Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Damnation Spring

I’d like to start off by saying that this book would probably be most enjoyable for people who enjoy 1970s US historical fiction, as well those that are into environmental-themed reads. The novel’s concept is interesting, and you really get to know each of the characters involved. Although I found myself frequently getting distracted and could barely focus on this read; I spent months trying to read this chunks at a time so I could review this as fairly as possible Dr spite my apparent disinterest. I snagged this as a ARC from @netgalley, as I had heard great things about it. I found that I learned quite a bit about how the logging process goes, and it inspired a variety of conversations with my relatives about their memories of the time. As someone who has seen the environmental changes to my Southern California town over a few years, I felt for those residents of Damnation Springs that represented everyone who was tired of our forests being destroyed. I’ve seen my town get drier, hotter, and a whole lot less green. Even if I did not really care for the writing style, I will agree that it was covering some very important issues. I think what really made this a 3/5 for me though was the ending; it felt too cliche after the originality of the rest of the story.

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nordstina's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Damnation Spring highlights a close knit logging community in California who have to come to terms with both the increasing regulations around the industry and the environmental consequences of it. Colleen, a makeshift midwife and her husband Rick, a career logger live with their son Chub. Colleen has experience several miscarriages and has been at the births of multiple children with severe birth defects. Some important events propel the narrative forward. Rick purchases a plot of land where he could potentially make a windfall set up his family financially without telling Colleen. A man from Colleen's past returns to the town in order to research the fishing and water in the area, measuring the deleterious effects of the constant spraying. Davidson is able to color in a community and lifestyle for the reader, and provided context for different characters' motivations. There were a couple of characters who were sort of comically evil, but overall I enjoyed this one. It provided a nice balance of the effects of destruction of the environment while also highlighting the consequences for a community built on a single industry.

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dwager's review

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backpackingbookworm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

We picked Damnation Spring as our book club choice for January. The initial attraction (based on the cover and blurb) was the PNW setting, a new topic to explore (logging and the life that comes with it), community tension and generational endurance. All things I love to immerse myself in.

As anticipated, Damnation Spring was a sweeping saga that centred around the Gunderson's. Rich, an experienced tree-topper following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather (both of whom died on the job), has his eye on the 24/7 ridge - a sprawling mass of giant trees that would ensure he could provide for his wife and son well into the future. But when a growing group of tree huggers show up, Rich and his fellow loggers find themselves in jeopardy - without the trees, how will they survive? How will they feed their families? Logging is ingrained in their skin, tattooed into their calloused hands - it's all they have. With both sides explored, Davidson expertly tackles the themes of environmentalism, greed, and the impact of logging on families, the community, and health.

Firstly, the rich descriptions in this book were truly transportational - you could instantly picture yourself in each character's shoes, slogging through mud, catching your breath as a tree came crashing down, feeling the strength of the rushing water as you waded chest-deep into the creek. However, there is a line you can cross with descriptions where they become overkill and unfortunately it got to that point with this book. It felt so drawn out at times and I did consider DNFing on multiple occasions because nothing was happening other than what felt like redundant descriptions. It was the slowest burn I've read in a long time and I felt like I was slogging through mud A LOT, especially in the beginning. I'm not against slow burns, in fact, I love them, but there's they need to build tension and still feel relevant - too many parts felt mundane and could have easily been edited out without affecting the story. Add to that the heavy technical language and logging jargon that the reader is expected to pick up without explanation - it was a good job I read on my phone because I used the dictionary way more than normal.

I'm still giving four stars though (4.1 to be exact) because I did really enjoy the characterisation, the narrative and the themes. It was a really interesting read and tackled a lot of sensitive subjects. It reminded me of the way Jodi Picoult lays out her books - we hear from both sides of a controversial topic and we get more than one perspective, leading us to make our own decisions rather than being heavily guided by the author. I always appreciate that in a book, especially when it could be very easy to pick a side and focus on that.

Also 10/10 for a beautiful cover 😍

Rating breakdown

Plot/narrative - 4.1
Writing style/readability - 3.5
Characters - 4.2
Diverse themes - 4.3
Ending - 4.2

Overall - 4.1

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sophiejohn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

What...what do I even say about this book? Ash Davidson, you are a fucked up lady who can WRITE.

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it is LONG. Way longer than necessary. Like the end just kept going and the first third of the book was very drawn out. The first third though, I get that. The worldbuilding in this was totally immersive, and it had to be because PNW logging culture in the 1970s is incredibly niche. So I think that the first third to half is a character study that provides the necessary context in the fall and early winter months to understand the nuances of the actions that the characters take when the plot starts to snowball in the late winter to spring-summer months.

Emotionally, this was a roller coaster. The writing was out of this world to me, but the cover looks way too happy for this ultimately devastating book.

having rich die at the end felt like it undid all the tension that had been so carefully built throughout the very long story. I was hoping for some kind of payoff - and we were about to get it, too. in the last 50-85 pages (I think? I read this digitally), I felt like I was gulping water after being thirsty all day, then the bottom just fell out of my glass.
also the dog stuff? fucked. sick in the head. my mental health during this book was hanging on the thread that is scout the dog, most tender and loyal hound, and Ash Davidson just snipped it (like that other dog's vocal cords 😳).</spoiler

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