this was an excellent read for me because the author really set the scene! filled with beautiful settings, this book held my attention throughout.

i really liked the dual/alternating timelines - we get to see present day chapters and “___ years ago” chapters, which I really think helped adding to setting the scene as well. Emlyn was a likable main character for me and I enjoyed getting a glimpse into her journey of what she went through - plus with her friends, Janessa and Tyler!

this thriller was drama-based in my opinion and included elements of religion/God, which I like and appreciate seeing in any fictional read!

Right off the bat this one just did not compare to These Silent Woods. I can't imagine, as a writer, setting that bar and continuing to attain that level of greatness. With that being said.. even though it didn't quite hit the mark, I still enjoyed it.

This was a very slow moving mystery/thriller. While there were some twists, they came along subtly and with not enough power to really shake me. It felt more like a drama than suspenseful.

The plot may have left little to be desired but, I did love the exploration of friendship and romance. You gotta love a good character growth novel. The wilderness setting and #vanlife were fun and appealing to me. I'll for sure be checking out what this author has in store for us next.

Enjoyed the mystery of the story, as well as the descriptive nature scenes. Characters were just ok. They won't stay with me.

This book was awesome!

When I first started it, I wasn’t sure, but the minute Tyler came into the story with the suspense of finding their friend, I was hooked.

This is a story with everything in it. Well, it’s absolutely heavy on the thrill, mystery and a few heavy topics. There is a dash of romance and young love in there too.

The dynamic between all of these characters was written flawlessly. I truly and wholeheartedly enjoyed it and listen to it via MacMillan audio and thought they did a phenomenal job. I would recommend this book to everybody.

A thriller about hunting for a friend who has gone missing-with a twist. This moves back and forth in time to tell the story of Tyler, Emlyn and Janessa. Janessa was the rich girl at college who first rescued, then befriended, then argued with Emlyn, who finds herself drawn back in when Janessa disappears in the wilderness. Emlyn remade her life, becoming a wildlife guide, and she's a terrific character. At Tyler's plea, she uses her skills to track Janessa and her partner, taking herself and Tyler through the woods. What they find is not at all what Emyln expected. No spoilers from me. I've been a fan of Grant, who is a great storyteller who creates atmospheric and tense novels where the outdoors- the wilderness-is another character. This is a great addition to her list. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Excellent read.

Gut-wrenching emotion. Evocative descriptions. Fully fleshed out characters. All of the above describes The Nature of Disappearing to a T. From the dual mysteries presented in the past and present timelines to the immersive atmosphere of the Idaho wilderness, each and every scene came alive before my eyes. Seriously, I felt like I was <i>there</i>, hiking alongside Emlyn and Tyler. Whether it was the well-illustrated setting or the realistic feel, I was utterly blown away by how vivid it all seemed.

Speaking of the characters, they were easily the strongest piece to this novel. Wholly true-to-life with genuine foibles and flaws, Emlyn in particular had a startlingly powerful character arc. Starting off as a somewhat broken persona with severe self-worth problems, her path throughout this story was truly intoxicating. More so, however, was Varden and Rev. Between the two of them, color was added through deliciously eccentric personas.

The plot, though, was rather more of a long, slow burn than I had anticipated. Despite being billed as suspense, I’d classify it as more of a drama. Was there foreboding and tension? Well, yes—but not quite enough in my book to describe it as such. At the same time, I was spellbound by this tale. Full of mysterious secrets and dirty lies, as the truth came to light everything fell perfectly into place. I just wish that the reveals had felt alive and not just explained.

My biggest hang up, however, was how long it took to get to the action and climax. I’m not joking when I say that not much really happened until the 80% mark. And when it did, it was somewhat anticlimactic and not quite fully explored. At the same time, it didn’t necessarily distract from the huge pluses to this poignant tale.

All in all, from the exploration of friendship and romance—albeit dysfunctional—to the character growth, there was just so much to love. While the plot may have left something to be desired, the characterizations and setting were a slam dunk success. Along the way, Grant also dove realistically into the tragic waters of addiction and the heartbreak that can result. Tied all together, this was still a smash hit—as long as you don’t expect a straightforward tale of suspense. Rating of 3.5 stars.

