Wild Dark Shore: Reese's Book Club Pick (A Novel)
4.4 | 28,323 ratings
Price: 14.99
Last update: 01-10-2026
Product details
- ASIN : B0D12WJTBY
- Publisher : Flatiron Books
- Accessibility :
- Publication date : March 4, 2025
- Language : English
- File size : 5.7 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 307 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250827999
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank:#72 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Contemporary Women Fiction
- Contemporary Women's Fiction
- Women's Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction
- Customer Reviews:4.44.4 out of 5 stars(24,773)
Wild Dark Shore: Reese's Book Club Pick (A Novel)Top reviews from the United States
- MariejwsBeautifully descriptive and Inspiring"Wild Dark Shore" is an absolute gem of a story that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. It's one of those rare books that manages to be both gripping and inspiring at the same time. The author masterfully weaves together elements of mystery, adventure, and deep emotional themes, all set against the backdrop of a beautifully rendered landscape.
The characters are well-developed and relatable, each with their own unique arcs that resonate long after you turn the last page. I found myself particularly drawn to how the protagonist's journey unfolds, as it is filled with moments of self-discovery and courage that left me feeling inspired.
The writing style is vivid and evocative, bringing the wild, untamed setting to life in a way that makes you feel like you're right there along with the characters. What I appreciated most was how the story balances tension and reflection, making it not just a thrilling read but also a thoughtful exploration of resilience and hope. - K. SterlingThis is a very good, but not great, bookFirst, this is an interesting book with terrific descriptions and good character development. The plot is plausible, although there are a few moments where I had to suspend belief, and sometimes it takes too long for the story to go anywhere - but then the author will provide a well-placed teaser that often surprises and always serves to drive the story forward. There were some plot twists i didn't see coming.
So. What makes this a very good book but not a great one?
The author does WAY too much preaching about climate change, which unfortunately for her timing in the release of this book, is being disproven or at least the predictions toned down. According to her, the earth is in the midst of an environmental catastrophe and we are literally going to die in our lifetimes. The moments where she chooses to preach are stilted at best, and it's so obvious that she's using the characters' dialogue to rather arrogantly tell us all what we need to do: Don't have babies and for god's sake don't use any fossil fuels.
In addition, the author waxes long re: mankind's history of killing seals and other animals, and excoriates the past without any context. Seals were killed for their oil and their skins, at a time in history when we had no ability to make synthetic clothing for winter, and electricity was often beyond people's means. I get it, it was awful, but it's done and certainly no one is doing it now, so why bring it up over and over and over again?
Lastly, the author does a lot of speaking through a 9-year-old boy, who is used, it seems, to tell us every scant crumb of information the author dug up in her research for the book. Never mind that no 9 year old on the planet talks like this boy, who sounds like he's 40 years old. Some of the factoids are interesting, but some of it is just too much and should have been cut out.
All of that said, the book is pretty well plotted, despite a few slow moments, and the use of teasers was brilliant. The author has remarkable command of language used for descriptions, the reader can easily picture this wild and unfamiliar landscape b/c of the author's deft use of words, and she made me care about all of the characters. But the preaching turned me off. She could have made her point once and then left it alone, but instead she hammers too often and too long about climate change and bits of history that no one can do anything about. - Bonnie BrodyDo Yourself a Favor - Read This Book!It's not often that I cry while reading a novel. In fact, it's very rare. However, this beautifully written book really got into me, I mean INTO ME. I succumbed to its narrative, characters, and messages. Charlotte McConaghy can write. I've read all three of her novels and they're all wonderful.
Wild Dark Shore is about several things but the most important messages are the ones about the dangers and impending doom of climate change, and the importance of love.
The Salt family live on a very remote island named Shearwater. Its closest land mass is Antarctica. Dominic is the widowed dad, and Fen, Raff, and Orly are his children. One day, out of nowhere, a woman named Rowan washes ashore. She and Dominic are suspicious of one another and keep an emotional distance between them. The children are all wonderful in their own way. Fen is at one with the ocean; Raff is empathic and plays the violin beautifully; and Orly is a lexicon of world seeds and the seed vault on the island.
Originally, this island was a research station but there do not appear to be any researchers remaining; just Rowan and the Salt family now residing there. There is a mystery about what happened to the researchers, and several hypotheses about their disappearance.
The book reads like the most beautiful poetry. Ms. McConaghy captures the love, agony, hope, fear and resiliency of Rowan and the Salt family as they face environmental and personal challenges. The relationships between the characters are beautifully depicted with immediacy and insight.
I know this novel will be one of my top ten of the year. - muesik8486a winner!It’s a love story, a family story which features a father and his three kids and the complexities of all of that, and it’s just so beautiful how each character is so strong and delicate. Everyone is interwoven and it’s just a lovely depiction of a fathers relationship and love for his children. Must read. Will highly enjoy or love it like me. You’ll feel both crushed that it’s over and satisfied at the same time which is rare for any book!