This was an excellent story really well-narrated. There are several narrators and each brought something different to the listening experience and made the characters come to life.

I'm a fan of McConaghys. She does climate fiction well, it can lean towards preachy (climate fiction, not this book) and I think she veered from the preachiness by giving our learning moments over to a precocious child. There was mystery, suspense, family drama, grief, ghosts, and an island as much of a character as the people in the story. It was totally fascinated by the habitat.

Entertaining and educating at once.

Absolutely beautiful! This is the third Charlotte McConaghy novel I've read (previously having enjoyed Migrations and, to a slightly lesser degree, Once There Were Wolves) — and this is the best one yet!

In the deepest isolation possible, a family lives on a small island off the coast of Antarctica, manning a lighthouse that stands guard over the Earth's largest seed bank. Single father Dominic and his three children are the last residents on the island, after the scientific researchers have fled from rising sea levels and increasingly damaging storms. It's during one such storm that Dominic's daughter rescues a drowning woman from the sea. Who is she, and how did she come to wash up on an island so remote? As they nurse her back to health, Dominic's family and the woman come to realize that their lives are irrevocably woven together with secrets and emotions held tight on both sides.

I've just about sworn off cli-fi entirely, because typically speculative science fiction revolving around climate change ends up as just a slow drudging meander, casting the nomadic lifestyle as the main character more than the people. This is where McConaghy truly shines, however. Her books seem deeply personal to the characters, centered around their stories and emotions that just happen to be in the context of climate change. Her settings are atmospheric and you're left with little doubt as to the fate of the world, but her characters remain relatable, grounded, and forgivably flawed.

Read this if you like: slow-burn mysteries, literary fiction, strong character development, and stories about love, family dynamics, loyalty, and justice. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Charlotte McConaghy for an advance copy for honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for allowing me to review this audiobook for my honest review. Wow! This was so beautifully written. It is a story of nature and our human response. It is not to be read lightly. However, it is so beautifully written and tragic. I loved the narrators and really appreciated the multiple POV’s. My favorite was perhaps learning about the various seeds and their will to survive. There were many slow parts to this book, so it is not one to rush through. But, it is well worth the read. I learned so much while also being entertained. That makes for a pretty amazing book!

Thanks to @netgallary and @macmillian.audio for this advanced audio copy.

I am a big fan of Charlotte McConaghy's writing and really enjoyed both "Migrations" and "Once Their Were Wolves". I also loved her newest: "Wild Dark Shore" which will come out on March 4th. At a fictional island in the middle of the ocean, somewhere between Australia and Antarctica is Shearwater, where Dom and his three children serve as caretakers for the wild island, with just a few scientists, the world's largest seed collection and many, many animals.
But the storms are getting worse, the scientists are leaving, and Dom is haunted by the tragedy that brought them here in the first place. Oh and then a mysterious woman who is half dead washes up on their shores. Who is she? And what does she want?
Set in a very near future and as usual with McConaghy's writing, we get climate change and environmental tension in spades. It is a well written book with a dark atmosphere that is hard to describe as it descends so many genres: thriller, mystery, romance, literary fiction, dystopian?

The book explores complicated feelings about climate change and being a parent in a dying world, about choices we make and about the future we have or don't have.
It is surprising in its tension, and often both sexy and dangerous and actually does have many twists and turns and kept me on my ocean toes.
Who is keeping secrets from who? And can they trust each other enough to try to get through this and live?
Both heartwarming and sad, another stunner from Charlotte McConaghy.

30% into the book and nothing interesting has happened. And there is nothing, plot or characters, compelling me enough to finish. Sorry

Audio book review- 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A woman, Rowan washes to shore on a remote island, she’s rescued by a teenage girl who swims out to pull her in. They take care of her and she awake to a father, Dominic, and his 3 kids. They are hiding secrets and Rowan doesn’t immediately clue them into her arrival. Slowly they come to know each other and Rowan starts to care for Dominic and his children. The island is going underwater and they must all gather seeds from the supply while waiting to be rescued from the island.
The subplots behind each character were so beautifully written and revealed in such an interesting way to keep you hooked and going on this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Cue all the tears. I can already call this as my favorite book of the year. WOW. What a novel. Give it all the stars!

‘Wild Dark Shore’ by Charlotte McConaghy is a captivating novel about a family of three kids and their dad living on a secluded island. The narrators’ performances brought the story to life. If you’re a fan of her previous books, you’ll love this one. It’s a beautifully written mystery that explores the complexities of grief, family, parenthood and nature.

This is my kind of book. Charlotte McConaghy does a fantastic job with creating a wildlife atmosphere with the right amount of suspense and a slow burn romance. The narrators executed this mystery of the island and what happened perfectly.

The Salt family is living on a remote island. It is a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world's largest seed bank where researchers study these seeds. The researchers are gone. The Salt family is in charge of packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. They nurse her back to health but there is a secret the Salt family is keeping and the woman is also keeping a secret as well.

