Scavengers was a delight. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but quickly became engaged with this story and fun, quirky characters. The mother-daughter dynamic between Bea and Christy unfolding on their treasure hunt kept readers invested until the final sentence. Much thanks to Net Galley and Viking Penguin for the opportunity to read this watch in exchange for an honest review.

This was everything that I was wanting and enjoyed in this type of book, it had that element that I was wanting. The mother/daughter element worked well in this universe and was hooked from the first page. The characters were everything that I was wanting and enjoyed the overall feel of this. Kathleen Boland was able to write a strong story and was glad I read this.

Thank you for this advanced copy! I love a good mystery. Add in a treasure hunt! Fun! But what this book is really about is remembering parents are human beings. The relationship between a mother and daughter can be complicated and expectations can be high both ways. But sometimes something unexpected (treasure?) is just the thing you need to mind bridges and tamper expectations.

This is pretty slow paced. Takes a longer time for something to happen.

After being fired for taking an uncharacteristic risk at her commodities trading job, Bea Macon sublets her New York apartment and books a one-way ticket to stay with her mother, Christy, a free spirit who has been living in Salt Lake City on Bea's dime.

Usually the responsible one, Bea isn't about to admit exactly why she's suddenly decided to visit, but she isn’t the only one keeping secrets: Christy has a man. She has a map. She has . . . a username on a forum devoted to unearthing $1 million in buried treasure that an antiquities dealer claims to have hidden somewhere in the western U.S.?

Bea is convinced this is just another one of her mother’s wild larks, an elaborate way to refuse, as she has for Bea’s entire life, to finally grow up. But Christy believes she’s onto something—and she’s arranged a rendezvous in a rural town called Mercy with the guy she’s been obsessively trading theories with online to prove it. Out in the desert that one woman believes to be a promised land, the other a wasteland, they find themselves barreling toward a more high-stakes, transformative escapade than either of them could have imagined.

Populated with unforgettable characters and set against one of the world’s most oddly enrapturing landscapes, Scavengers is a funny and heartbreaking novel about old injuries, new beginnings, and the lengths to which we’ll go to find, escape, and reinvent ourselves.

Peak "weird girl" lit as a woman goes to visit her mother after being secretly fired. Meanwhile, her dippy mother has moved to SLC and is fixated on a fictionalized version of the Fenn Treasure (hidden somewhere out west, inspiring tons of online conspiracy theories). I'm a sucker for fiction set in the desert southwest, and this delivers with townies, hot pots, and a complicated mother/daughter relationship. It has whispers of Death Valley by Melissa Broder and the writing is fantastic.

In Scavengers, the relationship between a mother and daughter play out over a backdrop of Utah wilderness, small towns, creepy men, futility, hope, and realization. Bea, the daughter, craves normalcy: a successful job, a nice apartment, a boyfriend, good friends, the finer things in life, but she’s never quite able to attain it. After a setback, she goes to visit her mother, Christy, who lives in Salt Lake City. Christy is flighty and reckless, and we see from flashbacks that these behaviors manifest because of her deep need to be loved along with her inability to properly love anyone else. Christy has planned a weekend with a man she’s only known online, and Bea decides to join her. While they interact with the inhabitants of a small town called Mercy, the reader gets background information about both characters, as well as insight into how they view their relationship.

The book is an easy, quick read, but is ultimately frustrating. Both Christy and Bea make terrible decisions throughout the book and absolutely refuse to demand any answers from anyone, including each other and themselves. They’re near constantly inebriated around strange men who act super creepy. They never speak up for themselves in situations, they never ask the questions of others that they should, and they never talk about how the actions of the other have affected them. Bea obsesses over her so called ‘friends,’ who obviously did not care one way or another about her, but never really sees the ‘perfect’ vagueness of their social media as anything more than jealousy-inducing. Her need to take care of her mother seems to stem from the desire to do what her mother never did (take care of her), but I feel there’s only so many times a daughter would want to do that, especially with a mother that constantly incommunicado.

Boland has created an interesting, quirky little world and interesting, quirky characters, and the undercurrent of sadness in both Bea and Christy connects to the title: just people looking for crumbs of love, of attention, of hope. I just wish there was a little more to the growth of Bea and Christy, as well as more about the Conversation!

