On a hot autumn day a family - husband, wife and two young daughters - collects and chops wood. The normally of the heat, the mundane tasks and the routinely bickering siblings is shattered by violence so sudden and shocking that the family is blown apart.

We see the event slowly come together in fragments. At the centre is Wade, whose memory is patchy and growing more unreliable with the onset of Alzheimer's. He is supported by his second wife, Annie, whose narrative gives an outsider's perspective on the fall-out of that terrible day. She pieces together the scattered pieces along with the reader as Ruskovich moves between different points of view, skipping backwards and forwards in time.

It's an accomplished work about family and forgiveness and the split seconds that can change lives forever

Ann Mitchell is the second wife of Wade, who is sliding into dementia. His first wife, Jenny, is in jail for a horrendous family crime. Ann is trying to untangle the truth while Wade still has enough mental ability.

Such is a crude summary of a novel which is full of many instances of love, and in which the love between Ann and Wade, especially, is very touching.

The novel has a complex structure, which is actually very rewarding, as it gives access to the thoughts and actions of many of the protagonists from their points of view.

A masterpiece.

A deeply unsettling novel but it was beautifully written. Haunting is probably the most appropriate way to describe it. Not an easy read but worthwhile.

This book confused me a bit, since it was a strange mixture of different things.

In some ways it was a very quiet contemporary, talking about how life continues on after tragedy and how years pass, some things changing while others always remain the same.

The back and forth between different times and different perspectives gave different views, different details and added yet more life aspects into the overall story.

I really liked the writing style, Ruskovich has an interesting style where she manages to write quite lyrically about things.
But at the same times in some sections of the book i just wanted a clear sentence of "this happened!" instead of flowery descriptions that basically didn't tell me anything at all.

Still it was beautiful writing.

But this book also was really brutal!

And i don't mean it in the way of "it was brutally honest" no, i mean honestly violently brutal!

Not just because Jenny - the mother/first wife- killed one of her kids apparently without reason at all simply flipped out and killed her.

But also because Wade -the husband/father- has early onset dementia and it manifests in violent outbursts towards his second wife.
And while i actually thought that the aspect of dementia was pretty well done... i didn't understand why never throughout the story it was ever questions why Ann -the second wife- should stay with him.
The only thing that was mentioned was that she learned to deal with the "episodes" and that she learned to avoid specific things and that she couldn't leave beacuse she loved him.

I am sorry what?
NO!

He used her and abused her, and just because she loves him she stays with him?
That is not okay for me.

Also someone that has those episodes of dementia as describe in the book NEEDS professional help and not continue living with a wife that clearly don't understand the situation any better than the guy that is literary losing his mind! So why does nobody mentioned that Ann should at least get help, or that Wade should go somewhere where people are trained or at least more knowledgable about what is going on with him and his head instead of basically just ignoring that the guy has no idea what is going on around him?

I also just wanted to actually read what really happened with the kids.
How exactly was May killed? And why?
And wehre is june? What happened to her? Is she alive or not? Or what is going on??

It bothers me when a book that is supposed to be all about one killed and one missing child ends in a way that i still have no idea what the heck happened!

I also really didn't like the ending where Ann and Jenny come together. Because that made NO sense to me yet again.


Overall this book was okay.
I loved some sections, i really didn't enjoy others of it.

I do think that if you don't mind a book that leaves you with more questions than answers, this is the perfect read for you.
Its also perfect for you if you don't get frustrated if you read about an illness that is basically ignored when it is very clear that it should be acknowledged!

I defiantly think that there are a lot of readers that will love the lyrical writing, the way the plot is build up in sections and segments that don't perfectly fit together but at the end do manage to tell a story even if there are still holes in the end.

To me personally this book wasn't a perfect fit.
Or maybe it was just not the right time, the right mindset to appreciate it.
Who knows?

