dlt603 's review for:

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
3.0
I really had to sit with this one for a minute. There were aspects I enjoyed - the unrelenting setting and our powerlessness against nature, the slow burn of the mystery, the exploration of grief and loss while clinging to survival and hope. There was some really evocative writing and vivid imagery.
All that said, the entire mystery would not have existed if the characters simply spoke to each other, a trope that drives me crazy. I did not care for the rushed and inorganic relationship between Rowan and Dominic. I think a found family vibe could've been easily established without that.
And all the characters fell a bit flat for me. I'm not sure if it was all the jumping around to their different POVs that it never really built? It did keep me reading, I'd say the last 1/3 in particular really picked up, and there were some really beautiful and moving scenes (mama and baby whale 😭), but it overall felt like what the story could've been didn't meet the execution.
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