I loved These Silent Woods, so I was excited to dive into Kimi Cunningham Grant’s latest. The Nature of Disappearing proved a decently compelling follow-up, if a bit slow and uneven at times. I enjoyed this as a nice summer suspense to breeze through in a day.

Emily Pike Stewart did an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Kimi Cunningham Grant, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Emlyn has created a secluded life for herself as a fishing and hunting guide in Idaho in the wake of being left by the love of her life in the forest three years ago, around the same time her and her best friend had a big falling out. But when Tyler resurfaces in her life saying that Janessa has gone missing with her van-life boyfriend and partner, Bush, Emlyn feels obligated to help find her. She is dragged back to the past and can't help but feel like maybe she and Tyler might not be done with each other yet. But the search isn't what it seems, and Emlyn might uncover some secrets that are far more telling than she expects.

I really enjoyed this story. It has chapters in the present with flashes to the past that help uncover to the reader why Emlyn holds others at such a distance. It unpacks a lot of her past trauma that she hasn't fully dealt with, which is something that always captivates me with stories like this. I always root for them to be able to work through those traumas to come out on top of them by the end, even if it's only implied that they will begin healing from their past.

I thought the pacing of the story was done very well, and the narrator did a wonderful job. There were enough details that made the story believable, and I really liked the premise of strong women who could hold their own in the wilderness. I really liked the inclusion of the descriptions of items they packed and prepared for their hikes.

*SPOILER IN THIS SECTION!*
I found one inconsistency, though that really had me sad. WHERE WAS THE DOG? I specifically remembered a line that Tyler said that the dog (I honestly can't remember his name now) was "truly the love of her (Janessa's) life". So why wasn't the dog at the van or with Bush and Janessa? There was zero explanation as to where he went. Like I said, this made me sad.

I thought The Nature of Disappearing was an attention-grabbing read, and would recommend it (even with the missing dog).

The Nature of Disappearing is a fictional mystery written by Kimi Cunningham Grant and narrated by Emily Pike Stewart
. When Emelyn first starts college it is hard for her to connect with her classmates, until one day when she meets Janessa at a diner. Years later Emelyn is a wilderness guide, and is no longer as close to Janessa. But when Emelyn’s ex-boyfriend calls her telling her that Janessa is missing, Emelyn has to decide what to do, if it is safe for her to be around Tyler, and if Janessa even wants her to find her.

This was an engaging mystery, and I enjoyed how we looked at the pasts of the main characters, and how that helped us understand some of their actions. I appreciated the character and relationship development throughout the book, as well as learning a bit about the wilderness area where the book takes place. I definitely recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley, and to the author, narrator, and publisher of this book for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked THESE SILENT WOODS, but it is a slower paced book with some suspense. I just couldn't find myself wanting to move through this book and it was a quick put down that I just didn't feel like coming back to.

I absolutely love a good thriller and this one did not disappoint. I want to read other books by this author now and have added this all to my incredibly long tbr list.

I didn’t see the twist in this one coming! I definitely loved it though.

More of a wilderness suspense than a thriller, this follows two ex-lovers as they try to find their friend and her new partner in the Idaho wilderness after she goes missing during a scheduled trip.

Turns out, there’s a lot that one of them doesn’t know.

Told in a dual timeline, I loved getting to know Emlyn and Janessa in the past. I loved learning about the life Em created for herself after hers fell apart, and loved watching her find herself. I also loved how much this book focused on nature and the expansive wilderness that exists in the American west, even today.

Definitely one I’d recommend!

I really enjoyed this book. Emlyn is working in the mountains and trying to reestablish her life after breaking up with Tyler. She hears that her ex best friend has gone missing in the woods. Should she go look for her?

I loved the way this book was formatted. It slowly reveals the complex dynamics of the relationship between Tyler, Emlyn and Janessa.

I thought the author did a great job of diving into what it like to have an intoxicating and toxic relationship with an addict. You want to believe they are clean. You want to trust them but it’s complicated. You willlive this book if you like books about complicated relationships and addiction.

I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book.

Just released! Thanks to @netgalley for the advanced copy. If you enjoy the wilderness, pushing yourself, and the intricacies of lifelong friendships, you will enjoy this novel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#bookish #bookstagram #travelgram #wilderness #mystery #fiction #travelisalwaysagoodidea🌍

Y’all, I loved this book just as much as I loved These Silent Woods! Both books are solid 5 star reads for me and @kimicgrant has must read author status in my opinion🖤

I loved the wilderness setting in The Nature of Disappearing. The story is full of twists, adventure, secrets, and dangerous situations. The story reads like a true crime story and the missing person stories that you hear about related to National Parks. I loved the narration of the audiobook and it had me on the edge of my seat as I was listening.

I highly recommend listening to this audiobook during your summer travels.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

(This same review was shared on the Barnes & Noble website.)

This story would be best described as a wilderness adventure, a saga about two friends, with some suspense & mystery woven in.

I really enjoyed all the wilderness components, and I found the writing to be very descriptive & the characters to be very engaging. The story goes back and forth in time, with little snippets along the way, to uncover where the friendship with Janessa & the romantic relationship with Tyler went wrong, all those years ago. I found the format was a very interesting choice & I felt it worked well. The suspected villain(s) are foreshadowed and hinted at as the book progresses, and I appreciated that feeling of not quite knowing who to trust. Especially in such a remote & dangerous setting.

I think where this one lacked for me, is it didn’t feel like a thriller/mystery as much as I had hoped for. The suspense built very slowly, and I felt like the actual scary/thrilling/action scenes were rushed in the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but because I was expecting a thriller earlier on, it didn’t wow me quite as much.

I listened to this novel on audio through Net Galley- thank you for the advanced copy to read & review.

This was a really nice mystery to listen to as I fell asleep and on my commutes. I found myself having real interest in the protagonist, who had a bit more depth than most of this genre. I loved the setting, which made the listen a true pleasure.

Emlyn has suffered trauma in her life, and she prefers to not think about her past. She had a best friend that she doesn't speak to anymore and an ex who left her for dead on the side of the road. She is currently living a quiet and simple life. That is until her ex, Tyler, shows up and tells her that her former best friend, Janessa, is missing. Emlyn is thrust back into a life that she tried to leave in the past. We are taken on her journey with Tyler to look for Janessa.

I love Grant's descriptive writing. The way she set up the scenes and what was going on made me feel as though I was actually in their world. I also felt that the main characters were well developed. There were twists and turns that I was pleasantly surprised by. However, I was bored throughout this book. I felt as though not enough happened to truly pull me in. I did want to know what happened to Janessa and I curiously listened until the end to find out. Yet, I found myself slightly bored and there was lots of lull in the story.

I did enjoy Emily Pike Stewart, narration. She did a great job, and I enjoyed listening to her voice.

3.5/5 stars.

I definitely recommend giving this book a try for yourself. It just might be your next 5 star read!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

When a wilderness guide learns that her long-lost best friend is missing, she teams up with her ex-boyfriend to find her. But is she really missing? And who can actually be trusted on this journey?

Boy, this was a wild ride. The main character, Emlyn, has been screwed over so badly by Jenessa and Tyler that I'm like, why are you even doing this, woman 😬 just, yikes. But I guess we wouldn't have a book to read if this character didn't feel such loyalty to her friend that she is determined to find her. And Tyler is a walking red flag, so have fun with that.

There was so much dramatic build-up to the end of this book for it to end so unsatisfyingly. I was really hoping for more. But it wasn't a total waste of time. I liked the audiobook and reading about these characters and their (mis)adventures. Great summer read/listen.

3.5 stars.

I absolutely loved this! There were times when I was reading that I felt like I had read this story before, but that is just because it pulled from so many true crime news stories, which I really enjoyed. There were a lot of twists and turns, and every time I thought I knew wheat was going on, I was wrong.

Interesting story and good choice of narrator. You could hear the difference as the main character started to become stronger and more confident. Well done. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

This book was not what I was expecting. It was very slow for me and a little hard to get into. I really enjoyed the last 25-30% of the book; when things started happening. I was expecting this to be much more of a thriller and heart pounding and it was not. The overall story was good, and I like that everything connected well, but it just wasn’t too thrilling. I would give it a 2.5 and round up to 3 for NetGalley.

I listened to this as an audiobook and the narration was fantastic. I would definitely listen to more books narrated by this narrator. They probably were the reason I kept reading even though I wasn’t loving it.

I really loved eveything about this audiobook! This wa such an atmospheric read and the plot was unique and emotional. I enjoyed how this was a story of friendship and heartbreak mixed in with mystery. The author did a great job with details, I felt as if I was in the woodys environment with the characters. The narrator did a great job as well!

Emlyn has struggled with a fear of being abandoned ever since her father left when she was younger. This has led Emlyn to live a life of isolation, keeping people at distance. That is until she meets Janessa in college. Janessa is the antithesis of Emlyn in every way. She is outgoing, boisterous, and loved by everyone. But when their mutual friend, Tyler alerts the authorities stating that Janessa and her boyfriend have disappeared, he also elicits help from Emlyn to help track them down. Has Janessa’s boyfriend done something to her on their camping trip? Will Emlyn find her in time, or will she find out more than she has bargained for?
Overall rating 4/5
This gave me Gabby Petito vibes and thought that the story would mirror those horrific events. As the book unfolds I enjoyed that there was more to the plot than what I expected. Grant makes you question which character can be trusted and what their motives are. I do wish we were given more insight from Janessa, I think she would be a great character for some added comic relief.
*Thank you to Kimi Cunningham Grant, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the audio copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

I was really anticipating Grant's new novel after being absolutely obsessed with her debut novel. This book was definitely interesting, but ultimately it was a little disappointing. These Silent Woods was a good mystery but more importantly it was such a beautiful character driven story with complex and full characters and relationships. The Nature of Disappearing did not have the same complex characters or relationships that I was hoping for, but to be fair I had high expectations. I did enjoy the journey with the story, but nothing made this stand out like These Silent Woods did previously.

I enjoyed this book and the depictions of nature and wildneress, but the story itself was slow and I wasn't able to connect with the characters as much as I like to.

Thank you NetGalley, Kimi Cunningham Grant, and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.