A beautifully written novel, with an unsettling premise, that is unlike any other novel.
Those who look for tight endings will be disappointed.
Those who are happy with beautiful prose and complex characters will be rewarded.
Emily Ruskovich is a writer worth checking out. I am certainly looking forward to her next book.

I couldn't get into this book properly, sorry. it sounded right up my street but i couldnt get further than a few chapters in. i may give it another go at some point - sometimes now is not the right time. thank you for allowing me to read, much appreciated.

I know some books get a bit more sad and emotional than others, but when the sadness persists throughout the book it does get me down.

Having said that the story of Wade and Ann and Jenny, May and June was overwhelming in its theme of hopelessness and sadness. I felt that there was no silver lining at all but I persevered with the read hoping that something even at the end will uplift me.

The storyline was a good one. Murder of a child by her mother. Reasons never known. The other child goes missing ever after and is never found though the search does go on. The father with inherited dementia goes into a very early decline and it is left to the second wife to hold the fort for all. Which she does admirably. Given the circumstances I should say she does well.

It had good characterization, descriptive of the prison system and the story told from multiple times and perspectives though normally a theme I like, I found a bit confusing.

Goodreads and Amazon review up on 10/11/2017. Review on my blog 7/12/2017.

I found this book to be enthralling, although was a bit let down at the end. Ruskovich certainly understands how to write and fulfill her end of the writer/reader contract, spoon-feeding the reader small tidbits of information to keep us truly hooked. I do wish there had been more focus on certain aspects of the book to answer reader questions, but also understand why the writer ended the book where she did.

I have received it as an ARC on NetGalley a few months back, following a recommendation on Book Riot (a lot of the books I read are recommendations from Book Riot. They’re so awesome).

The books takes place in Idaho (duh) over the course of 30-something years. Don’t expect a linear novel here ; chapters go back and forth in time, altenating between POV as they go, but everything turns around a fateful August 1995 afternoon and the tradegy that occured that day.

We’re not in a mystery/thriller, here ; we never know what really happened that day, and there is no big revelation at the end. This is more of a reflective novel, about people and how they are affected by a tragedy, about feelings and fear and hope, about the mess that is life and how we try to make sense of it. I was thouroughly absorbed by the story and I still think about some parts, and I’m sure I will still think about them a year from here. A gorgeous book about the saddest stories of all.

Also, the cover would make a great tulle skirt. Maybe I’ll do it someday.

I had high hopes for this one as I'd heard great things about it - slow paced, beautifully written, scenic - thumbs up. But my days did it take me a long time to read. Incredibly character driven this is the story of Ann, Jenny and Wade, how they're relationships coincide and the terrible act that is the underbelly of the entire book.

It is told in a non-linear fashion through a series of almost vignettes. Some of the scenes from this book are completely ingrained in my mind - the physical attacks Ann tolerates, the ostrich eggs being carved when Ann runs away, the portraits painted of June. June's smell. She is an incredibly talented author and I look forward to reading more by her, but for me this book wasn't quite as compelling as I would have liked. I'm okay with unanswered questions, I actually like books that are brave enough to do this. June's story in the book rings true, but, for me, May's did not. There is no answer as to why Jenny murders May in terms of Jenny's character. We don't gain an insight into what made her flip that day, just that she's incredibly sorry and will never forgive herself. This is what didn't quite work for me. There were also some passages that I felt were over done and Ruskovich gets a bit lost in her own knowledge of a subject - there was one particular passage about writing music that completely threw me out of the story.

I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn to Idaho when I saw it. The cover is beautiful (I have a thing for pretty hardbacks) but it was the brief little blurb that really drew me in, which hinted at a tragic incident that falls upon a family on a rural Idaho mountainside. Plus, it's the first book from writer Emily Ruskovich and I am all about #readwomen at the moment.