Scavengers by Kathleen Boland is a novel about a mother and daughter who take a trip into the desert of Utah. It’s less that they set out to take a trip together in order to find a way back to themselves and each other and more that circumstances and their inability or unwillingness to communicate leads them along a path that neither seem willing to protest. And maybe there’s treasure?

Although the possibility of a treasure hunt looms large throughout the novel, I would say that it is more driven by character development than this particular plot device, which is most useful in transplanting Bea (daughter) and Christy (mother) into unfamiliar terrain. I love a good character-focused story, but this one was not the most enjoyable for me. Perhaps this is because there is a lot of time spent on backstory instead of moving the plot forward, especially in the first 15-20% of the book, or maybe this is because both characters are so frustrating and desperate at times that they just weren’t all that fun to spend time with for me. Or it could simply be that I came into the book with incorrect expectations about a mother-daughter road trip/treasure hunt, which I don’t think it is. But if you’re looking for an exploration of a mother-daughter relationship with well-developed and interesting character arcs, this book might be for you.

Another feature of this novel that caught me off guard was the frequent shift in perspective. While it predictably shifts between Bea and Christy, which enriches the mother-daughter arc of the book, it also throws in other perspectives, such as a dog, the town itself, or the sweeping omniscience of history, which occasionally threw me off balance. I can appreciate a novel set in the American southwest that points out the injustices committed there, but it seemed shoe-horned in because it was not all that relevant to the plot or the character arcs. But other than these perspective shifts, it was an easy read, and despite not being fully enchanted with it, I didn’t have a problem finishing it.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for my ARC of this novel!

Scavengers by Kathleen Boland proved to be a thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking read for me. Boland masterfully crafts a compelling narrative that delves into the intricacies of survival, relationships, and the moral ambiguities that arise when humanity is pushed to its limits. What immediately drew me in was the realistic portrayal of the post-apocalyptic setting; it felt gritty and believable, making the characters' struggles feel incredibly authentic. The story truly shines in its exploration of human nature under duress, prompting reflection on what we prioritize when stripped of societal norms.

I found myself deeply invested in the characters' journeys, particularly their evolving dynamics as they navigate a harsh, unforgiving world. Boland's writing is clear and unsparing, painting vivid pictures of the landscape and the emotional tolls faced by the survivors. While the premise might lean into familiar post-apocalyptic tropes, the execution feels fresh and intensely personal, focusing on the individual stories within the larger collapse. This isn't just a tale of survival; it's a poignant examination of hope, desperation, and the enduring human spirit. For anyone who appreciates a well-developed dystopian world coupled with rich character studies, Scavengers is definitely a book to add to your list.

A tightly wound daughter accompanies her free-spirited mother on a treasure hunt—despite her better judgment. This book was a lot of fun. I liked that it explored a complicated mother-daughter relationship without getting too heavy or too dark. The story was divided into three large parts; I would have preferred a bit more structure within those sections, but that’s just a personal preference. The ending was ambiguous—which is fine—but after such a long journey in search of the treasure, I would have liked a more concrete resolution. I think it could be a good movie in the future- one I’d definitely check out. 3.5 rounded up.

Scavengers has an intriguing premise, but the execution didn’t quite work for me. I think this is more so a me-problem considering my lack of enjoyment of these kinds of stories and characters compared to any glaringly detrimental problem with the book. The writing is strong, especially in its vivid sense of place, which I greatly appreciated. However, he characters didn't compel me enough to like them or really care about their adventure, which brings me back to my earlier statement: I think family dynamics just isn't the kind of story I like.

Weird little book! I think it would be a good movie? The mother/daughter dynamic was too much for me to deal with before visiting my own difficult mother, so I guess that's kudos for a true to life depiction. The author gave a lot of backstory, but I never felt like I could see these characters clearly or understand why they were doing what they were doing.

Absolutely yes. This story is unique, fun, emotional, funny, and quite the adventure. I assure you you haven’t read anything like this.
I cannot wait to grab my physical copy.

Thanks to Viking Penguin and NetGalley for this ARC of 'Scavengers' by Kathleen Boland.

This is an enjoyable semi-caper where a young woman, recently unemployed from a high-powered financial firm for overreach, finds herself in close confines with her mother for an extended period for the first time in many years. They're in Utah and she finds herself in pursuit of her mother's latest flight of fancy, the internet-based search for a million dollars in treasure buried somewhere in the US.