THIS AUDIO MADE ME LOVE THE BOOK! Seriously so good! True crime lovers are going to adore this!! It reminded me of the GAbby Petito story. It was a slow start but then sucked me in.

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘
𝗞𝗶𝗺𝗶 𝗖𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁
Thriller
304 pages
Pub Day: June 18, 2024

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs
After issues with her boyfriend and best friend, Emlyn lives alone working as a fishing and hunting guide. She is determined not to get hurt again.

Then, her ex swings by asking for help finding Janessa, who is missing. Since Janessa had been her best friend, she grudgingly agrees.

That is where her life falls into a whirlwind again and nothing is as it seems.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
This story shows how cunning people can be, especially when drugs are involved.

Emlyn’s life is unfurled as the story progresses. She pulled herself out of a big hole, but continues to stand on the edge. She has lost her trust and won’t allow anyone in.

The POV switches back and forth between the Emlyn’s present and her past with Janessa and Tyler. I like when characters have flaws and these three certainly do.

The ending was a surprise to me.

💕Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

While this book was a little slow to start, in my opinion, I grew to enjoy reading Emlyn's story. Now, it did take me to about 45% to really start enjoying it and I think that a big part of that is personal - I saw a lot of myself in our FMC and that was hard to read. However, I wanted to see her prevail and find her dear friend so I continued. I'm glad I did, but I do think I need a little more action in my novels to really enjoy them.

Intriguing overall with atmospheric outdoor settings and a well-constructed story, I was invested in the main character but not completely. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS TITLE. Am I good at coming up with titles? No, but I would not say this title was fitting with the content of this book.

With that being said, I really enjoyed this one! I'm a sucker for a "trapped in the wilderness" kind of book, and Kimi Cunningham Grant delivered. I like a messy ending where things are wrapped up, but not necessarily cleanly.

It was my first novel of hers that I've read, but I would definitely read more and recommend this one.

Anticipated pub: June 18!
Thank you to SMP Minotaur for the early copy to read and review!

I enjoyed this one quite a bit! I loved the wilderness scenery descriptions and the flawed characters. The relationships with Emlyn's new friends seem so genuine, like all they want is to support her and lift her up. I also liked the dual timeline aspect (I usually do like this style). We get flashbacks to the time Emlyn and Tyler were together to see what led Emlyn to ending up where she is, as well as more details about their relationship AND each of their relationships with Janessa.

This is beautifully written, I love the descriptiveness of the setting and the characters thoughts (like, Emlyn doesn't think she's that strong but she really is).

If I have one gripe it was the big reveal. Maybe I'm burnt out on mystery/ thrillers but this one felt a little flat, like it didn't feel all that grand. Still not enough to detract from my overall enjoyment and love for this story!

I just have one question and maybe I completely missed it, tell me in the comments if I did. But, what was up with Emlyn's left ring finger always being sore in the cold? It said an old injury but I thought it would have a bigger reveal since it was mentioned 800 times. (And again, maybe I just missed it?)

In her afterword, Kimi Cunningham Grant says that her title for this book, before the marketing folks replaced it, was 'Wilderness'. Having read the book, 'Wilderness' sounds like a perfect fit as hysical and emotional/spiritual wildernesses provide the landscape for the book. I still have no idea what 'The Nature Of Disappearing' means. It sounds like something generated in a blue sky session tasked with coming up with a title that sounds intellectual in an unthreatening way while hinting at danger and mystery.

The physical wilderness is almost a character in its own right. It's described in a way that made me want to put my boots on and head for the forest while also reminding me of how indifferent that landscape is to me and my needs and how easily I could come to harm. 

Emlyn, the main character, is comfortable moving through the Idaho wilderness. She's a fishing guide and a competent tracker who knows how to survive alone in the wild. When we first meet her, she still trying to navigate her way out of an emotional/spiritual wilderness that she has inhabited since having a near-death experience after being betrayed by a friend. Although Emlyn can confidently read sign well enough to track people through the forest, she no longer trusts her ability to read the people around her well enough to trust them. Her life has been fractured, leaving her adrift, uncertain and anxious.