The novel starts with an unthinkable act of family violence and, then, through multiple perspectives it moves forward and back in time, always coming back to that day in the woods. One hot summer morning in 1995, Wade Mitchell's wife, Jenny, took an axe to her beloved younger daughter, May. The older child, June, who witnessed the event, fled into the forest never to be seen again. Jenny is now in prison and Wade has remarried. His second wife, Ann Mitchell, constantly wonders what happened on that fateful trip to the woods for timber, as do we, the readers. What makes this story even more intriguing is that Wade, like his father and grandfather before him, is losing his mind to dementia, so he too is an unreliable witness to the day's events. We never know; Ruskovich denies us this satisfaction. And so, Ann regularly sits in Wade's abandoned truck, the scene of the murder, which seems to preserve the last scent and only trace of that day, the “last smell in his daughter’s hair”; the “smell of grease and honeysuckle”.

Idaho is a rich portrayal of loss, grief and redemption, but more importantly a searing exploration of remnants and stains, memories and aftermaths. Through a non-linear and sometimes disjointed narrative, it cuts and weaves, ebbs and flows through time, memory and imagination. We are presented with quite an extensive list of characters, but it's apparent who is important here. Ruskovich's sympathies extend to each one of them, so they are vivid and truly human. Each person, although trapped within their personal limitations, is trying their best. And, although we regularly enter into their thoughts, they are all reluctant to shed any light for us about the act of violence at this story's heart.

I love what Ruskovich has done here. Her prose is beautiful, her storytelling multi-layered and fearless. I love that she leaves everything just a little hazy, never providing clear answers. This all makes for an exceptional quality of writing, that is both devastating and utterly remarkable.

I am taking a half a star from this book purely to be critical. The latter third of this novel becomes excessively fragmentary, which can cause pure confusion at times. Some of the chapters become like standalone short stories even, with one part narrated by someone unidentified (I had to flick back to an earlier part in the book to discover who it was) and there's even a chapter told from the point of view of the bloodhound tasked with the search for the older Mitchell daughter, June. But the fact that I can say that this didn't perturb me too much, speaks volumes for the sheer love and admiration I have for this book. A thought-provoking novel, it leaves you with a notion to ponder: not everything in life can be explained. Sometimes, all you can do is go on living.

A truly stunning debut, so very profound and unflinching, and utterly moving.

Idaho is a very impressive debut work of fiction. I hesitate to say novel, because although a cohesive narrative holds throughout, the format that the story is presented to us in is a series of non linear vignettes.
Wade is born and bred in Idaho and has lived on both the prairies and mountains of the state. He is a gruff character and although the story revolves around him and his family, he is not really one of the protagonists. The female characters are much stronger I feel – his first wife Jenny, who commits an unimaginably horrific deed; his second wife Ann, who sacrifices a life of her own to help her husband through his grief and his illness; and of course Wade and Jenny’s children, June and May.
We also get some interesting side characters in Elizabeth, Jenny’s cellmate and in Eliot, June’s crush who was cruelly injured as a teen. Elizabeth serves as a lens through which we can access Jenny and monitor her in her new life and how she is coping (or not) with her guilt.
I can’t really sum up the story as firstly due to the gorgeous concentric writing I am not sure where to begin, and secondly because story and plot are definite coming in second to the character studies and the beautiful descriptions of nature – flora, fauna and human.
If you enjoy a slower paced read with a strong sense of place and some fascinating characters then I believe you will love this book as much as I did.

Ann marries Wade not long after his life has been torn apart by a terrible tragedy. She never asks him about the sweltering Summer day he, his first wife and their two daughters drove to collect wood, a day that ended in bloodshed and misery. But as Wade’s mind succumbs to early dementia Ann realises her window to understanding what happened is rapidly closing. The after effects of that day are far reaching, and even those unknown to Wade and his family feel themselves pulled into the mystery and sadness that surrounds the unspeakable event.
This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand it is exquisitely written, with long, descriptive passages that paint pictures before the reader’s eyes. Ruskovich’s sumptuous language evokes not just the sights, smells and sounds of mountain life and small town American living but lays bare the characters’ emotions, allowing the reader to experience them first hand. Her skill and style are so well developed that it is hard to believe that this is a debut novel. That said, for those that like their questions answered this can be a frustrating read, as it meanders through the lives of several people who have been affected by the tragedy in one way or another, without really revealing anything. It is very much a case of enjoying the journey, rather than looking forward to the destination in this instance, so it is just as well the journey is so picturesque.

