Special thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a chance to read The Nature of Disappearing in advance. This book is expected to publish on June 18, 2024.

Emlyn’s previous best friend (are they still bffs?) has disappeared. She’s not responding to calls, texts, or anything. And now Tyler, Emlyn’s ex-boyfriend and Janessa’s current business partner, is worried. He believes Emlyn to have the key skills to finding her, so she reluctantly teams up with him to trek through the wilderness of Idaho. But can they find her before it’s too late?

Kimi C. Grant knows how to write such a strong sense of place. I really felt like I was in the backwoods of Idaho even though I’ve never been there. She has a beautiful way with words that makes you gobble them up (seriously, I read this book in less than 36 hours which is quite a feat for a mom of two). However, I could not get behind these characters or the plot! Emlyn made several decisions that seemed very out of type for her personality, which is a major pet peeve of mine. Then, the surprising twist at the end fell really flat. All in all, I was disappointed in how this story played out, but I still loved all the nature elements involved. Instead, I’d recommend her previous novel, THESE SILENT WOODS, if you want something equally atmospheric with a strong nature presence.

I may be in the minority, but I haven't read These Silent Woods yet!

This was my very first book from this author and I am absolutely captivated.

This is a thriller but the scariest part is how realistic it feels. The twists and turns aren't out of left field, they feel very natural, as though they could happen to anyone.

A harrowing tale of friendship, survival, and learning to love again, this book goes beyond the horrible things people will do to each other and seeks to answer the question: can we ever really start over?

I absolutely loved this author’s last book, so when I saw she had another coming out I was super excited. And this book did not disappoint!! Five stars!

This is a story centered around three people:
Emlyn, the main character
Janessa, her bestie since college
Tyler, Janessa’s friend since childhood

Most of this story takes place in Idaho in the wilderness, and like with ‘These Silent Woods,’ the book has an element of surviving in nature to it that I’ve only experienced in Kristin Hannah’s ‘The Great Alone. To me this is not just a big compliment but also a unique plot aspect in novels that I’ve had a hard time finding in quite the same way.

Instead of spending too much time recapping the publisher’s blurb about the book, I’ll get right on to what makes this book a great read for me:

(1) they feel cross genre. There is regular old good fictional storytelling but elements of other genres - mystery/suspense, romance, coming of age. This cross genre feeling was also the case with These Silent Woods.

(2) without it being too sweeping or overdone, the author creates imagery of the outdoors. You know how some writers put a lot of emphasis on setting the scene so you actively recognize you’re reading something intended to paint a picture? That’s fine ofc but only one way of doing it. In this book, I had a vivid scene drawn in my head for me the entire time, but never actively noticed the author was writing so descriptively. This is hard to do (I think, or it would be more common) so I wanted to highlight it!

(3) realistic and interesting dialogue, no character choices that left me going “yeah that wouldn’t happen irl”, and a building anticipation and intrigue that will definitely make you keep reading late into the night past your usual bedtime.

Long story short this book was excellent and I am excited recommend it to my friends.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance review copy of this book and provide an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review

This was the first novel I’ve read by Kimi. I would rate this book 3.5-3.75 ⭐️ but decided to round up since it’s closer to 4 for me than 3 stars.

I went in blind and overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
At the end I was left feeling underwhelmed and just meh about the final reveal and events. I wanted more thrills, more suspense, more action!!

I’m going to read more books by this author though! I have heard great things about her writing and I did enjoy the religious connections throughout this book.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publish date : June 18, 2024

Add it to your TBR list! 🍄

I’ve enjoyed Kimi’s other books so I was excited for this one but I felt bored. I feel so bad but I had no interest in it. Except the last 15-20% of the book. Sometimes extreme descriptions in books takes away what is happening in the plot because it feels as if details are the only thing that matters.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press, Kimi Cunningham Grant and Netgalley.
Straight up, I'll just admit that it actually pains me to write this review.
Ms. Cunningham Grant is a freaking rock star when she writes. Not just her stories, but the people she writes about. She's always been a trusted read.
This? I honestly don't know what the hell this story was. "I truly have a cuss word or more."
Ms. Grant has skipped through all the love, respect and life that she's always managed to inject into her characters.
Turns out that she missed all that with the story too.
I'll be honest and tell you that I don't know what the frick was going on with this book, but it really, stunk!
I'm amazed that Ms. Grant wrote it, but everyone's allowed a stinker. I figure 1 book out of 4 is allowed to suck. This was the suck!
Moving on?

Emlyn doesn’t let herself think about the past.

How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the man she thought was the love of her life, left her freezing and half-dead on the side of the road three years ago.

Her new life is simple and safe. She works as a fishing and hunting guide, spending her days in Idaho’s endless woods and scenic rivers. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer, her closest friends a handsome and kind Forest Service ranger and the community’s makeshift reverend, who took her in at her lowest.

But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa, it turns out, has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged survivalist boyfriend. But she hasn’t posted lately, and when she does, it’s from a completely different location than where her caption claims to be. In spite of their fractured history, Emlyn knows she might be the only one with the knowledge and tracking skills to save her friend, so she reluctantly teams up with Tyler. As the two trace Janessa’s path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can’t deny there’s still chemistry crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn’t the only one in danger.

I was so disappointed in this one. It was so slow. I was bored to tears! There wasn't any action until about 80% and that was too late for me. I also didn't have any connection to the characters, which is a reason why I didn't enjoy it. It didn't feel like a thriller. When I am reading a thriller I am always looking for the thrill and I never found it. It didn't thrill me at all. It felt like there really wasn't a plot for me.

The author is a very talented writer. I did love the author's descriptive writing of the wilderness and animals in the woods. I also loved how she described the nature and the woods. I love everything to do with the woods and a forest. I love to go hiking, camping and to find a beautiful scenery with streams and waterfalls and enjoy the beautiful scenery around me while I read a book. This book is very atmospheric. I love how she describes everything in this book. This book was a comfort read.

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this book, since I wondered why Emlyn, the main character for most of the book, would be friends with either Janessa or Tyler. Reading about camping in the wilderness, and the descriptions of the land and wildlife was to me the most enjoyable parts of the book. I thought Emlyn was the most sympathetic character.

Emlyn is a hiking guide who lives in an Airstream trailer in the national forest where she makes a living leading hikes. The other two main characters,Tyler and Janessa, had once been Emlyn's best friends, and both had betrayed her. Tyler has disappeared while on a hike - after leaving an enigmatic message - and Emlyn and Janessa hike into the wilderness to try to find him. The book has some suspenseful and scary parts.

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher St. Martin's Books/Minotaur Books, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

After reading These Silent woods I knew I needed to read everything by this author! This book wasn’t as suspenseful, but the back story is better developed and more realistic. I really enjoy how well the setting is incorporated into the story and the pacing is fantastic. I couldn’t put it down. I’m not a fan of the religious elements, but they’re easy enough to ignore. I look forward to reading more from this author.

4.5 rounded up. This book is a slow deep dive into a woman's heart. The wilderness that she loves and fears at times, the men she loves and fears and her estranged best friend who is missing. It is a love story about coming into self and a love story to words and simple pleasures. There is a mystery underneath but it is not primarily that

I loved These Silent Woods so I was excited to read The Nature of Disappearing. This ended being a disappointment. If you read it on its own merit it’s fine, but if you compare it to Woods, which I mistakenly did, you will likely be as disappointed as I was. Emlyn lives in her airstream, illegally, and moves from spot to spot in the vast woods where she works as a nature guide. She is estranged from her two closest friends and when one of them goes missing under mysterious circumstances, the other reaches out to Emlyn for help. These characters just weren’t believable or authentic or likeable in any way and I never felt a connection towards any of them. I didn’t care much about what happened and I had no problems putting this book down for days at a time. The writing is fine, the plot is fine and the pace is fine but it never became more than that for me. These Silent Woods remains one of my favorite books ever so I will definitely read another by this author.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant is an exploration of wilderness, both within and without.

