Wild Dark Shore

Author:  Charlotte McConaghy

Who Picked the Book: Christina

One-sentence summary: A family on a remote antarctic island dealing with immense death and loss rescue a woman who washes up injured on the shore, forcing them to make choices about truth and survival.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: The story was interesting and engaging. 

Our least favorite thing about it: The setting, characters and themes were depressing.

Main Topics of Discussion: Setting, Pacing, Family Dynamics, Survival, Grief

Our favorite quote: "Maybe we will drown or burn or starve one day, but until then we get to choose if we’ll add to that destruction or if we will care for each other."

Notes: We agreed that this book was interesting and kept us engaged while reading. For most of us, it was the relationships that were most interesting. The climate change parts of the story, and especially the seeds didn't seem to carry the weight with us that they were intended to. (We didn't care about the seeds.) We talked about how the atmosphere / setting was so prominent in the story. It was so dark and creepy and it was intended to be. There was also so much death. We thought that Rowan's death was not necessary and we didn't really think it served the story at all. We didn't like that. We felt that Hank's demise and final "confrontation" with Fin (if it can even be called that) was anti-climactic. We mostly didn't really connect with any of the characters - they seemed removed from us, like we couldn't get close to them. We also thought that the romance between Dom and Rowan was...weird. We normally hate plot devices that require characters to keep huge secrets from each other - it's just annoying. But even we could admit that had the Salt's told Rowan everything when she washed up, it would not have been a good situation!

Memorable Meeting Moments: We ate at Black Hawk Brewery on their second level outdoor space. Then we went back to Christina's new house for the first time. Zeke slipped right past us into the attic insulation and bounded around in there for a while! 

What We Ate: Fried Brussels Sprouts and Pretzel bites for appetizers, Smash Burgers and Chicken Pesto Paninis for main dishes. Christina had a dessert charcuterie for us at her house.