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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Damnation Spring is an ambitious, heart-wrenching debut with beautifully flawed characters and an immersive setting. It’s not often a book brings me to tears, but this book left me an emotional mess. I won’t be surprised if it ends up as one of my top reads for the year. I would even venture to say it’s a perfect novel.
While it took me a while to settle into, by the end of the book I was completely invested in the story of this broken and troubled family. I didn’t want to leave them. Davidson has brought a small logging town in the 1970s Pacific Northwest to life. And while some of the logging jargon was hard to follow at times, it never took me out of the book. In fact, it made it even more real.
And that’s what they made Google for, anyway, right?? I love when a good story also teaches me something.
I was repeatedly impressed with Davidson’s ability to have me sympathizing with the loggers when I knew if I was plopped down into this story, I’d be one of the hippie tree-huggers. She humanized each character, whether they were ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
The book is told from three different points of view: Rich, his wife Colleen, and their five year old son Chub. I was never lost when the views changed, each voice distinct and beloved by the end.
While it deals with some very heavy and serious subjects—environmental degradation, infidelity, miscarriage, birth defects—at its heart, it’s a novel about perseverance, family history, commitment, and love. This story wrecked me. In a good way, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
While it took me a while to settle into, by the end of the book I was completely invested in the story of this broken and troubled family. I didn’t want to leave them. Davidson has brought a small logging town in the 1970s Pacific Northwest to life. And while some of the logging jargon was hard to follow at times, it never took me out of the book. In fact, it made it even more real.
And that’s what they made Google for, anyway, right?? I love when a good story also teaches me something.
I was repeatedly impressed with Davidson’s ability to have me sympathizing with the loggers when I knew if I was plopped down into this story, I’d be one of the hippie tree-huggers. She humanized each character, whether they were ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
The book is told from three different points of view: Rich, his wife Colleen, and their five year old son Chub. I was never lost when the views changed, each voice distinct and beloved by the end.
While it deals with some very heavy and serious subjects—environmental degradation, infidelity, miscarriage, birth defects—at its heart, it’s a novel about perseverance, family history, commitment, and love. This story wrecked me. In a good way, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Medical content, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to @scribnerbooks for the gifted arc!! The fact that this is a DEBUT, is mind-blowing! This book was a total surprise, I wanted to read it as I did not have much knowledge about logging or the logging community. Also, the cover
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Damnation Spring is a highly-praised debut novel by Ash Davidson. Although spun over a brief period of a one year, it has a feeling of the grandiose family saga, exploring the timeless interrelationships between humans and the environment.
For ages, the redwood trees nurtured the logging community, yet, as the continuing, reckless exploration of the forest finally destroys the fragile balance of this incredible ecosystem, the repercussions start reflecting on the dwellers. As the herbicide sprayings poison the drinking water, more and more childbirth defects occur.
The main protagonists of the story - lumberjack Rich, his wife, Colleen, and son, Chub - experience the aftermaths of the logging industry as well. They find themselves at an impasse as their income depends on the controversial enterprise while their health suffers from it.
Characters are relatable and their personal feelings are deeply investigated as they are challenged with various ethical concerns. The logging industry is presented in detail, yet for a greenhorn such as I, it was sometimes difficult to get a good grip and visualise it properly. I also found the writing style a bit challenging; nevertheless, I appreciated the complexity of the Ash Davidson’s language.
Big thank you to Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss+ for the advanced digital copy.
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes