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.

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.

I really enjoyed this author's first book, These Silent Woods, and I had high expectations for this one but it didn't quite capture me the same way. Part of it was the pace - it's a bit slower, and I was okay with that, but it also felt disjointed and I was left questioning the purpose of certain plot points or characters. This mystery story relied heavily on setting as a backdrop for the suspenseful aspects of the plot, but I've read books where setting was profoundly well utilized (Jane Harper comes to mind) so it was hard not to compare.

Overall, however, I know there are readers out there who will love this book and I'm not too mad I read it because it was refreshing to change up my genres a bit and the audiobook was well done.

3.25 stars.

Thank you to the Macmillan Audio Influencer Program for providing me with a complimentary audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This story is a slow burn mystery about Emlyn, an expert wilderness guide who has withdrawn from others since her relationship with Tyler, the love of her life, ubruptly and traumatically ended. She is living in peace and trying to forget it all when she sees her estranged best friend Janessa on the news being reported as missing, and then Tyler shows up unexpectedly seeking her help to search for Janessa. We are alongside Emlyn as she navigates her complicated feelings for Tyler and her concern for Janessa, trying to figure out what has led to Janessa's disappearance.

What I liked:
🌲 The author takes the time to really delve into character development. I appreciated the back and forth between Emlyn's present day journey with the flashbacks to her childhood and origins of her relationships with Janessa and Tyler. This backstory made me more invested in Emlyn and also built tension as more came to light and we could start to put the pieces together.
⛺️ The descriptions of the wild natural areas are vivid and atmospheric. I also found the descriptions of their survival and tracking skills interesting.
🎧 The audiobook narrator Emily Pike Stewart did a beautiful job voicing the characters. Her tone and intonation was on point and kept me engaged.

Other thoughts:
⛰️ Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed with the big reveal. No spoilers here - suffice it to say I didn't totally buy aspects of the explanation for Janessa's disappearance. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed how it wrapped up.
✍️ The writing style is clear and straightforward. My personal preference is for a more literary or colorful style.

Overall, I recommend this book to folks in the mood for a solid mystery that builds in an atmospheric setting. Fans of stories about missing people, examining relationships, and backpacking or wilderness trekking should consider picking this one up.

The story follows Emlyn, weaving a present and past timeline of Emlyn's relationships with Tyler and Janessa. Eager to discover what happened, I found myself enjoying the little details revealed throughout. The nature elements were delightful, and the "tracking" aspect was a fun addition. While the pacing was slow, Emily Pike Stewart's narration kept me engaged with her use of tones and inflections. However, I did feel the story lacked a sense of climax or excitement, leaving it a bit underwhelming.

Mysteries set in the woods are almost ALWAYS the vibe I am looking for and this delivered. I have read work by this author previously that did not work so well for me, and while I didn't think this was perfect, it was an entertaining listen and great for the vibes alone.

I've heard great things about the author's previous release, These Silent Woods, and I plan to read or listen to that book after listening to this book. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC - the narrator, Emily Pike Stewart, did a great job with this book!
Skipping between different times in the past and the present, The Nature of Disappearing is told from the perspective of Emlyn. A wilderness guide in Idaho, Emlyn lives a pretty small life - on purpose. She is forced to break out into the wider world when Tyler, her former boyfriend who left her in a situation that nearly killed her, comes to beg for her help. Tyler reports their mutual friend, Janessa, appears to have disappeared with her survivalist boyfriend while living off-grid as part of the #vanlife movement. While off-grid, they are still expected to check in on social media, and having not checked in when they were expected to, Tyler is concerned and convinces Emlyn to join him in searching for her, as Emlyn recognizes where Janessa’s most recent photo was taken - and that location doesn't match the post’s geotag.
I planned to review this for #thrillerthursday but it's not really a thriller but more suspense or mystery. I know the title includes nature, but I wasn't prepared for how nature-centric this book would be. As an avid outdoors person, I have to admit that after reading this book I'm a little apprehensive about my backpacking trip next month 🤣 So I recommend this one, but I will say its setting and plot are realistic enough that maybe you shouldn't read it before a backcountry trip - just like I don't recommend reading TJ Newman’s books prior to flying 🤣🤣

3.5 stars. An outdoorsy, twisty read! Loved the setting in this one and the flashbacks providing another timeline. I was expecting a little more thrill or that I'd end up scared hiking but it wasn't scary like that.

I have listened to Kim Cunningham Grant's other books and have enjoyed them very much, and this belongs on the same list.

It is different than the others, but it was still enjoyable. It was not a typical thriller, but I found the plot intriguing. I know that some people have not enjoyed this book because it hasn't been like her others, but I liked the change of pace.

I do think there are parts that are a little predictable, and there are characters that I did not like from the very beginning, but I found the main character endearing and likeable. It is a slow burn, and again, won't be everyone's cup of tea- but I liked the change of pace and atypical suspense.

I would recommend this for anyone who likes a slow burn, not high suspense, and is all outdoors.

I loved Kimi Cunningham Grant's last book and was very excited to see this new one coming out. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed. The tense, wilderness atmosphere of her previous book just wasn't there. There was a lot of background on the characters and their relationships to one another that took up the majority of the plotline. Which left the ending feeling rushed and not nearly enough tension build up for my liking. While I absolutely will still keep an eye on Kimi Cunningham Grant for future works, this one was just average for me.