Another beautiful, whimsical tale from the author of The Snow Child (which I only read in December and was what prompted me to request this). Her evocative descriptions of the Alaskan landscape allow the reader in and set the scene. Getting to know Birdie, Emaleen and Arthur, the author's takes the reader on a magical realism ride of adventure, love and nature. This is a story that has stayed with me, the exploration of the balance between desire and realism. Such a beautiful and clever front cover too!

I read The Snow Child a long time ago, and had totally forgotten the beauty of Eowyn Ivey's writing. I was swept away by this wonderful adult fairy tale and loved this whole, emotional story.

I fell in love with Eowyn Ivey's writing years ago when I picked up a copy of her magical debut The Snow Child and that love was only cemented by my enjoyment of her next release, To The Bright Edge of the World so you can imagine my excitement when I found out I had an early copy of her latest release Black Woods, Blue Sky. Set in Alaska, the book follows Birdie a young struggling single mother and her daughter Emaleen. Life is not easy but when Birdie meets Arthur, a rather taciturn and somewhat peculiar man that life will be completely transformed. Leaving their small town behind Birdie and Emaleen move to Arthur's remote wilderness cabin in an area so isolated that the only way to access it is by plane. Life in the wilderness is simple and at first the trio are happy, but Arthur is holding a secret that will have devastating consequences for all of them.
This book has the hint of magical realism that I have come to expect from this author, and in some ways it had almost a fairytale feeling, especially in the middle section of the book which really focuses on Arthur, Birdie and Emaleen's life in the wilderness and the simple joys they all experience, but this is not a fairytale with a happy ending and not one for the faint of heart. The story is nothing short of tragic but there is a beauty in the tragedy that makes me think that this is a book that will stick with me for some time to come. The characters , or at least the adult ones are not always likable but they are strangely sympathetic and Emaleen is just a joy. The beautiful nature descriptions and wonderful sense of place that I always get from this author did not disappoint. I will say that I struggled with the pacing of the book, especially in the first section, it felt very slow and if I did not have such an affection for this author I might have given up at that point. That being said, I ended up loving the rest of the book, even the bittersweet ending that left me with a tear in my eye and I think that readers who have enjoyed Ivey's previous works will find much to enjoy here too.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

An atmospheric novel set in the Alaskan wilderness. The writing was beautiful and the author a gifted storyteller but the novel did not engage me.

When single mother Birdie meets Arthur she is fascinated by his enigmatic quietness and likes the way he is around her child, Emaleen. So much so that she risks everything when she accepts his offer to move into his remote cabin in the Alaskan wilderness, a plane ride away from civilisation. I very much enjoyed 'Black Woods, Blue Sky' (I am an Eowyn Ivey fan), but I only gave it 4 stars, as I was a little disappointed in the ending, and I felt the author had back herself into a corner. This is an off grid love story with a sting in its tale. It's very good.

This is a beautiful lyrical novel - a modern day fairytale that persuades you to believe the unbelievable and captures your soul without you even realising.

Birdie, a young mother, lives in Alaska with her young daughter, Emaleen. She works at a bar and leaves Emaleen alone during her shifts overnight, then leaves her to her own devices while she shakes off the hangovers over the night before during the day. Then Arthur, a quiet stranger who only speaks in the present tense, comes into their lives. Birdie opens up to him about her desire to live her life how she used to as a child, in the wildness of the mountains, and eventually the three of them take to the woods to live in his cabin in the woods, only accessible via his father's plane.

This is a story in three parts. The first part feels modern and "grubby", for want of a better word! The second part is where it turns into the fairytale - the descriptions become rich, and the world becomes magical, both through the ordinary magic of nature and the extraordinary. The third part is the "back to real life" section, but through almost new eyes.

The first part didn't grip me - I wasn't feeling the magic that was promised. And if you feel the same, I strongly urge you to continue. This part sets the scene. Like Ivey's other books, this is magic realism - it sits a story that seems unbelievable alongside real life and all the trappings that come with it. I was convinced I'd be rating this book 4 or even 3 stars until I got further into it.

I read The Snow Child by the author nearly 10 years ago and added it to my favourites list. I started but DNFed To The Bright Edge of the World a couple of years later, and I think I gave up as I was still stuck in the "first part" that I described about this book earlier, but at a time when I'd just had my first baby, so reading wasn't a priority. I now strongly believe I need to go back to that one!

