Book Review: The Nature of Disappearing | Kimi Cunningham Grant

Some may call this a slow burn, but it drew me right in. Kimi Cunningham Grant’s The Nature of Disappearing is rich with character development and atmospheric settings. A wilderness guide is searching for a friend who went missing, but she may not be able to escape her past in this suspenseful mystery.

What is The Nature of Disappearing about?

Emlyn doesn’t let herself think about the past.

How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the man she thought was the love of her life, left her freezing and half-dead on the side of the road three years ago.

Her new life is simple and safe. She works as a fishing and hunting guide, spending her days in Idaho’s endless woods and scenic rivers. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer, her closest friends a handsome and kind Forest Service ranger and the community’s makeshift reverend, who took her in at her lowest.

But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa, it turns out, has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged survivalist boyfriend. But she hasn’t posted lately, and when she does, it’s from a completely different location than where her caption claims to be. In spite of their fractured history, Emlyn knows she might be the only one with the knowledge and tracking skills to save her friend, so she reluctantly teams up with Tyler. As the two trace Janessa’s path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can’t deny there’s still chemistry crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn’t the only one in danger. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

What did I think?

It is a credit to the author that in a relatively short amount of pages, I felt like I knew the main character Emlyn quite well. With tidbits from her backstory, watching her interact with those in the present, and seeing her learn about her missing friend, I was able to understand Emlyn at a deeper level than is typical. Cunningham Grant has a talent for drawing complex and realistic characters that is evident in this book.

The story revolves around the disappearance of Emlyn’s friend Janessa. Emlyn reflects on meeting Janessa in her Carhart jacket and carrying a can of bear spray to ward off drunks at the bar, but Janessa was just as comfortable with styled hair and flawless make up the next day in their university class. From the very first time Janessa was introduced, the reader finds themselves as fascinated by her as Emlyn did.

Without knowing the details, the reader also learns that Emlyn went through a pretty significant break up before we meet her in the present as a wilderness guide. It seems evident that this relationship had a strong and negative impact on Emlyn. She lives in mostly solitude now, and there was something fragile about her that the reader picks up on right away.

Emlyn learns that Janessa went missing initially by chance. She’s wracked with guilt that a call with Janessa dropped last week and she never found out what Janessa needed from her. The two never reconnected and now she’s missing. Was the call related? Janessa’s disappearance also brings her ex back into her orbit, as he asks Emlyn to help him find Janessa.

Having seen glimpses of the trauma Emlyn seems to carry from her previous relationship, I was fascinated to meet Tyler—the ex-boyfriend. A love story broken by betrayal, I wanted to know what would happen. Would this be a story of fated lovers brought back together through a common quest, or one of a woman realizing that he was never the man she thought he was. Or maybe even something else! I won’t spoil it, getting to see their story unfold and learning more about the past was one of the more intriguing parts of the plot.

Janessa remained at the center for me, though we only see her in the past through Emlyn’s memories. The two have drifted apart from what was once a close friendship. Now, Janessa is a popular social media figure, documenting her van life adventures with her boyfriend. But it seems that her latest post is in a different place than the caption implies, and Emlyn may be the only person suited to find Janessa based on those clues.

The falling out between Emlyn and Janessa is related to her break up with Tyler, and it also brought Emlyn to her current position working as a wilderness guide. A forest ranger named Varden helped Emlyn, and brought her to the wilderness company owned by an elderly woman named Rev. Now, this is the place Emlyn thinks of as home.

This isn’t a soapy type of influencer book as others who explored a similar concept over the last few years have been. More than anything, it’s a book about relationships, trust, and what happens when those are broken. Is it irreparable? I found the story atmospheric and the characters and their relationships compelling.

I did the audiobook for The Nature of Disappearing which is narrated by Emily Pike Stewart. Its so important for a narrator to be a match for the story and character they are portraying, and Emily Pike Stewart was a great choice for Emlyn. This book is rich with detail and elegant writing, as well as the complex character of Emlyn as our narrator. Audiobook listeners will enjoy it!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own.