Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Heartwood

Heartwood by Amity Gaige (2025), 309 pages 

This is a slow-paced book with a fast-paced plot. I thought there would be a lot more suspense and drive as the story revolves around a missing hiker on the Appalachian Trail. Instead, there are heartfelt asides and side character reminiscences that dissipate any sort of urgency you might feel for the protagonist. Gaige touches upon several interesting ideas, but it is all surface level, which becomes a bit frustrating. It would have been worth the book being longer for her to more fully develop these ideas and help the reader connect on a deeper level. It reads like a first draft and I would have loved to have read the next, expanded iteration. 

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