I can't say a lot more without giving away the whole point of the story, but trust me, it was beautiful and haunting, the ending especially.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book.

I loved the writing of this story . The emotion and the beauty of the Alaskan landscape really come alive with her writing.
Set in Alaska it is the story of Birdie – a single mother who lives with her 6 year old daughter in a remote area of Alaska. Birdie works as a waitress in a bar and has to bring her daughter Emaleen into work with her as no one can look after her. Birdie strikes up a relationship with Arthur one of the diners – he is softly spoken and seems very gentle. They move in with Arthur and he lives in an even more isolated area in the woods living off grid.
There is a magical realism aspect to this story , but this was written so well that it didn’t feel over the top. It wasn't until I finished this that I read it was a sort of retelling of Beauty and The Beast and I can see that now. Its emotional and haunting and I was left thinking about this long after I read the book.

Magical realism in the Alaskan wilderness

Birdie, a troubled woman, takes her young daughter to live in an off grid cabin with Arthur – a strange man she barely knows, who only speaks in the present tense and disappears off into the wilderness for days at a time. Initially, the change in circumstances seems to be the fresh start they all need but things quickly unravel - this is not a happily-ever-after.

I both liked and didn't like this story. I didn't find Birdie to be a sympathetic character and her connection with Arthur doesn’t feel real. The changing of perspective and time shifts without indication didn't help me feel engaged with the characters and plot. In fact, I would have preferred this if it was just descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness - the parts of the characters exploring and learning the landscape were by far my favourite part.

I think the story works best if you assume it's allegorical - a look at whether you can change someone's true nature, along with child abuse and domestic violence. The alternative is taking the story literally which grossed me out.

As I said, a book that I both enjoyed and didn't. I think a lot of people will like this a lot more than I did, but, despite the great writing, it wasn't my kind of story.

There are some books which evoke a sense of place so strongly you feel as though you've been transported there. 'Black Woods, Blue Sky' does just that, creating a vivid image of Alaska - not just the look, but the feel of the place. It's a slightly strange story, but one that fits its setting perfectly. There's a real impression of a wild, remote place where unexplained things seem far more plausible than in the familiar urban world most readers will know.

The story is mostly told from the viewpoint of a young woman, Birdie, and her six year old daughter Emaleen. Birdie is a free spirited, chaotic young woman who works in a bar and whose parenting is well intentioned but not as thorough as it should be. Feeling constrained by her life and the disapproval she senses in other people, Birdie jumps at the chance to move to an extreme isolated mountain cabin with Arthur, a quiet young man she meets at the bar. Arthur seems strange, but harmless. However he has an extraordinary secret, which could put both Birdie and her little girl in danger.

I found all of the main characters likeable, even Birdie despite her behaviour often being quite incomprehensible to me. It's hard not to judge her, but at the same time there is no malice in her and she clearly loves her child. Not everyone is well equipped to manage life and make good decisions, even if they want to. I did have great sympathy for her ultimately, although the character I was really rooting for throughout was Emaleen. The writing from a child's viewpoint is done really well - which is unusual. Plot-wise it's an absorbing story that wasn't predictable - I wasn't sure how things would turn out, and it did in fact end up very differently to what I'd guessed.

I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy literary fiction, as long as they don't mind some supernatural elements. It would be a wonderful book to read if you were visiting Alaska, or any other wilderness region in the mountains or north of the world. I hope Eowyn Ivey writes a third novel, and doesn't make us wait as long as she did for this one.

This is one of the easiest reviews I have ever had the pleasure to write. This book just blew me away. The descriptions of the Alaskan wilderness just transport you so you almost feel you are there with the sights , sounds and smells of all the flora and fauna. The story revolves around a young single mother Birdie and her daughter Emaleen and how their lives change when they meet Arthur. A book of wonder and enchantment that also contains a growing sense of foreboding which kept me turning the pages until late in the night. A wonderful novel with a touch of magic, a book that will stay with me and one that I can’t recommend highly enough… is January too early to say you have found your book of the year?Manythanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for a honest review.

I’m really not into magical realism and tend to avoid novels that have magic or myth at their heart, but I’ve now read two of Eowyn Ivey’s novels that require a suspension of disbelief with regard to a main character, and I really enjoyed both (The Snow Child and this one). Fundamentally, Ivey writes a very good, compelling story.

