Peggy Townsend

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE WILD is a compulsive domestic thriller set on a remote Alaskan homestead. The protagonist Liv is trapped there, held prisoner by her husband. As winter quickly approaches, she has to figure out a way to escape with her young son in tow.

I thought this would be a “chased through the wild” thriller, but it was quite different from what I was expecting, and I enjoyed it. Liv processes a lot of heavy secrets and emotional baggage as she struggles to survive on the homestead, learning much about herself and her husband. There aren’t a lot of big twists, and most of the action takes place at the very end, but I was still on pins and needles waiting to see how everything would play out.

I would recommend this introspective and engrossing survivalist tale to thriller readers looking for something a bit different.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book. Opinions are my own.… (més)

Trigger Warning: murder, death, rape, wilderness survival

Following her husband into the Alaskan wilderness after he “died”, Liv Russo ends up in a shipping container-turned-storage shed by her husband and his new lover. She vows to do anything to protect her son and escape. Carrying her own secrets, Liv must navigate the tough(er) world around her with the extreme weather, one bad incident away from starvation, and the dangerous wildlife. With winter’s arrival knocking on the door, Liv knows she must face her past and be sneaky in order to make it out alive.

I originally wanted to read this title because I was trying to step outside my usual reading comfort zone and also I wanted a book set in Alaska. This was… okay. It’s marked as a mystery but I guess maybe I don’t read enough mystery to know the feeling of a mystery (if that makes sense). Definitely felt the thriller aspect of it though, especially when it dealt with the survivalist parts of the story.

This book also went back and forth in time, but would still sometimes be in “Present” when the chapter would be marked as “Then” and that kind of threw me off a little bit.

I have such mixed feelings about this overall though, and I’m not quite sure if I’m going to be able to explain why. I both liked and hated the story and its setup, but I enjoyed the ending and how it was finished. It felt more of a survivalist story, but we still didn’t have a lot of survival stuff. I would have loved to know more about Rudy and what all he knew and understood about what was happening…

Overall though, I’m glad I read it, and enjoyed it quite enough. I feel like I will end up recommending this as a survivalist story moreover than a mystery though.

*Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (més)

The Beautiful and the Wild is Peggy Townsend's newly released novel.

This descriptor caught my eye - "The dangers of Alaska aren't limited to storms, starvation, and grizzly bears. Sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person you love."
My preconceived idea of what path Townsend's plotting would take was oh so wrong. Which I was quite happy with! It's refreshing to come across a narrative I hadn't expected.

Our lead character is Liv. She's likeable and readers will immediately be behind her. That first chapter is a doozy! There's a supporting cast in the 'now' chapters that will have you shaking your head. But the premise is not so far from reality.

Liv's tale is told from a now and then narrative. And again, my perspective on Liv changed with each 'then' revelation. There's more to Liv than you'd think. What impact will that past have on the present? Townsend does a great job of ramping up the tension and danger with every chapter in the present.

It was easy to imagine the setting with Townsend's detailed descriptions.

Bottom line? I really enjoyed The Beautiful and the Wild. The past and present storytelling style is one of my favorites and Townsend did a great job of keeping my curiosity piqued in both narratives. I couldn't put the book down! And I thought the ending was perfect.… (més)