Thank you for the opportunity to review this advanced reader's edition. Unfortunately, I will not be able to give it the time required to write a thorough review and will be unable to read it for this purpose.

The Nature of Disappearing was beautifully atmospheric. I enjoyed the storyline, even if it did get a little convoluted at times. It felt like slipping on rocks before catching myself. I had to concentrate more than I am able to with a 5 year old and a 2 year old. But that is a fault of my own. This book definitely gave me wanderlust - ha. If you’ve read this, you’ll get it. Overall, I liked this one.

Kimi Cunningham Grant is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Her books are always atmospheric/ melancholic and gives off major winter vibes. Absolutely loved this new one by her. Thank you NetGalley for the arc! Five stars!

For my friends who enjoy atmospheric slow-burn wilderness stories.

THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Thanks, @stmartinspress, for the advanced review copy via #NetGalley. (Available now)

Emlyn is a 28-year-old hunting/fishing guide who lives a small, deliberately quiet life and is evidently recovering from trauma. When her ex-boyfriend Tyler asks for help finding their mutual friend (and Emlyn’s former best friend), Janessa, they head into the Idaho wilderness…alone…to track her down.

There was much to love here: the strong sense of place, the survival skills, and Grant’s lovely writing. Unfortunately, this was a slow-burn story, with an emphasis on slow. I couldn’t identify with any of the characters and was, therefore, not invested in their stories.

That said, I loved Grant’s previous book (THESE SILENT WOODS) so much that I will immediately snatch up her next one.

What a fantastic read! Slow-burning but deeply emotional, this book is a fantastic exploration of relationships and addiction, and how well we truly know our friends. I loved every bit of it, and the ending was just fantastic.

Highly recommend.

Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

The novel masterfully intertwines suspense, personal redemption, and the raw beauty of the Idaho wilderness.

The story follows Emlyn, a wilderness guide who has distanced herself from her past, including her best friend Janessa and ex-boyfriend Tyler. When Janessa goes missing, Emlyn is compelled to confront her history and team up with Tyler to find her. Their search through the vast, untamed landscapes is both a physical and emotional journey, revealing secrets and testing their resilience.

The author'’s portrayal of the wilderness is vivid and immersive, making the setting a character in its own right. The narrative delves deep into themes of trust, betrayal, and the complexities of human relationships, all while maintaining a gripping pace that kept me eagerly turning pages.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kimi Cunningham Grant is back with another suspenseful read. I was hooked immediately from the premise of the book because I love wilderness settings mixed with a little mystery, and this one had a ton of mystery. While I am not an influencer by any means, the influencer characters seemed to come to life in the story - people doing seemingly crazy things for fame and cash. No spoilers here, but if you're a fan of Alex Michelades' latest, you'll enjoy this one.

I loved this story for the mystery, the jump in timeline from past to present and back, the complex characters, and the subtle twists woven in. But what I absolutely loved the most was the author's writing style. She paints a picture of the wilderness they have to travel through and brings the characters to life in your mind. And since the mystery is only told in bits and pieces, you can never tell who to trust. This is my first book by this author but I plan to read more!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I only just read These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant earlier this year, while These Silent Woods came highly recommended from a lot of bookish friends, I personally liked The Nature of Disappearing a bit better.

The Nature of Disappearing is a bit more intense and faster-paced than These Silent Woods imo, however my biggest issue with the book was that FMC worked as a outdoor guide and the friends involved in the incident are outdoors influencers but there are so many amateur mistakes and unreasonable decisions made throughout the book that I didn't really find the story believable?

Emlyn spends her time as a hunting and fishing guide in the woods of Idaho. She prefers to keep her past behind her, but she’s also incredibly closed off because of how she’s been treated by those she’s loved and trusted. I loved reading this book, and if you’re outdoorsy, I think you’ll also appreciate the role that the woods plays in this mystery. This is for sure a slow burn, but it’s not incredibly long, so in all you get to the tense parts of it pretty quickly. If you’ve read this authors’ prior work These Silent Woods, I think you’ll also really enjoy this one.

I liked this book. The story kept my interest the entire time (my mind never wandered). The characters were well written and I cared about what happened to them in the wilderness.

I came into The Nature of Disappearing without having read These Silent Woods, which seems to make me an outlier. But, as such I didn't have any preconceived ideas about Grant as a writer. I found this to be a (sometimes epically) slow burn. Her imagery is detailed and very complete, I felt like I was out there with Emlyn and Tyler. However, I struggled overall with the general plot of this book. It felt really reminiscent of the Gabby Petito tragedy, but stopped short. I guess that's a good thing, there's plenty of stories out there with the missing-white-woman-turns-up-dead; so this was a nice change of pace in that regard. I did struggle to connect with Emlyn because she seemed like such a downer who glommed onto people who gave her attention even at her own peril. I don't know, it just fell somewhat flat for me.

I had really enjoyed These Silent Woods so I’ll admit that I went into this with high expectations. I do think the synopsis nails it when it says a novel of suspense. There is a very slow burn mystery and combined with the lush descriptions of the wilderness, it made for an intriguing read at first. I really enjoyed some of Grant’s nature writing and all the parts about surviving in the wild were fascinating. The novel builds up to explain the enigmatic behaviors of the missing friend, and despite all that build up, I found myself having to suspend some disbelief as the mystery unfolded. There were definitely some twists I didn’t see coming that added some last minute intrigue. Overall I enjoyed the survival/nature parts of this one more than the mystery but still thought it made for an entertaining read.

Overall an okay read. The author is a talented writer. I enjoyed the descriptions of the animals and nature, I felt like I was out in the woods camping. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype. I prefer fast paced, twisty thrillers and this one was very slow for the first 3/4 of the book. I wish it had a faster pace and more excitement.

This book was part coming of age, part ode to the power of friendship over many years, and also a reminder of the power of nature and addiction. I enjoyed the dual timeline, and even though it started a little slow, I could feel the tension building up by the second half of the book.

It's always hard to not set your expectations high when you start a new book by an author you've previously loved. I do think that sets a precedence that's hard to shake, so you expect the new book to be fantastic like the previous and possibly expect it to be more when you wouldn't necessarily think that otherwise. So, needless to say, I expected a lot from this book and was quite a bit let down. However - I tried to set that aside and I realized I did enjoy this book quite a book, I just didn't LOVE it like the last.

This book is very atmospheric, as expected, but it had more of a love story twisted through it as well. Both between the characters and a love story with nature and becoming one with it to explore and keep safe while doing so. It was beautifully written and definitely an excellent read, but I felt it dragged quite a bit in places. I think for this one, audio is the way to go because you can let yourself get lost in it without having to specifically read every word.

I wasn’t as interested in this premise as Grant’s last book and felt it was a little too derivative of the Gabby Petito case but I still stand by my opinion that Grant is an amazing writer and I will still read anything she writes in the future.

I didn't really like this one. Maybe I just don't like these wilderness-type books...but either way, this did not feel like a thriller to me! The story was really slow and dragged on! The flashbacks were really boring and didn't interest me at all.

It also seemed like the author was trying to take a spin on Gabby Petito's story, which I didn't like how something from the news (and was a sad story) was put into this Novel.

I've had These Silent Woods on my want to read list for a while, but not sure if I do want to read it after this one!

After a long and drawn on novel, the final twist fell flat and was unsatisfying.

Great nature writing, but I did not enjoy the plot or the main character. I could not feel any tension or pull for me to keep reading or care about what happened to the character. I loved “These Silent Woods”.

this just wasnt as good as her last book. The last one I couldn't put down, and this one I was tempted to set aside the plot just didn't grab me.