Birdie and Evaleen, a young mother and her 6 year old daughter, live in a rustic cabin in a remote Alaskan town. Birdie is a mess, drinking too much and doing coke, but she dreams of a better life for her daughter. When Birdie falls for Arthur, a strange local man who speaks in a stilted way and spends most of his time in a remote cabin deep in the woods, Birdie sees her chance to escape town and make a better, nature-filled life for herself and Evaleen. But what dark secrets is Arthur harbouring?

This novel takes some very strange turns but all of it is foreshadowed and done sensitively, so none of the elements feel gratuitous or overly weird (even though objectively it is pretty weird!). Rather the story unfolds in an emotional and atmospheric way.

We get the perspective of Evaleen, who is wise beyond her years, and Warren, Arthur’s father, whose anguish is felt keenly throughout. There are some definite gaps in the story left unfilled, and for much of it the reader has more questions than answers, but with some gorgeous nature writing and thrilling scenes, I zipped through it.

I’m loathe to say too much for fear of spoiling it, suffice to say that if you enjoyed The Snow Child by the same author (or perhaps Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens), this is one you may also enjoy. 4/5 ⭐️

*Many thanks to the publisher Tinder Press/Headline for the arc via @netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.

This dark tale with a fable like quality is set in the Alaskan summer. Birdie, a young woman and mother to six year old Emaleen, meets and falls in love with Arthur an older man with scars and a damaged ear. At the time, Birdie was doing the best she could, juggling caring or Emaleen with working shifts at a lodge, enjoying the drinking and partying atmosphere there, but longing for something else. She dreamt of getting away from her hard scrabble life to the wilderness where she and her little girl can be free to enjoy freedom and nature, so the idea of living in Arthur’s tiny off grid cabin deep in the mountains appeals to her. But Arthur is not who he seems to be and has a darker side to him, one that Birdie might not be prepared to reckon with.

At first, living in the woods works well for Birdie and she enjoys the beauty of her surroundings while fishing for salmon, hiking in the mountains, picking berries and living off grid. Arthur seems to have taken to Emaleen and enjoys teaching her the names of the local plants. However, he often disappears alone for long periods which Birdie finds unsettling and she starts to realise that there is more to him than the man she knows.

The beauty and danger of Alaska is perfectly captured by Ivey’s wonderful prose, as Birdie’s dream of living in the wilderness more than meets her expectations but later starts to unravel. Her love for her daughter is strong but at times she is more focused on Arthur and careless of her daughter so it’d easy to feel anxious for this little girl cut off from other people and the safeguards that civilisation offers a child. Emaleen is a delightful little girl, one who is strong and resilient and happy to play in her own world of make believe. Her clear voice is heard throughout her journey in the wilds of Alaska and beyond as her experiences in the wilderness with Birdie and Arthur both shape her into the woman she will become. Both beautiful and tragic, this emotional story of love and loss raised a lot to think about and will resonate with me for some time to come.

What attracted me to this read was the isolated living in Alaska. There is an attraction in moving away from other people and living simply in nature. Ivey’s story doesn’t sugarcoat it, however. It’s a harsh, hard life with danger and little comfort.
The bear child aspect of the tale was intriguing. It sounds like a familiar fable but I could find only.a few similar stories like The Bear Prince. Arthur’s early upbringing by his surrogate parents and his desperation to find love and a similar family unit were universal and recognisable. The tragic conclusion took a long time coming, even though we knew it was inevitable. The definition of nature over nurture, not being able to curb his animal behaviour. However, I did feel slightly underwhelmed with the coda. I was hoping it would be revealed to be another bear but the fact that Arthur never returned to human form to express his feelings meant we never got to know the full story or the emotions behind the tragedy.
The nature writing was beautiful and immersive, however.

My book group read The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey a few years ago and we all enjoyed it, so I was excited to try her new book which I had heard was a re-imagining of Beauty and the Beast.

Black Woods, Blue Sky is a magical tale, deeply rooted in the Alaska landscape, but I don't think that there are too many parallels with Beauty and the Beast. Birdie is a complicated woman, Arthur doesn't have a castle or a singing teapot and Emaleen is a major character who doesn't really have a parallel in the fairy tale. Their interactions were real, very human and heart-breaking at times with a bittersweet happily ever after. A very good read!

A highly recommended read for lovers of magical realism.