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of how best to write this review and work out why I feel so disappointed.
There's no doubt that this novel contains some beautiful writing, there were sentences that were startlingly well written and times where the tension and claustrophobia were tangible. Sadly though, these are hidden amongst 82-word-long sentences and a plot that gradually becomes more and more opaque.
There's little point reading the blurb because you'll get no answers to any of the plot's questions. There are minor characters and bit players whose stories appear much more interesting than those of the main characters and this became more and more infuriating. We leave them behind to persevere with the viewpoints of characters who ultimately speak with the same voice.
I'm sure that this will be an award winner but I found it deeply frustrating.

It's difficult to write this review without revealing too much. The whole plot hinges on one moment of madness, a senseless deed of unspeakable horror. We spend the rest of the novel trying to piece together the motives behind this brutal act, while observing its gut-wrenching effect on the family involved.

On a sweltering summer day in rural Idaho, Wade Mitchell, his wife Jenny, and their two daughters are out collecting wood. The work is tiring but the timber is valuable, so the parents soldier on while the kids drink lemonade and play beside a bubbling stream. And then in an appalling act of violence, the youngest girl May is killed. In an instant their lives are irreversibly changed. The other child June scampers into the deep forest and is soon declared a missing person. Jenny begins a life sentence in prison. Wade tries his best to move on, marrying Ann, a local music teacher. Just what really happened on that fateful day, and why?

This setup makes Idaho sound like a gripping mystery but that's not what it is at all. It's more of an exploration of memory and an examination of unimaginable grief. The compassionate Ann can't help attempting to unravel the reasons for May's tragic death. She is surrounded by fragments of the Mitchells' former lives: a crayon-coloured antler the girls used as a toy, a book Jenny was teaching herself to draw with, the rusting truck that became the scene of the crime. Wade, who was always reluctant to discuss the shocking events, succumbs to an inherited dementia and Ann fears the truth behind that awful day will never be understood.

The timeline shuffles around in Idaho, covering a period from Wade's teenage years to scenes after his eventual passing. Some chapters focus on a haunted Jenny in jail, overwhelmed by the loss of her beautiful daughter and the disintegration of her family. Others centre on Elizabeth, her hard-boiled cellmate, and the slow burn of their blossoming friendship. One poignant chapter is told from the point of view of an elderly couple who a shell-shocked, blood-soaked Wade reached out to for help on that momentous afternoon.

Great sadness exists in this thoughtful, lyrical novel. It reminded me of the movie Manchester by the Sea in the way it deals with a family struggling to cope with the most devastating of bereavements. It was Jenny's plight that moved me most of all, punishing herself daily in a miserable existence, with nothing left to live for. The story meanders a little too much for my liking - with some judicious editing I believe it could have delivered an even more profound and powerful impact. But at its best, Idaho is a poetic and graceful tale, told with immense empathy and shattering insight.

This is a remarkable debut novel, beautifully written, well-crafted and well-paced with excellent characterisation and a truly gripping narrative. It’s the compelling story of a family whose lives are shattered by an inexplicable act of violence, and a psychological exploration of love, loss, grief and guilt. There are no easy answers here, not everything is explained or indeed explicable, and not everything is resolved, which only adds to the power of this compelling novel. There’s a subtlety at work here that I feel some reviewers may have missed – it is taken for granted that we know the perpetrator of the act, but without giving anything away I believe there is room for doubt, which again demonstrates just how cleverly written this book is. I loved it and recommend it most highly.