I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There were parts of this book that I really loved but other parts really dragged. The author made you really picture the setting, which was great. I didn’t really connect or especially like any of the characters except for the little boy. Some parts really dragged. I wanted to love it, but it was just mid level for me.

Easily one of my very favorite books of the year. The depth of the characters and the mysteries surrounding their circumstances together were amazing. It reminded me of the "The Light Between Oceans" to some extent. I will recommend to many!

This book is incredible. Its my first time reading a book by Charlotte McConaghy and it won't be my last. This is absolutley one of my top reads this year! There was so much to love about this book. The love amonghst the main characters and their growth was so beautiful. I loved the setting: a remote island near Antartic that is sinking. I learned so much about seeds (yes seeds), seals and birds. I had read a review and totally agree - although this book is heavy character driven there is still SO MUCH plot. I caught myself smiling several times reading this and also crying a few times. Highly recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan for providing me with a copy of this book!

Absolutely obsessed with this. The author's writing is just so atmospheric and her settings are stunning. I loved every character in this and couldn't stop reading.

This was my second book by this author and I really enjoyed it. I liked how the description of the book was intriguing enough to make me want to read it but I still felt like I was going in relatively blind. I liked how we got POVs from all of the characters on this island as well. I think the pacing was good and it revealed information at a rate that keep me so intrigued and not wanting to put the book down. This book also contained some sensitive material but I thought it was handled well and added to the story. This book also makes you think about what you would do in this situation and forces you to think outside of yourself. I really enjoyed and highly recommend!

This was a book that captured my imagination and interest from the first chapters, and I could not put it down until I was finished this evocative, mysterious, gritty, and yet hopeful tale. Dominic Salt and his three children are the caretakers of an island near Antarctica storing a stash of the world’s seas, and preparing for evacuation as the sea levels are quickly rising and threatening the island. One stormy night, one of the children saves a woman from the sea, and their world is turned upside down. Their family has secrets and wounds, and so does this strange woman. The rest of the book blurs the lines between thriller and literary fiction, with themes of hope in the midst of tragedy, familial love, and perseverance. There are heavy topics addressed in the book I was not expecting, so see content warnings below.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Potential spoilers in content warnings————-



















CW: Murder, suicide, childbirth trauma/death, grooming/pedophilia

Absolutely loved this. Was devastatingly gorgeous. The descriptions of the landscapes were amazing. I also loved the audiobook reader.

Do you ever have those moments when you read book reviews and think “Did we read the same book?”

This one was poetic, literary, and beautiful. I was also very bored until about 85% in. Objectively, it was a very well written book, but I just didn’t love it.

✅ beautiful conversations and metaphors about grief and loss
✅ the themes of love and motherhood were explored so poetically
✅ I LOVED the tidbits and about different seeds and the way they were used for foreshadowing
✅ the setting is so original and atmospheric
✅ the final 15% was the twisty drama that I really wanted

❌ I was bored…
❌ the characters were well developed, but I didn’t feel connected to any of them (except Orly)
❌ I normally love full cast audiobooks, but the accent for Dom’s character was hard to understand. I had to slow down every time we switched to his perspective
❌ it was a complicated situation, but infidelity will forever gross me out

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

Haunting and tragic, Wild Dark Shore is a beautiful narrative about fighting for one's family and keeping hope alive even in the darkest of times. The narrators were great for the varying POVs of this book. Although Shearwater Island is fictional, it is based on Macquarie Island, which is home not only to a research base but many, many seals and penguins! The land and the sea, from albatross to whale, are as much characters in this book as the Salt family and Rowan, the mysterious woman who washes up on Shearwater after a violent storm. Wild Dark Shore has plenty of twists and turns, some of which I did not see coming until the very end, and lots of suspense. The ending is a real nail-biter, but so worth the journey. As dark as the story can be at times, with its focus on climate change disasters, grief, and family secrets, it is also full of love, survival, and hope. This is the first book I've read by Charlotte McConaghy, despite owning several, and I look forward to reading them now that I've had a taste of her lyrical, haunting writing style.

The most intriguing aspect of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy is its unique and immersive setting - a remote island near Antarctica named Shearwater. Here single father Dominic Salt and his three children manage a seed bank that houses thousands of rare seeds frozen in an underground vault. The island was also a research base, but operations recently ceased due to rising sea levels resulting from global warming.

As Dominic packs up selected seeds for evacuation, a terrible storm hits Shearwater, and a woman is washed ashore. Who is she? Why is she in this remote area? How will her presence impact members of the Salt family?

Wild Dark Shore has a very strong sense of place; I felt the ruthless weather conditions and the extreme isolation of the island. However, there are too many elements in this plot - climate fiction, suspenseful mystery, family drama, and romance. I would’ve enjoyed this more without unrealistic expectations from the all the hype.

I listened to the audiobook which was engaging with multicast narration performed by Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and Steve West. This is the first of Ms. McConaghy’s novels I’ve read.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for advanced access to the audiobook; all opinions are my own.

Wow! This story mixed so many genres - science fiction, romance, non-fiction elements, etc. The multiple character narration was excellent and helped deepen my understanding of characters, their thoughts and emotions. The story is so deep and moving, and heartbreaking and full of hope. I found myself changing my mind on Rowan, from unlikeable to incredibly selfless and a hero. The setting served as an additional character, with climate change causing intense storms in a remote island off the coast of Antarctica.

