The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
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When Emlyn’s friend Janessa goes missing, she must team up with some one from her past who once abandoned her.
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What I liked:
-I learned a lot about surviving in the wilderness (in theory, obviously, I will not be trying it). I have a lot of respect for people who are wilderness guides.
-Also, I did not realize that being in the wilderness could create such amazing suspense. 😅 The last third of the book I was on edge.
-The gradual reveal of past events was geniusly timed. I love when a book has you feeling a certain way and by the end it has completely changed your mind.
-The ending made me very happy.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was my first by this author but I have been told that I MUST read her book These Silent Woods, so that is still on my list.

Emlyn finds herself trying to find her missing friend and she has to get help from the man who has ruined her life years ago. This went to present to flashbacks as you see how Tyler has ruined Emlyn's life. It also shows the friendship between Emlyn and Janessa.

The descriptions of the wilderness was very captivating and really made me feel like I was there. The story really had me hooked for most of it, however towards the end I kind of lost interest. I didn't really care for how the ending was revealed and it felt rushed. I was left feeling like I wanted more out of the story.

Overall I wasn't upset that I read it. I just think it was just okay.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read an advanced readers copy.

3.5/5 stars

Oh no! OH NO! I did not like this and I am struggling to come to terms with that.

I adored These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant. It was lyrical and thoughtfully written. It touched and broke my heart. I didn’t find those qualities in The Nature of Disappearing. This felt quite simple to me. The writing was uncomplicated and laced with overt telling, and the storyline, especially when considering what eventually transpired, seemed rather basic, whereas These Silent Woods felt like a fresh and shocking addition to the suspense genre.

At least that is how I remember it. Am I simply not the person I was when I read it? Have my tastes changed that dramatically? Because I’m concerned now that Grant’s previous book is not what I once thought it was. I’m not going to find out, though. I’ll let it sit in my memory unmarred. It is one story I will never reread.

I did, for the most part, like Emlyn’s character. I found some aspects of her personality relatable, although I was perturbed by the frequent reminders of her compromised self worth. This should have been illustrated through her actions instead of continually communicated to me. I would have appreciated her depiction more this way.

At first The Nature of Disappearing had a “torn from the headlines” vibe, slightly mirroring Gabby Petito’s sad tale, which bothered me, but it morphed into something of its own. It just wasn’t something I enjoyed. I’ll liken my overall experience to an ugly sweater: I could tell that it was stitched together well, but it really didn’t suit me.

I am immensely grateful to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This was great! An influencer and her boyfriend go missing and it’s up to her old friends who have a complicated relationship to figure out what happened to them. I love creepy stories in the woods and this one did not disappoint. This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I will definitely read more in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Nature of Disappearing
Kimi Cunningham Grant
June 18, 2024

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦.”

KCG is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. I loved These Silent Woods and could tell immediately upon starting The Nature of Disappearing that I would have the same experience.

Emlyn is a wilderness guide in Idaho, recently relocated after a harrowing experience with a past boyfriend. She’s finding happiness again in the beauty of nature; fly fishing and living in her camper van not far from the friends who helped her overcome one of the worst experiences of her life.

When she finds out that Janessa, her once best friend is missing, she takes a chance on Tyler, the person who hurt her, in order to help her friend. As she and Tyler put the pieces together and begin to track Janessa’s movements, they set off into the wilderness to find her.

I don’t want to spoil too much of this story; for me, it was thrilling, heart-wrenching, hopeful and really hard to put down. There are so many things to mull over that I’m still thinking about. The imbalance of power in a friendship – whether given or taken and the true nature of sisterhood is front and center, then there’s the blind trust of love and hurt that remains when closure isn’t always closure for both parties. The remaking of a life! How I loved seeing Emlyn thrive with her found family! And then, of course, there’s the descriptive beauty that always captures my imagination. These things all combined make for an unforgettable reading experience!

I can’t recommend this one enough!

My thanks to @StMartinsPress and @Minotaur_Books for this gifted DRC!