This book deals with the strong family bonds, found love, courage, isolation. The characters all have their own trauma to deal with. You can feel their love for each other is so strong. I feel in love with all the characters. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I went in with high expectations after seeing mostly 5 star ratings. I spent the first 80% thinking it was good, but not fully understanding all the hype. And then that ending…wow! It all came together and broke me. This is slow moving, but beautifully written and heavy with emotion, family dynamics, individual demons and guilt. I appreciated the depth and realness of the characters. These characters aren’t stereotypical or obvious. They are human. Complex, strong, weak, broken, and resilient.
Fantastic narrator choices! I could listen to Steve West talk all day.

Warning: Do not listen to the ending while driving 😭. I made this mistake and couldn’t see through my tears.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (always one of my favorite audio publishers!) for this ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Pub Date Mar 04 2025

I absolutely inhaled this audiobook. I have been a longtime fan of McConaghy, and Wild Dark Shore solidified that love. This story was incredible and profound. It was tense without being melodramatic. I just loved it.

Following a family living on an isolated island at a research facility dedicated to preserving land and helping the wildlife. As storms in the area begin to worsen, a woman washes ashore who has a mysterious connection to the family. I liked this, but didn’t love it like I thought I would. The setting is fantastic and there’s an interesting mystery to the plot… just some weird character choices and a completely unnecessary romance storyline that didn’t work for me.

what a read 👏🏼 this book takes place on a remote island near antarctica- it's sole purpose was for research and to store one of the world's seed banks. as the sea level is rising the conditions are getting inhospitable. dom and his three children are the last ones on the island- that is until a strange woman washes up on shore barely clinging to life. as she recovers her true identity is revealed and things are not what they appear. i absolutely enjoyed this one. it had me on the edge of my seat and had me constantly guessing what was going to happen next.

I took a chance on Wild Dark Shore based purely on the description and it blew me away. I’m not going to lie, I typically read romance because I need the happily ever after, and I can’t say that this ends on a happy note, and yet this book is about love and the capacity to love someone/thing so much that you would give your life.

I honestly couldn’t stop listening to this story. Firstly, the setting is so vivid; an inhospitable home for researchers, botanists, and the Salt family that live on Shearwater Island off the coast of Tasmania, with the shared goal of preserving a seed bank. At the opening of the book, the sea has churned up a woman in the middle of a storm—the weather is always a character that controls life, whether it is giving or taking. McConaghy creates such a clear picture of Shearwater that I could envision it as if I were there.

Using multiple narrators the reader pieces together what has happened on Shearwater to leave the Salt family alone on this island without communication, preparing to box and pack away seeds from the vault before the island becomes swallowed by the sea. We have the perspective of Dominic Salt, father and island caretaker, and his three children 18 year old Raff, 17 year old Fen, and 9 year old Orly. Rowan, the woman washed upon the shore of Shearwater who is looking for her husband is the other integral narrator. The geniusness of the storytelling is in the secrets that each character keeps. I could not stop listening, wanting to know more and more about each one of them and falling in love with them despite knowing that lies abound. Not only is the storytelling compelling, but the voice actors bring life to each of McConaghy’s islanders. This was a stellar performance by Steve West as Dominic and Saskia Maarleveld as Rowan, but also Cooper Mortlock and Katherine Littrell excellently portray the Salts and a stranger. There is a reason this book is getting a starred review from Kirkus as McConaghy weaves a haunting tale of nature, family, and how communicating with the ones we love can be both challenging and the essence of love. I received an early audio copy from Macmillan. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 📣📣📣📣📣
Memorability: 🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠
Compelling Emotional storytelling: 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
Tears shed: 💧💧💧

Charlotte McConaghy does it again! Wild Dark Shore is the tale of Dominic Salt and his three children -Raff, Fen, and Orly- who serve as the caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny remote island near Antartica. Shearwater is home to the world's largest seed bank and was once a hub for researchers until rising sea levels began to wash away the island. Now all of the researchers have fled, leaving the Salt family with the task of packing up the seeds to be transported to safety. One stormy night, an injured woman named Rowan washes up on shore. The Salts nurse her back to health and quickly come to love her as one of their own. However, secrets abound. As the truth slowly comes to light, relationships are tested, and Rowan and the Salts must decide whether they trust each other enough to save themselves and the seeds or if the sea will reclaim them all.

I absolutely love McConaghy's writing style and all of the wonderful tidbits of information that she includes in her novels. Wild Dark Shore is a riveting, suspenseful read that kept me on the edge of my seat while also filling me with a greater love and appreciation for nature. The characters are so well-developed, and the descriptions of the setting are just breathtaking. I cannot recommend the audiobook version enough. I loved the cast of narrators, and they really brought the characters to life for me. Wild Dark Shore is all at once thrilling, thought-provoking, and heartbreaking. I only wish that I could read it again for the first time!

