As a long-time fan of Charlotte McConaghy, I was beyond excited when I saw she was coming out with a new novel. Wild Dark Shore has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I am thrilled to say it did not disappoint. McConaghy once again proves why she is one of my favorite authors with this beautifully crafted, emotionally charged story.

First and foremost, McConaghy’s writing is absolutely stunning. Her prose is sharp and lyrical, effortlessly drawing you into the world she has created. The way she intertwines language and emotion is masterful, making each sentence feel purposeful. Her dialogue is perfectly pitched—every exchange between characters feels authentic and meaningful, contributing to the overall depth of the story.

Characterization is another area where McConaghy shines. The characters in Wild Dark Shore are wonderfully complex and deeply human. They are flawed, relatable, and incredibly real, and as always, McConaghy allows them to evolve throughout the narrative. The relationships between the characters are what really make the story come to life, and I found myself fully invested in their fates. The emotional journey they go through is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, with McConaghy expertly guiding the reader through a whirlwind of emotions.

One of the things I’ve always admired about McConaghy’s work is her ability to make the setting feel like a character in its own right. In Wild Dark Shore, the landscape is brought to life with vivid detail. The natural world is deeply intertwined with the characters’ stories, and it becomes an integral part of the narrative. The way McConaghy weaves the setting into the plot adds another layer of depth and richness to the book, and it’s clear that the environment is just as important as the people living within it.

The story itself is thrilling, mysterious, and full of emotional highs and lows. McConaghy takes the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions, sometimes guiding them smoothly through a scene, other times jarring them with unexpected twists and turns. The pacing is fantastic—there’s always something unfolding that keeps you hooked, and the buildup of tension never feels forced. I was especially impressed by how McConaghy managed to surprise me with the outcome. I didn’t expect things to unfold the way they did, but in hindsight, it felt like the perfect choice to give the characters—and the reader—the most impact.

Wild Dark Shore is without a doubt one of McConaghy’s best works. It’s a story that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading. The themes of love, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit are explored in such a heartfelt and poignant way, and the book’s emotional depth makes it more than just a simple read. McConaghy once again proves her ability to create a world that feels both intimate and expansive, full of life and complex characters.

I'm 33% in & I feel like nothing is happening/has happened. This one has great reviews, so I think it's a me problem. It's very atmospheric/setting-driven but I'm just not feeling compelled to pick it back up.

WILD DARK SHORE by Author Charlotte McConaghy is a hauntingly beautiful love letter to nature as well as a warning to those who habitually abuse her. McConaghy has a gift for lyrical prose that slides through you like a majestic bird gliding on air while delivering a punch to the gut with the power of angry waves crashing on the shore. WILD DARK SHORE is a story about the fight for survival by both humans and nature. It's a story about family, human nature and impossible choices. There's an air of imminent danger permeating each page throughout this story, so my advice is to get comfortable before beginning this hypnotic voyage because you won't feel safe and secure again before finishing.

Shearwater Island (setting based off of Macquarie Island) is an isolated island near the Arctic Circle and home to the one of the world's last seed vaults (based on Svalbard Global Seed Vault) and its caretakers, Dominic Salt and his three children - eighteen year old Raff who doesn't understand or know how to control the rage brewing within him; Fen, seventeen, who prefers spending her nights on the beach among her beloved seals; and nine-year-old Orly who is obsessed with botany and the wonder of the natural world; and then there's Dominic, a man riddled with grief and guilt who's haunted by the ghost of his dead wife and completely at a loss as to how to hold his fractured family together. With sea levels rising daily, the team of researchers previously working on the island have all gone home, leaving the Salt family the sole occupants. Their mission now is to pack up the precious seeds for transport and be ready when the ship that comes every six months arrives to carry them to a safer place. The enraged sea threatening to swallow the island has other ideas.

During a terrifying storm, Fen drags a woman's body from the water and is startled to find her still clinging to life. The family nurses Rowan back to health as they tip toe around one another each guarding dark secrets. Who is the mysterious woman of the sea? Where did she come from? Why is she here? From Rowan's perspective, who is the Salt family? Why do they live here in isolation? What big secret are they guarding with their lives? For all of them, the biggest question is who smashed all the communications equipment on the island? Cut off from the rest of the world, things quickly escalate, and it becomes a fight for survival. Who will be left standing in the end?

Author Charlotte McConaghy sweeps readers away to discover one of earth's remaining wonders in a remote corner of the world, highlighting the dire consequences of climate change through captivating prose that beckons you into a breathtaking story impossible to turn away from. The story is rendered through short past/present chapters via multiple points of view that change with each chapter, allowing readers to feel, if not understand, each character's emotional turmoil. The short chapters and blunt change of point of view could be confusing, but through the author's skillful manipulation of story, character and reader, it serves to build the suspense through every twist and turn to a shocking climax. McConaghy's vivid prose brings the setting to life as another character, portraying all the beauty and wonder of an island that can turn deadly in a heartbeat with both known and unknown threats. The sense of extreme isolation emits claustrophobic, locked room type vibes with no hope of rescue in sight. The pace is driven by an ever-increasing sense of foreboding, a suspicion that all is not as it seems on the tiny island in the middle of nowhere. With a storm brewing both offshore and on, times running out. Who can be trusted with their lives?