The first few pages of this thriller, with their vivid descriptions of Emlyn and her job as a fishing guide pulled me in immediately. She's confident and likable and when she sets offf with her ex-boyfriend in search of an estranged friend who disappered from her #vanlife adventure without warning, it makes sense. Something obviously went wrong between Emalyn and Tyler to cause their breakup, and something caused Emalyn and her friend, but that's revealed gradually through flashbacks. I felt like I was reading about real people making real decisions and the plot didn't go in the direction I expected it to.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The world building in this novel was unreal. The author made me feel like I was in the woods. I enjoyed the story but felt like there was a lot of build up for a rushed ending.

When Emlyn, a wilderness guide, finds out that her best friend has gone missing, she must join her ex-boyfriend in finding her. Emlyn must face her past in this suspenseful wilderness thriller and discovers even more than she is expecting to find.

The way that Kimi Cunningham Grant writes suspense set in nature is so incredible. I love getting to enjoy the setting while enjoying the plot. I wish we got to know the characters a little bit better, but I loved the relationships and how complicated they were. While some of the plot points were a bit unrealistic and too far-fetched, I was still able to enjoy the plot.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

☆☆☆☆/5

Pub date: June 18th, 2024

3.5 stars-rounding up.
I went into this one blind and loved the atmospheric feel of this story. I liked the back and forth between past and present and the idea of the main character out to find her best friend in the wilderness-following the clues. However, I think the execution of the story fell flat for me. I felt like I knew the character but none of the side characters. It lacked depth. The reason her friends went into the wilderness is still kinda goofy to me, and the ending felt rushed and there was no closure.
I still gave it 3.5 stars for the idea and the feel of the book. However, I’ll read anything this author writes and I’ll be looking into the authors other books.

It’s amazing to me how this author manages to captivate me with her stories every time. One thing that contributes to that I think is that her books are never what I’m expecting going in but in a good way, like it’s better than what I was expecting, if that makes sense.

In this story we follow Emlyn who works as a guide for fishing and hunting tours. She lives by herself in a small community in Idaho and mostly keeps to herself after a traumatic experience in the past which has her struggling with trusting herself and others. Coming back from a fishing trip, she finds out that an old friend is missing. After her ex-boyfriend begs her to help, she reluctantly agrees, and together they set out to find her.

Emlyn was a great main character. I liked her from the start, and the more I found out about what had happened in the past, the more I was rooting for her. Sadly, the other characters kind of felt one dimensional to me, there wasn’t much (believable) character development and thus the stakes were low. Especially Varden was set up to be a great addition to the story, but then he was barely even in the book, missed opportunity imo.

Pacing wise, I found it to be a bit slow, it only picked up around the 60% mark. I didn’t mind it that much because I enjoyed the story and for the most part it has a nice flow to it, but the flashbacks just took away the suspense for me sometimes.

Overall, I was really excited about this one and while it didn’t quite meet my expectations, I still think it’s a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly I had to DNF this book.

I had the HARDEST time getting into it; the storyline was extremely slow paced. Nothing was really going on to keep me engaged. I put the book down and picked it back up a few times before deciding this was a loss for me.

If you don't mind a slow burn, then I think you'll have a better outcome than I did.

This is my second book by Grant and even though I was a little dissapointed with this one, I will still keep coming back for her books!
These Silent Woods was one of my all time favorites so I was really looking forward to this one and while I did enjoy it, it didn't wow me in quite the same way.

I loved the setting so much and her writing and descriptions of the setting are so good. I think what fell a little more flat in this one for me was the characters and the ending felt a little rushed and kind of came out of nowhere.

Is it just me or why did we not talk more about Varden!! When he was around things crackled but he was barely in the book. Lets get a follow up book with Emlyn and Varden and their budding relationship, yes please!!

I did enjoy reading this and wanted to keep picking it up yesterday, I just think there could have been a bit more character and story development. Overall though I would still recommend this as a solid read by Grant!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance e-book.

Wilderness Guide must team up with the man that ruined her life years ago, when the friend that introduces them goes missing.