The mother and daughter are not friends and spark off each other for various reasons. In Mercy, Utah it all comes to head with a collection of interesting though lightly fleshed out characters who all interact throughout the novel.

There's some good humor throughout and all in all it's a not-t00-demanding, emotions-filled story.

I don't have any strong feelings about this book, it was just...okay. It was about Bea, an analyst of some sort who recently lost her job after taking a risk with weather predictions, and her mother Christie, who Bea financially supports.

I had a very difficult time rooting for either woman, let alone their relationship. Christie was fully financially dependent on Bea and continuously made terrible choices that Bea had to deal with the consequences of (for example, pouring essential oils into her radiator in order to make it smell better). Bea let her mother do all these *unique* things and didn't stand up for herself at all or ask her mother to take any responsibility or initiative.

Once we got to the treasure hunt part, I thought the story would pick up. The Utah setting was well-done, I enjoyed picturing the landscape and the nature aspect of the treasure hunt. But, I feel like we spent more time trying to find Christie or watching the women party than actually treasure hunting. I could excuse this if the story developed the Bea/Christie relationship more, but wasn't a huge part, so I expected more from the treasure hunt plot line. Also stranger danger?? Why are these women so trusting of random men from the internet or from a bar.

I didn't mind the ending of this book, I thought it worked and wrapped it up pretty solidly, while leaving some space for a follow-up book. It wasn't a shocking ending, but it was fine.

For a debut novel, this was a solid start as the premise was interesting and the writing was good. With a little more development it could have easily been a 4 or 5-star read.

Thank you to NetGalley + Viking Penguin for the ARC

Scavengers is a truly unique story. The two main character, Christy, and her daughter Bea (short for Beautiful) find themselves constantly clashing. When Bea loses her job as a stock analyst I New York City, she travels to Utah to live with her mother without telling her that she is no longer employed. Things are rocky and threaten to get worse when Christy gets tangled up in a treasure hunt, spending hours interacting on a message board known as The Conversation. A trip to the desert, interaction with a small town's quirky characters and a run in with some crazy weather ensues as Christy hunts for treasure and Bea attempts to keep her mother out of yet another scheme.

I really enjoyed the nonstop action of Scavengers. Set against a stunning backdrop things go from bad, to odd, to worse as Christy and Bea get tangled in the treasure hunt. But what really sets this story apart is the packed roster of characters. Their energy and zany movements solidify Scavengers into the good reads category for sure. 4.25 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I found this book to be a really interesting in the way it looks at the relationship between mother and daughter. I loved the way Katherleen Boland wrote Christy and Bea could both see each other clearly, but also have no idea who each other are at the same time. It really highlighted how complicated your relationship with your mother can be. Bea's character was a little passive for me, and I did think her knowledge of weather would eventually play into them finding the treausre. I do understand why she was written the way she was. I was entertained by how the story played out and thought Boland's writing style suited the story she was telling. I also enjoyed the open ending of the book, its fun to debate if they ended up finding the treasure after everything that happened.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This story of Bea and Christy, a mother/daughter pair on a quirky, meandering journey through Utah had a lot of interesting elements. The story was not a perfect match for me - I went in expecting/hoping for a bit more linear action following clues and solving the mystery, but I can appreciate the writing of the author and expect many will love this. The setting is a character in itself and I could easily see this being a motion picture.

Another mommy issues book oh boy.

Also how could you do this to me I’m going to be thinking of this book every time I have Pad Thai….

Reading this book feels like we’re on a road trip with Bea driving and her mom keeps yanking the wheel to make pit stops. Bea resists for the sake of it but she had no other plans so tends to just follow along with things.

Their dynamic can be pretty frustrating. With years of unacknowledged issues and them taking turns redirecting when conflict does happen. It was a relief when they started to be more honest with each other.


The ending was sweet, glad they could stop chasing their tails and find peace.

3 cheers for Woody. :)

This book got me because of the cover. The artwork is so gorgeous. I went into reading it totally blind and it took me on a ride. I don't want to give too much away and I think it's well worth reading and going in blind.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! This book started strong, with a strained mother-daughter relationship taking place amidst a treasure hunt. Unfortunately for me, their inability to communicate with each other and their naivety really distracted from the book. I also found the vague ending to be quite disappointing.