Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: April 9, 2019
Source: Personal copy
Summary:
Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air.
Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows gravely ill, their mother leaves with the child to get help from a nearby town. And they never return.
As months pass, hope vanishes. Supplies are low. Livestock are dying. A brutal winter is bearing down. Then comes the stranger. He claims to be looking for the girls’ mother, and he’s not leaving without them.
To escape, Wren and her sister must break the rule they’ve grown up with: never go beyond the forest.
Past the thicket of dread, they come upon a house on the other side of the pines. This is where Wren and Sage must confront something more chilling than the unknowable. They’ll discover what’s been hidden from them, what they’re running from, and the secrets that have left them in the dark their entire lives.
My thoughts:
A couple of years ago I discovered Minka Kent when I listened to When I Was You and I knew I would be going back and reading more of her books. I was thrilled when my IRL book club picked this book for our October book…and it was another one that I ended up devouring in a day!
There is just something about this author’s writing that just grabs me right away and I found that again with this book. I loved that there isn’t a lot of build-up before we are right into the mix of things. I also loved that you get that sense that something isn’t quite right…but boy did I not see it going in the direction it went. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is a book where there are secrets upon secrets and it makes for a suspenseful, tense read.
The story is told through two perspectives and in the beginning I just could not figure out how they were going to intertwine. This one definitely has some creepy vibes at times, but also at times it is emotionally charged. I found myself invested in both storylines. I kept thinking I knew what was happening, that I knew where things were heading and I could not have been more wrong. I had my theories about certain characters – and I think the author purposely writes them this way – and I loved that…it makes you suspicious and keeps you on your toes.
This book is fast-paced and I was captivated the entire time. Between the short chapters and the little cliffhangers that we would occasionally get, I could not put this one down. This just further proves that I need to read more of Minka Kent’s books as I am now two for two! I definitely recommend this one if you haven’t already read it!
Audio thoughts:
This book translated really well onto audio. I think the two narrators, Lauren Ezzo and Melissa Moran, really did a great job with the parts they were given. The emotions and tension they infused into their voices were just right and their pacing and intonation really were spot on.