WILD DARK SHORE is an epic, highly emotional story of a family and earth in crisis - a rollercoaster ride of feelings - love, loss, regret, guilt, shame, agonizing choices. The author's extensive, in-person research is evident in every lesson on nature, flawlessly woven into a mysterious, character driven story that's impossible to put down. The unmeasurable power of love with no limit and the fight for survival have never been portrayed more realistically than in WILD DARK SHORE. Author Charlotte McConaghy is a truly gifted writer, and I can't wait to learn what corner of the globe she takes on next. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, suspense, and literary fiction.

I love everything Charlotte McConaghy writes and Wild Dark Shore was no exception. She's really good at writing emotional, suspenseful stories where sometimes you're not sure what will happen at the end. I definitely recommend this book and give it 5 stars. I loved all of the characters, the animals and even the island they were on. Great story!

The chokehold this book has on me! Gripped by the description, I did not expect to remain as intimately invested in the life and love of the people on the island. The rotating POVs and cliffhanger chapter endings turned my reading experience into an all-night affair as I refused to set it down until I knew the whole story. Heartbreaking and healing, I'll definitely be returning to page one so I can spend more time with these characters!

A rich, dark, and atmospheric tale of family, survival, and climate change, Shearwater itself feels like a living, breathing character. McConaghy’s immersive prose captures the island’s brutal storms, stark beauty, and thriving wildlife, transporting me to the icy fringes of Antarctica. The Salt family’s mysterious plight unfolds slowly, drawing you in until you feel entwined in their struggle. This was my first novel by McConaghy, but it certainly won’t be my last—I’m adding her to my TBR list. Highly recommended for mystery lovers who appreciate themes of conservation and ecology.

Thank you NetGALLEY and Flatiron Books for an advanced copy of " Wild Dark Shore" . Charlotte McConaghy is one of my favorite authors and I love how each of her novels is a love letter not only to nature and how humans are the reason our planet is suffering, in addition to focusing on the deep bond between parents and their children. This novel focuses on a father and his three children who are on an isolated island helping with scientific research. When an unconscious woman washes ashore barely alive, they are confused not only how she got there, but how she survived. We soon find out that not everything and everyone on this island are as innocent as they appear to be. Her last novel, " Once there Were Wolves" is one of my favorite books of all time, and in my opinion nothing can compare, but this novel was a close second. Her prose is so beautiful, and she reminds the reader to love not only one another, but our planet as well.

This is my favorite book in a long time, I did not want this book to end! I fell in love with all of it—the characters, the setting, the story; it was all so good. Dom and his family became people I cared about and could have kept reading about for a long time. The writing is excellent, and was something I had never read about before. I did see some comparisons to Where the Crawdads sing and I can understand why; but, it is its own unique story. However, if you enjoyed Crawdads, you will probably enjoy this one as well. I highly recommend this one! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy.

“This family is falling apart.”

When a terrible storm washes a mysterious woman ashore the remote island of Shearwater, it could just be the blessing the Salt family needs to restore their family. But the woman has her own reasons for coming to the island, and they could very well fracture the last threads holding everything together.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of the world’s largest seed bank on the tiny island near Antarctica. With rising sea levels, researchers have evacuated, and the Salts are its final inhabitants. They’re tasked with packing up the seeds for transport to a safer location, but after a storm washes Rowan ashore, they work to nurse her back to health. She could be just the solution to bringing the Salts back to life, but she discovers that the family is keeping secrets of their own – secrets that could alter her future.

This novel is one of atmospheric beauty, haunting twists and the impossible choices we make to protect the ones we love. Told through multiple points of view, this riveting story was one that slowly seeps into your being and leaves you breathless. I could not get enough of this masterpiece and cannot wait to see it soar to the top of everyone’s reading list for the year.

Thank you to Charlotte McConaghy, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a gifted digital copy of the book for an honest review.

Anyone who has ever read a Charlotte McConaghy book knows how powerfully she writes, weaving science into a story with gorgeous, fully-fleshed out characters and exciting twists. Wild Dark Shore is another beautiful story from an immensely talented author.

In Wild Dark Shore, the Salt family are the caretakers of Shearwater Island amidst catastrophic climate change. When Rowan washes ashore, the family aren't quite sure what to make of her. The writing is atmospheric and the story is sweeping. McConaghy's Shearwater Island is a bleak, remote place and she perfectly deposits the reader right onto it.

THIS WILL BE MY FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR! Wow, this exceeded my expectations and I cannot stop thinking about the characters. The setting was so detailed, unique, and mysterious. The characters were SO well-developed. I haven't read a book cover to cover as fast as I did in a long time!

McConaghy is one of the only authors I read thriller-ish books for ! Her characteristic gorgeous writing and deft appreciation for nature is at its best here, and I especially enjoyed getting to experience the mystery in Antarctica.