<i>"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."</i>

4.5 stars rounded up.

Set on the fictional island of Shearwater, a research island between the coasts of Australia and Antarctica hosting the world's largest seed bank, [author:Charlotte McConaghy|2869149]'s latest work introduces us to the island's caretaker, Dominic Salt, and his three children - eighteen-year-old Raff, seventeen-year-old Fen, and nine-year-old Orly. With no scientists left, they are currently Shearwater's only inhabitants, preparing the seeds from its vault to be picked up and transported to safety amidst rising ocean levels. When a woman, Rowan, is washed ashore in a terrible storm, the Salt family rallies around her and tries to nurse her back to health, unaware that what brought Rowan to Shearwater will lead them to have to confront their own brokenness.

Charlotte McConaghy's outstanding [book:earlier|42121525] [book:works|54860573] are favorites of mine and ensured that I'll always pick up any of her future books, no questions asked. As she has done so magnificently before in those books, the author sets the events in "Wild Dark Shore" against the backdrop of a world in environmental crisis - in this case, climate change and rising ocean levels, which pose the very real and imminent threat of Shearwater being flooded and the seeds safeguarded on it lost. And once again, this is an absolutely genre-defying book: part environmental plea and nature book, part slow-burning thriller, part literary novel exploring, heart-wrenchingly, grief, family, the effects of trauma, and the impossible choices we make to protect the ones we love. "Wild Dark Shores" is character-driven and science-backed, and its story, though often bleak and set in a stark, unforgiving environment, is told in the author's characteristically beautiful, haunting prose.

The only things bothering me were that I personally did not care much for Dominic (as a father or a character), and that the romance angle felt unnecessary and not quite believable, given the characters' backstories. And while the ending was a beautiful arc of character growth, the actual final words felt a little too cliché for an otherwise extraordinary book by an immensely talented author.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book. I listened to the audiobook version of it, which I enjoyed; the production was flawless, and the five narrators were great at voicing the different characters.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Wild Dark Shore" is slated to be released on March 25, 2025.</i>

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the ALC.

I have read Charlotte McConaghy's previous two books, but I think this was my favourite of them all so far. I really liked the setting in this one, and the mystery on the island. I loved the characters as well - especially the kids.

The only problem I found with this one was that I did find it a little bit hard to follow at times as an ALC. I found at times the voice actor of the father, Dom, had such a strong accent, I couldn't always understand exactly what was being said and would have to go back and re-listen. I also listened to this over a long period of time because I never had time to listen in large chunks, and that did make it a bit more confusing for me. Both of these are me problems though!

Overall, this book was very well done, and I really enjoyed it. If you liked McConaghy's previous ones, you will definitely like this one!

4.5 stars rounded up.

If you love books where the setting feels like a character, this one’s for you. Sweeping landscapes, turbulent seas, and a protagonist searching for answers in a world that seems determined to break her. McConaghy’s prose is lyrical, immersive, and guaranteed to leave you feeling something long after you turn the last page.

This book is for the wanderers, the dreamers, and anyone who’s ever stared at the horizon and wondered what comes next. Heart-wrenching, beautifully written, and completely unforgettable.

Thank you for the advanced audiobook.. I absolutely love Charlotte McConaghy’s writing and was extremely excited to get the advanced copy. I finished this in one day. Her books are so thought provoking and beautifully written. I loved the multiple narrators. Saskia Maarleveld Is one of my favorite narrators.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen early in exchange for an honest review.
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025 and I'm please to say it did not disappoint! I absolutely loved Migrations and Once There Were Wolves, so this was an auto-buy for me that I pre-ordered as soon as it was up for sale.

Highly recommend for fans of her previous novels. A beautifully written, atmospheric, slow-burn mystery with an environmental science component which discusses grief, family, parenthood, love and nature and our place in it.

It takes place on a very remote, isolated island where caretakers of a seed vault are preparing to pack up and evacuate as rising sea levels make the island an unviable option for storing the seeds.
Many have already evacuated, with just one family remaining (a man and his 3 children). One day a woman washes up out of nowhere on the wild, dark shore of the island nearly dead. The teen daughter pulls her out of the water and they take her in.
All communications are down so they are unable to call anyone to come for her sooner than the prescheduled departure date months away, so until then she gets to know this family who clearly love one another fiercely but (like so many of us) struggle to talk to one another about the things that seem to be weighing so heavily on them. As relationships grow, so do suspicions that everyone is keeping secrets....
Throughout the course of the story, these characters come to open themselves up to caring for someone new while grieving those they've lost and to connect with one another again. It really was a touching story that kept me thinking about it long after I set it down. I absolutely fell in love with all of these characters. Both the writing as well as the excellent audio narration did a great job of creating distinct people in my head.

If you like beautiful writing, slow-burn mystery, found family, atmospheric isolated settings, and/or cli-fi I definitely recommend you pick this one up when it comes out in March.