These Silent Woods (Book Review)

Back in December, my sister was in a production of A Christmas Carol. She lives about three hours away, so my mom and I drove up together every weekend to catch as many showings as we can. We often listen to audiobooks together, but between the road trip weekends and the insanity that is Christmas season in retail I’d been exhausted. On at least one of the trips, I slept while she drove and listened to her next book club book, which was These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant. I drifted in and out of sleep, so I heard a few scenes wildly out of context (including, unfortunately, the epilogue). What I heard sounded interesting and my mom enjoyed the book so later, on my own time and fully awake, I listened to it for myself.

What’s it about?

Cooper and his young daughter Finch are living off the land in a cabin deep in the woods. Those aren’t their real names, and they’re as much hiding as living in the middle of nowhere; years ago, Cooper did something bad enough that he had to flee with Finch and change their names lest his past come back to bite him and take Finch away from him. After several years of relative peace—occasional visits from their odd and unsettling neighbor Scotland notwithstanding—things start to go wrong, throwing new people into their small world and threatening the closed but safe life Cooper built for them. 

How’s the narration?

These Silent Woods has two narrators. Bronson Pinchot, reading as Cooper, does the vast majority of the novel, with Stephanie Willis taking the sole chapter that is not from Cooper’s first person perspective. Both narrators do a good job: engaging but calm, just what the story needs. This novel is sort of a thriller, but it’s mostly about the careful atmosphere that Cooper creates, and Pinchot creates that with his voice.

What’d I think?

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I have slightly mixed feelings about These Silent Woods, and it’s all due to the end. There’s the slightest disconnect between the setup and the payoff, and even though I could kind of see the end coming I still found it a little underwhelming.

Where the Crawdads Sing (Book Review) ⭐⭐⭐

I work at a bookstore, so I have a pretty good idea about what books people are reading. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens has been at the top of the bestseller list for months. It’s in Reese Witherspoon’s book club. The waiting list for it at my library is, no lie, 122 people long, which is possibly why it is selling ridiculously well. I’ve learned to recognize even the worst descriptions of it. At one point, I repeatedly had conversations like this:

CUSTOMER: I’m looking for that one book, but I don’t remember the title.

ME: Where the Crawdads Sing?

CUSTOMER: That’s it!

DIFFERENT CUSTOMER: I just finished it! It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read!

That last bit is not an exaggeration. I have had multiple people tell me that. I figured that, based on all that feedback, I should definitely give the book a shot even though it is not the sort of book I normally like.

What’s it about?

Kya lives in the marsh, at first with her full family, then with only her abusive father, and finally on her own. From a very young age, she learned to take care of herself and to stay out of view. Because of this, Kya takes on a somewhat mythical persona for the residents of the nearby town. Where the Crawdads Sing, which is takes place over about twenty years starting in 1952, tells the story of Kya’s childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, and intertwines it with the investigation of a murder for which Kya is the primary suspect.

Did I enjoy Where the Crawdads Sing?

Yes.

Is it one of the best books I’ve ever read?

No.

So what’d I think?

Author Delia Owens is a wildlife scientist who has written several well-regarded nonfiction books, but this is her first novel. Honestly, that tracks. The writing is very good ninety-five percent of the time, and Owens does a particularly good job creating her atmosphere. She shines when she is writing about nature and the ways wildlife interacts with human existence. She’s less adept where humans interact with… other humans. Her dialogue is stilted—at times, painfully stilted—and some of her characterizations seem off.