I loved this book so much. I will read anything that Charlotte McConaghy writes. This was such a beautifully written book that really transported you into the lives of the Salt family. You went through every emotion, event, and feeling that they did.

The Salt family—Dominic, Raf, Fen, and Orly—are the remaining caretakers of Shearwater Island and its seed vault. The research station there had to be abandoned due to rising seawater. The Salt family and a selection of the seeds from the vault are supposed to be evacuated in a few short weeks. All that remains for the family to do is keep the vault from flooding and package up the seeds selected for rescue. A violent storm at the beginning of Charlotte McConaghy’s emotional new novel, Wild Dark Shore, brings them another task: to save the life of a woman who washed up after her ship was sunk. Although this premise suggests a novel about science and the environment, McConaghy delivers a tale that will punch readers right in the heart.

Rowan is lucky to be alive when she washes up on Shearwater Island (modeled on Australia’s Macquarie Island). She could have drowned, frozen, or been smashed to pieces on the rocky shore. Thankfully, she is spotted by Fen Salt and whisked up to the old lighthouse where the Salt family live while waiting for the ship that will take them back to Australia. The reasons that brought Rowan to the island are slowly unspooled over a good chunk of the novel, as well as the reason that Dominic Salt decided to up stakes and head for the edge of the world.

Wild Dark Shore slips between genres from heart-breaking literary fiction to thriller more than once. On the one hand, the Salt family are barely holding things together on the island. Dominic and Raf are frozen in grief for lost loved ones. Fen is turning near feral among the elephant seals and royal penguins. Orly talks to ghosts. Rowan is also nursing a broken heart. And yet, many of the poignant moments in the novel are interrupted by the revelation that something terrible happened on the island before Rowan arrived. Why is there a passport and a laptop hidden in the floor of the tool shed? Who smashed the radio, making it impossible to contact the mainland?

I liked quite a bit about Wild Dark Shore. The family’s efforts to preserve as much of the seed vault’s contents as possible struck me as deeply heroic. I was also charmed by the way the people and animals interacted on the island; Fen swims nearly as well as a seal and the family always pauses on the path to let the penguins go about their business. I also found Rowan fascinating. That said, I found the ending of the book infuriating. Not all readers will agree with me, I know, but the climax of the book nearly made me want to throw my ereader across the room. I’m still a little angry about the conclusion even as I write this review. Readers who are looking for a book that will make them ugly-cry, however, will probably enjoy Wild Dark Shore.

A widowed father and his three children find a woman washed up on their remote island during a violent storm. Dominic Salt and his family appear to be the only inhabitants living in the Lighthouse and tending a vacant research facility and seed bank located between Tasmania and the Antarctic. This is a fascinating mystery set on a bleak island teaming with wildlife and threatened by the ever- rising ocean. Everyone has a secret in Wild Dark Shore and readers will race to finish.
Unputdownable.

After the death of his wife during childbirth, Dominic moves his family and takes a job as lighthouse keeper on a remote island near Antarctica. The island is home to a seed vault and research station. The effects of climate change are forcing them to move as the permafrost is melting and it’s no longer safe.
While waiting for the ship to pick them up, a woman is washed ashore.
As she is nursed back to health, she detects that maybe all is not as idyllic as it seems.. can she trust their stories? Or are they really hiding a terrible truth?
Great characters and layered plot along with a bit of a mystery and love story.
This was so perfect in every way!
Loved it so much.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for an early read.

After reading Once There Were Wolves and Migration, I fell in love with Charlotte McConaghy's writing style and her ability to craft an impelling story. Her books really make you think since they're set in the not-too-distant future and they portray how the world will most likely be as a result of climate change. It's interesting to see what her characters do and how they navigate this world. Unfortunately, I felt like Wild Dark Shore got wrapped up more in the melodramatic family element. And, this isn't on McConaghy, but I personally am not a fan of when kids aren't portrayed true to age. It happens a lot in works of fiction and it's a pet peeve of mine!

All in all, I will still read anything McConaghy writes but this book fell short for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Charlotte McConaghy, the author of Migration and Once There Were Wolves, is back with her newest title Wild Dark Shore.

Caretakers of a remote island near Antartica and the precious seed bank located there, the Salt family, a father and his 3 children, are the last remaining occupants of this isolated spot. When a violent storm washes a strange woman ashore, this isolated family nurses her back to health and adjusts to the disruptions to their routine lives while everyone tries to hide their secrets.

Wild Dark Shore is about family and the lengths we will go to protect the people we love. The island in this story is another character creating a mysterious and moody backdrop for the plot to unfold. A lighthouse slowly sinking into the sea and the rising water table added to the pacing and suspense. The amazing writing and jaw dropping twists keep you reading. I could go on and on about this title! In summary, this is a must read, sure to be on best read lists for 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the advanced reader’s copy.

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing my review copy. Charlotte McConaghy hasn't missed since Migrations. I am always so enthralled in her stories and can't put them down. If you've enjoyed her other work or are interested in climate fiction, check this one out!

I honestly don’t know what made me request this title because it is not in my wheelhouse of genres but wow am I glad I did. It kept me gripped and was what I wish most thrillers could be.