Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Wild Dark Shore
by Charlotte McConaghy
Mystery | Thriller
303 Pages
Released March 2025
Rating: ★★★★★
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Content Warnings
I knew the second I saw this cover and read the description that I would love this book, and this time my hunch was right. I’ve had one of McConaghy’s other books (Migrations) on my TBR for a while but I got lucky and snagged this one early from my library.
This book follows five perspectives over the course of several tumultuous weeks on an isolated island located between the shores of Australia and Antartica. On this island lives a family of four - Dominic and his three children (Raff, Fen and Orly). They are charged with an important responsibility - maintaining the island’s wold seed bank. But when Dominic’s daughter, Fen, drags a shipwrecked woman ashore in the aftermath of a terrible storm, the family is immediately on edge.
First off, this book is so fantastically atmospheric. I adored that the island was based off of a real location because the setting was extremely vivid throughout this story. The tension is palpable and you can feel a distinct undercurrent of mistrust, fear and tension between all the characters.
I admit, when I realized this would be the type of story where you could feel all the characters withholding information from the reader, I was a bit nervous. Normally I’m not a big fan of those type of “miscommunication” stories, but this story brilliantly captured my interest and didn’t let go. If the pacing is right, this type of storytelling doesn’t bother me.
I know some people claimed this book be predictable but I disagree. Really liked the way the story unfolded and how things were slowly revealed over the course of the book. I like how the author brought awareness to climate change but didn’t make it the focal point of the book.
I also fell in love with all the characters. Each one felt real, and flawed and just so human - I felt so protective of all of them by the end of the story. In a lot of books I find that authors really shine at characters or plot, but in this case both were masterfully done. This story really brought out all the emotions while I was reading and I loved every moment.
If you love a book that excels at both characters and plot, I highly recommend you pick this one up, especially if you are also a fan of books that draw attention to things like climate change.