What I admired most about this book was that Kimi Cunningham Grant managed to create a physical journey fraught with danger, laced with mystery and culminating in life-threatening violence that also pushes Emlyn to find the clarity, courage and will to bring herself out of the physical and emotional wilderness and reclaim her life. The journey was immersive and tense but also found room for reflection that gave the events meaning beyond simple survival. 

The story is told as a present-day narrative, enhanced with scenes from Emlyn's past. I liked that the start of the book didn't rush to action. It built a context by mapping personal histories and seeding a sort of retrospective foreboding regarding a yet-to-be-specified-in-detail life-changing incident in which Emiyn was betrayed. The narrative keeps approaching it sideways as if peeking at it through its fingers. The aim here isn't to tantalise the reader by withholding key information as a traditional thriller might but rather to reflect how we actually deal with painful things that we know and want to forget. 

The first half of the book spends a lot of time getting to know the cautious, withdrawn, emotionally fragile person that Emlyn is now and is learning who she was five plus years earlier at college when she formed a close friendship with her charismatic friend, Janessa and fell in love with Tyler, the man who she'd expected to spend her life with but who we know betrayed her. I found myself deeply engaged with Emlyn both before and after the big betrayal. I liked her honesty. I loved that she wasn't perfect and was aware of her own faults. That she didn't always know why she did things when she was doing them, She would do harmful things that she knew she would probably regret but in the moment of doing them she wanted to cause harm or at least wanted it enough not to stop herself. It felt true. It also made me want to go: "No, no, no! Don't say that."

By the second half of the book, the dual timelines (Now and 5 Years Ago) started to amplify each other, building tension and increasing the sense of imminent disaster. I found Emlyn's rising anxiety hard to distance myself from or dismiss. Her fragility and her uncertainty and her history of being broken made being close to her unsettling. 

The most unsettling thing was her awareness of her own uncertainty. It wasn't indecision. She understood that deciding wouldn't be enough. Metaphorically, she was walking a cliff path in fog, knowing that it's the step after the next one that's uncertain and may perhaps be fatal.

The only thing that Emlyn is certain of is that if Janessa, from whom she has become estranged, is missing in the wilderness, then she will go and find her, even if it means travelling with Tyler the man who derailed her life five years earlier. 

The complex and conflicting relationships with Janessa and Tyler strengthened the narrative. The mystery around why and how Janessa went missing was a good one. The denouement was violent, credible, unexpected and satisfying. 

If you're looking for a book with a wilderness setting, a mystery to solve, a dramatic finale and which manages to get you thinking about trust and hope and how we see ourselves and each other, then 'The Nature Of Disappearing' is the one you want. It will be published on 18th June 2024.

I enjoyed this story a lot. It was very interesting to go back in time and find out what happened between the main characters and how they ended up where they are now. I liked where the story went and how it got us there. I wasn't certain who to trust along the way.

Parts of this book are a little slow moving. The characters are hiking for a while and there are descriptions of the activities they need to do to progress through the wild. This didn't bother me, as I found it interesting to follow along with them. The only flaw I had with the book was that there is sort of a love triangle. It's not the main focus of the book and it was handled well, but it is one of my least favorite tropes. In this instance I can see why it was included, so I was able to go along with it.

I was fortunate enough to receive both an ebook and an audiobook of this one. I went back and forth between the two depending on my needs at the time and enjoyed both. I can't say that I would recommend one over the other, but the audio was narrated by Emily Pike Stewart and was very well done. So, if you are audiobook lover, it is worth a listen.

Once again, I am excited to see what Kimi Cunningham Grant will come out with next.

Emlyn lives a quiet life as a trail guide in rural Idaho, hesitant to trust anyone after her ex-boyfriend abandoned her in the wilderness several years ago. When her ex-best friend, a #vanlife influencer who works with said ex-boyfriend goes missing on a camping trip, he crashes into her life again and asks for her expert tracking help in finding her.

Most of the book is mystery and build-up, and actually a little bit on the slow-paced side, but it takes a sharp turn toward thriller near the end. But even though it’s slower paced, it still kept my attention all the way through. I liked Emlyn a lot and wanted to find out what had happened to her and what was going to happen next.

