Review: "The Nature of Disappearing" by Kimi Cunningham Grant

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Published June 2024 via Minotaur Books
★★★★

Emlyn is at her best in the wild—she has rarely been as much at peace with people than she is out in the wilderness. Her friend Janessa was an exception, but that relationship is over; her boyfriend Tyler was another exception, but that too is over. At least—those relationships were over until Tyler reaches out, asking for help. Janessa is missing...and Emlyn is his best bet to find her again.

This is something of a slow burn of a book, sliding between the here-and-now of Emlyn and Tyler's hunt for Janessa and the years beforehand—before Janessa took Emlyn under her wing, before Emlyn and Tyler found each other, before it all fell apart. Parts of the mystery are hinted at for the reader to guess before Emlyn does, but there are a lot of ways the story could turn out, which is satisfying; I guessed at some of it, especially as the story went on, but several other outcomes would have been realistic too.

The characters are satisfying, and there's something about Janessa and Emlyn's friendship that I think will resonate with a lot of readers—loving each other fiercely but Emlyn feeling that she's always in Janessa's shadow. (Their relationship is way more interesting than Emlyn's more predictable route with Tyler.) In places I'd have liked more from Janessa, who pretty much does everything with a bang but whom we of course only understand from Emlyn's perspective.

I'll leave it there because the details of the relationships are best unfolded with the pages of the book—but this was a satisfying read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.