In this novel Emlyn lives in an airstream trailer and is keeping herself withdrawn from most others. She has a unique quirk of assigning a word from the dictionary to people she meets, and the word she's chosen for herself is "pathetic." She spends her time working as a guide for visitors to the area. One day after a guiding session she is having lunch at a local restaurant when she sees her prior best friend Janessa on CNN.

Emlyn reunites with her old flame Tyler, with whom she shares a dark history, and embarks on search through the wilderness for Janessa. The narrative is told in flashbacks between the past and present, and although there are few characters, the wilderness of Idaho itself acts as a character. The descriptions and language are vivid and direct, and this book was a real joy to read.

I recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed Kimi Cunningham Grant's prior books, including These Silent Woods, or those who enjoy books like Peter Heller novel The River. I rate The Nature of Disappearing 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this book for my review.

This story is a beautiful character story of rebuilding your life and growing past heart ache. I think it is beautiful realistic and the motivations and choices of the characters were spot on. I would recommend this to so many people!

This is the second book I've read and LOVED from the author. Her writing is hauntingly beautiful. The way she can describe nature and create the peaceful but spooky atmosphere is spectacular. The pacing was a bit slow at times and felt like the book could have used a bit more editing. Overall, I enjoyed the story and writing.

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant - 4 stars

The Nature of Disappearing is a good fast-paced thriller about a friend searching for her missing former best friend.

The twists kept on coming while the backstory and the characters were carefully crafted. The descriptions of nature and the wilderness made me want to go camping off the grid.

I would recommend this book for anybody loving a good thriller or nature.

I read and enjoyed These Silent Woods but this author and so couldn’t wait to read this one.

Kimi Cunningham Grant can write beautiful, captivating descriptions of nature. Her settings are spot on and you can imagine the characters walking through each stream and valley. This author writes setting with more detail and clarity than some do their main characters.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book didn’t hold up. The characters were hard to connect with and the alternating timelines only seemed to make things feel disjointed. The climax was not fleshed out enough, it felt rushed after all of the build up without enough backstory to make it believable.

I will keep my eye out for more books by this author as I enjoyed These Silent Woods because of her beautiful writing style. I know this one just wasn’t for me and not indicative of her writing in general.


Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for providing the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

Alternates between past and present; a lot of eerie suspense, unease, and foreboding; engaging and intriguing; great character development and scene setting; excellent storytelling; a little predictable; loved the survival and wilderness theme, and the juxtaposition of the beauty and danger in both nature and people; I do wish I had more closure at the end though.

Special thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and Netgalley for a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is easily my favorite from Grant so far! Throughout the story, Emlyn is so easy to relate to, love and root for. Emlyn is raw, vulnerable and perfectly imperfect--she's me, she's another woman on the street.

For anyone that's ever felt less than or struggled with their self-image, this is a must-read (a bonus if you have found peace in the outdoors when feeling this way!).

THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING is one of those books that I will go back to time and time again. The plot is very well-done, but the Emlyn's internal journey is what makes this book.

Emlyn lives in a tiny town in Idaho, enjoying her time as a fishing guide. She's finally forgotten her past, but when her ex-boyfriend comes back into her life, she has to confront her past.

The Nature of Disappearing was okay, in my opinion. There wasn't really anything special about the story or the characters. The climax was a little ho hum, and I just wanted to get to the end.
Emlyn is a likable character, but I don't think she's fully fleshed out, despite being in every chapter. There were moments where you could see some layers, but too much time was spent on her and Tyler's relationship (and we know how it ended from the very beginning) and not enough time on her family.
The writing is good but not enough to move it from 3 stars for me.