4.5 stars rounded up
Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Net Galley for the advanced listener's copy!

“Maybe we will drown or burn or starve one day, but until then we get to choose if we’ll add to that destruction or if we will care for each other.”
― Charlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark Shore

This is my first time reading McConaghy but I have been hearing how great her books are for years! I was very excited to get this one, especially on audio. This was a full-cast narration which I feel added a lot to the book. The voices were unique and well-suited to each character. The writing was amazing. The atmosphere that McConaghy builds on this bleak, cold island that is on the last edge of existence is fantastic. The island is a character of its own. It breathes with life, the animals, the landscape, and the water surrounding it. Yet it is dying, the water ready to envelop all the living beings that remain.
There is so much here, and I would just recommend you pick it up. The themes of climate change, parenting, marriage, the power of nature - they are strong, beautiful, and terrifying.

WILD DARK SHORE was my first foray into Charlotte McConaghy’s work, and I can absolutely see why readers love her immersive writing. With short chapters and a beautiful yet isolated landscape, the book was both approachable and captivating.

I did feel that the negative effects of climate change and the sordid history of the island offered enough of an emotional punch that some of the personal conflict could have been omitted. Without going into spoilers, the culmination could have had an entirely different outcome had the adults simply talked to one another.

From an audio perspective, the cast of narrators truly brought the story to life. Saskia Maarleveld has been a favorite of mine since I listened to LITTLE THIEVES, and whenever I see her listed as a voice actress, I know that the performance will be great. WILD DARK SHORE was no exception.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

A deeply atmospheric novel, about a family living on an isolated island with teams of scientists who are caretakers of the worlds largest seed bank. There is love, grief, and forgiveness all set against the backdrop of the island, wildlife and climate change. There are multiple point of views with strong characters that continue to grow and develop all the way through to the amazing last chapter.

I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, which is a genre I love, but books in this genre can start to feel repetitive and indistinguishable after having read so many. It’s rare that I’m wowed by a unique story or a surprising twist, but "Wild Dark Shore" sets itself apart from other mystery/thrillers--and I was completely enthralled by this one. This unique story had a little bit of everything--mystery, family drama, romance--and the atmospheric, remote island complete with a lighthouse was reminiscent of my favorite "The Light Between Oceans." The setting was vivid, with stunning descriptions that breathed life into the wild, enigmatic island and all of its inhabitants. And I fell in love with all of the characters. I know the Salt family will stay with me for a long time.
I thought the ALC was fantastic, with a cast of narrators that really brought each character to life. A big thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read this one!

"But here's the nature of life; that we must love things with our whole selves knowing they will die."

"Any rebellion I had was just the quiet anger always swallowed down."

"What pain it is that grief can come in moments."

"I thought I would die wanting you so badly."

After listening to the achingly beautiful atmospheric Wild Dark Shore, by the phenomenally brilliant, always leaves me emotionally drained, author Charlotte McConaghy, I sat with tears streaming down my face. Partly from the dramatic end to this profound work of literary fiction, but mostly from the astounding descriptive prose that brought me to a world, once filled with promise, to one in turmoil, as a storm looms to wash it all away.

On a tiny island near Antarctic, Dominic and his 3 children, Raff 18, Fen 17 and Orly 9, are the last to leave this eco research facility that houses the last seeds vital to plant life on Earth. Rising sea levels make the island uninhabitable and they must find a way to save the seeds. When a storm washes ashore a nearly drowned woman their lives are changed forever.

Rowan is a mystery. Dominic didn't expect to have feelings for her. He took his family to this island to run from love and grief. Rowan's never wanted children but these 3 are making her feel unfamiliar emotions or maybe they're making her remember them.

A full cast of voice actors Saskia Maarleveld,
Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, and
Steve West give their souls to these broken beings.

Like her previous books, the writer tells a story of a family in pain, shocking revelations, and profound love; all while bringing awareness that our selfish greed is destroying the planet that we do not inhabit alone. Wild Dark Shore left me breathless.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair & honest review. Opinions are my own.

Truly one of the best stories I have ever read! And one of the few books to make me cry actual tears.

Synopsis:
On an island occupied by a single family, a woman washes up on shore. What happened to the other people on the island? And why did the woman come out here to such a remote and isolated place? As the storms turn lethal and the island itself continues to disappear into the ocean, ulterior motives will clash and loyalties will be tested.

Review: With a tone that's bleak yet hopeful and an exquisite style that evokes all the senses, the narrative prose is such that you'll want to lose yourself in. The island comes to life in an otherworldly, folklore-feeling tale, with characters you'd die for and a plot you'll want to live for.

✨My rating: 5

Themes:
- Climate change
- Conservation efforts
- Grief
- Redemption
- Forgiveness

Emoji Vibes:
🌊⛈️💔🦭🐋🥼🎻🌱

This was incredible on audio. Not my normal style of book, but I was obsessed with this one immediately. It’s very atmospheric and I cared about all the characters.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but this one didn't hook me like it did most people. This book had so many different levels covering grief and loss as well as love and family.

I’m a clear outlier here, but I had a lot of trouble getting into this one. I only had the audio to guide me, and while the narrators were all terrific, I’m not sure if that’s why I struggled to connect with this one. It just sounded all so dreary and I had to continuously rewind and re-listen to parts, because my mind kept drifting off. I think this was more of a me problem, so I wouldn’t *not* recommend it to anyone.