Content Warning: drug addiction, date-rape drugging, abandonment, controlling and abusive relationship

The Nature of Disappearing is a new release by Kimi Cunningham Grant. This one is set in the wilderness of Idaho and follows the tale of Emlyn. Emlyn has spent the past few years recovering from a bad relationship that left her pondering what to do with the rest of her life. She's created a found family and is settling into her new normal when her best friend appears to disappear while traveling. Emlyn is convinced by her ex-boyfriend to help him find her friend. Together they set off by foot into the rugged area they think she'll be found in. Plenty of twists and turns in this novel keep the story moving right along. Read and enjoy!

I’ve had another of the author’s books on my TBR for a while and was not feeling the wilderness thing. I feel like maybe I need to go and read that one too now.

I really good sucked into this. More character driven that I expected, which is something I very much enjoy. A lot of back and forth between the past and present, something else I enjoy as well. A good built up and a satisfying ending. It was fast paced and a quick read and I think my only complaint is that I wish there’d been more.

4.5 stars

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant was a slow burn that really surprised me with how it hooked me in.

I really didn’t know how this book was going to turn out for me initially. It has a slower build up without inundating the reader with unnecessary set up, but the slow, yet steady pace really works for the story. It manages not to spend too long on the pre-story before the point of the plot begins, and yet manages to give the reader the necessary backstory to really connect with characters and understand the relationships. It does this by alternating between the main events; namely where Emlyn, the main character, is at in the present, while navigating the potential disappearance of an old friend; and in contrast, the initial forming of her relationships with both the missing friend, and her ex-boyfriend who has reappeared in Emlyn’s life to ask for her help in searching for Janessa.

Interweaving the past with the present was very expertly done in my opinion. It really served to make me care for a character and a relationship that wasn’t present in the current timeline which is an impressive feat. It also left me wanting to know so much more about Janessa, particularly the sketchy circumstances leading up to her mysterious disappearance which were so subtle yet incredibly intriguing. It also left me desperately wishing Emlyn and Janessa would have a chance to rebuild their lost friendship after so many years, because it gave such a pure and wholesome glimpse into their past friendship left me sad they had drifted apart. I truly cared about the characters and very much wanted them all to be ok and have everything work out in the end.

Another notable aspect to the character side of this book that I enjoyed was that you could really see Emlyn’s growth, not only from past to present timelines, but also from the start of the book to the finish. It’s very evident and makes Emlyn both of extremely real and relatable which only adds to the entire story.

The Nature of Disappearing was definitely a book that snuck up on me and I came away from it pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. I did not expect it to be the standout novel it was and I can only highly recommend it to thriller fans.

In the world of thrillers, so many tropes are the same: traumatized one-dimensional main character, twisty plot, unexpected (but, really totally expected) villain. Yet, sometimes, in the world of thrillers, stories emerge that are actually good representations of deeply nuanced and relatable characters. Characters who are extraordinary in the most ordinary of ways.

"The Nature of Disappearing" by Kimi Cunningham Grant is one of those stories. One that found me rooting on the main character with way more than a series of eye rolls (lol — I know you know those protagonist types). While I'm ambivalent towards its ending, I really enjoyed this story, its setting, and the slightly action-hero-like-quality of its dynamic female characters.

Would recommend to a friend looking for a quick-paced adventure thriller/mystery (emphasis on the "mystery" over "thriller"). I'm glad I read it and would absolutely read more from Kimi!

After really enjoying These Silent Woods, I was so excited to be given the eARC of The Nature of Disappearing to read on Netgalley.

This author has a knack for describing vivid landscapes like a painter with a brush on canvas. I felt transported to the northern California wilderness, from the rushing rivers to the dangerously rocky bluffs of the mountains. As far as outdoor adventure writers go, Grant can keep up with the best of them.

I loved the alternating timelines that flipped back and forth between now, 5 years ago and 1 year ago. I found that this writing style helped to move the story forward in the now, and fill in the mysteries of the past as we went. Slowly, we find out what our FMC Emlyn and her two best friends, Tyler and Janessa went through together and understand why Emlyn has been living estranged from them both for the last year.

My critique for this book is that it moved along slowly and was more of a drama than a thriller. There was some mystery involved, but I didn’t find myself on the edge of my seat or unable to put this one down. There was also a fair amount of religion and God throughout the book, which I don’t mind personally, but I know may either draw or repel certain groups of readers.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.