This book took a little long to get to the action, but had great character development. The story is told in two time lines, the present and several years prior. What started out as a thrilling, suspense novel ended as a love story. The ending was a little boring and didn't really have a great climax moment.

Thank You NetGalley for the free e-galley. Publication Date: June 18, 2024

This book flew by! I'm always drawn to Nature Fiction and love when an author can include it as beautifully as Grant did here. Makes me want to pack up the car and take off into the wild.

Her characters were beautifully crafted as well. Emlyn, the narrator, is in her mid-20's and gone through a lot in her life giving her good reason to be distant with very few closely cultivated friends. Emlyn's parents, best friend, and first love all let her down in some of the harshest ways. But deep down inside she is still looking for that love and acceptance: though she doesn't believe she's worthy of it.

This starts out as two stories that alternate back and forth seamlessly. One beginning in Emlyn's childhood and brings us to where she is today. The other, I initially thought was going to be a story based on the Gabby Petito's disappearance and murder, but it takes a sharp turn when Emlyn goes out in search of her missing estranged best friend. Lot of action and suspense, but a lot of heartache and hope too.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Really enjoyed this one. Thank you NetGally and Macmillan Publishing for the early e copy . I would highly recommend this book. The characters were all very well developed and the atmosphere of the wilderness could be both magnificent and eerie. I will have to pick up Grants previously published books.

I really loved These Silent Woods so when I saw this on read now, I snatched it up. I enjoyed this book, but it was not as good as the silent woods. The characters were really great in this novel and Kimi is really great at writing.

I was really hoping for a “wilderness thriller” if you will. Maybe some extreme survival and search for missing vloggers. This book was really not that. Most of the book is focused on intense themes of overcoming addiction and the effects this struggle has on loved one. This is an incredibly important message, but not what I initially thought I was getting from the synopsis.

Emlyn has restarted her life and is trying to outrun her past. A failed and almost deadly relationship had left her reeling with the need to reinvent herself in Idaho. However, her ex-boyfriend contacts her under the guise of finding her missing best friend and boyfriend who were on a social media expedition documenting their camping life. What she finds in the wilds of Idaho is more than she agreed upon.

The story is told in the past and present, with the past starting five years previous when Emlyn and Tyler first get together. I felt the past really slowed the pace of the story down and kept it from becoming thrilling. I see the purpose was to better develop the characters, but the flow felt choppy. The story finally picks up about 75% through with a few revelations and then everything happens overly quickly.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

My idea of outdoorsy time is a walk in the park or patio drinks but for some reason I love stories that place in wilderness. I blame Jack London’s The Call of the Wild which I loved as a kid. I was so excited about The Nature of Disappearing and love that I got to read and discuss this with a group of #bookstagram friends.

This was a story about female friendship, heartbreak, addiction, survival wrapped up in suspense and mystery. But at the heart of it, at least to me, it read like a story about challenges life throws our way and how overcoming those obstacles can feel as scary as trying to survive in the wilderness.

Emlyn was such a sympathetic character. She is tough & resilient when it comes to surviving in nature but scared of being vulnerable emotionally. I really enjoyed that the first part of the book was an atmospheric slow burn, giving us glimpses into Emlyn’s past with both Janessa and her ex Tyler. Dynamic switches into bit more action oriented story about 2/3 in. I found myself really pulled into the story and even shed a tear towards the end.

If you love isolated locations, complex humans, and complicated relationships, I recommend you grab this one!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This reminds me of the case when the young couple went off grid in their home on wheels and their story ended in murder. This is different, it’s rugged, it’s friendship? It’s heartbreak. Great for a quick summer read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy. I love this author and I’ve really enjoyed her other books. I would say this was my least favorite. I love the wilderness aspect of all her books, but this one felt less that and more just a love drama. What I gravitate towards in her books are the characters feeling alone in the woods and that peaks my interest. I felt the middle dragged on and the final climax was a let down. The mystery just seemed like an after thought. I will still support the writer because I just really love her style and subject matter.