These Silent Woods. The best I can come down to is that the characters in this didn't pull me in the same way in this book. I also think that while the pacing in this felt similar to what I remember from her other book, the ending had a lot going on that could have been spread out a bit more from the book.

At the end of the day, while I enjoyed this, it wasn't quite to the level of the hype I had in my head. Regardless, I would still recommend it to those who enjoy slow burn thrillers.

These Silent Woods was one of my favorite reads of 2022 and I was extremely excited when I was approved for the ARC of The Nature of Disappearing. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in this one.

Pros:
Kimi Cunningham Grant has a way of describing scenery that makes you feel like you are there. I loved the backwoods Idaho setting.

The wilderness survival aspects of the book were interesting.

I liked the past and present timelines to learn the backstories of the MC.

Cons:

The book was boring at times because it felted liked it dragged on. It was terribly slow paced and not overly exciting.

I did not hate this book, but I did not love it either. It was just ok.

I love the author and look forward to reading more by her in the future.

Excited for this follow up novel from These Silent Woods. This one didn’t quite hit the same notes, with a bit of a strange story and relationships and it not quite generating the same notes of tense/stress for the reader.