What an absolutely beautiful book! I recently re-read The Snow Child for my book club and was reminded how wonderfully Eowyn Ivey's descriptions of the Alaskan landscape are. It was a pleasure to be able to indulge myself again in this book. The story is very gentle and slow moving and most reviewers will have mentioned the likeness to the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Added to this is the mystic quality written throughout the main characters. The freedom of Emaleen's early life. Her imaginary fairy friend, the witches in the wood etc. Birdie her mother was also ripe for an adventure. A young mum, bored, fanciful, looking for love and adventures. A book I suspect I will return to again and again and have no hesitation in recommending.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Another beautifully written story from Eowyn Ivey. Once again set in Alaska, the backdrop and wonderful descriptions of the floral and fauna are a major part of the reading pleasure. The fairy tale elements are subtly done to perfection. This is a very moving story with excellent characters and an emotional ending.
Highly recommended.

Eowyn Ivey really is the most exceptional writers, gifted at exploring flawed humanity and the occasional beauty that it brings. A magical and moving story of wonder, resilience and self-discovery set in the beautiful and terrifying Alaskan wilderness. A delight.

A novel beautifully atmospheric for the Alaskan wilds, like Ivey’s previous novels, however also drawing quite heavily from fairy and folk tales to deliver a fantasy element, which I wasn’t expecting to find here. I really loved Ivey’s last novel, To The Bright Edge of the World, which was a historical fiction story about a pioneering couple - an explorer who goes into the unknown and his photographer wife who stays at home but makes her own history - and when I saw this book was also based on Alaska I was excited for something similar. This has the same wild outdoors present and Birdie is a little bit similar in some ways to the Sophie I remember, a little bit lonely out in a remote area; but it veers off quite early on into something mildly more fantasy. I really liked the characters so I kept on reading despite feeling slightly disappointed by that - the main characters are freespirited Birdie, a young single mum just trying to get by but in love with the wild - and her daughter, Emaleen, who is six and extremely imaginative. Birdie meets a quiet and unusual man by the name of Arthur and risks it all to move into the even more remote mountains with Emaleen and Arthur after a short romance. But all is not as it seems with Arthur. We also then at some point cut forwards to a much older Emaleen coming back to visit Alaska after getting a university degree in botany. I think Emaleen and the natural world of Alaska were my favourite things about this novel, I really enjoyed reading from her perspective, both young and old versions. I’m still not sure how I feel about the overall story but I know I didn’t love it like To The Bright Edge.

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher, Tinder Press, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this book a few days ago, and have been struggling as to whether I should give feedback. I can’t work out if this book wasn’t great, or if it just wasn’t for me.

First, Ivey’s prose is incredibly atmospheric - the feeling of being in rural Alaska was tangible. I’ve never been to a place that cold, but I could imagine the vast expanse of land covered in mosses, snow and trees easily. I was totally drawn into the atmosphere.

However, this story was comped to Beauty & the Beast and I believe that set it up to fail (perhaps only for me). Likening a book to a fairytale makes me have certain expectations of the story, and this book teased me into thinking I would have that pay-off. Ultimately though - and I refuse to post any spoilers - this did not happen.

I truly feel like the book was let down by its blurb. Beyond the Beauty & the Beast non-comp, I also feel like I was misled into thinking that the book “belonged” to Arthur & Birdie when in fact it belonged - at least equally - to Emaleen.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House & Ivey for the opportunity to read & review Black Woods, Blue Sky prior to its release.

First off, Eowyn Ivey writes beautifully about the nature and landscape of Alaska. I can’t fault her on that front and would 100% read a non-fiction nature book by her if she chose to write one.

A life in Alaska means always being prepared to meet a bear. Encounters are peppered throughout the story leading up to the reveal. It makes total sense to create a myth around a bear in this land. A story about what happens when humans step into the territory of another species, one who has no choice but to co-exist. The strength is in the bear’s story, but most is from the perspective of other characters, and I was disappointed it didn’t explore that side more. What would it be like to exist trapped between two lives, doomed to hurt or be hurt?

I loved The Snow Child, but Black Woods, Blue Sky failed to make the same mark. The characters felt a bit basic. Birdie is your stereotypical uneducated, single mother, who likes to drink and party with the guys, while neglecting her daughter. There was zero chemistry between her and Arthur, making me feel she was just moving in to avoid rent and responsibilities. I didn’t really care about what happened to her.

There isn’t much mystery about what’s going on. In The Snow Child you were left wondering what was real, but there’s no such ambiguity here, even if it tries to make Emaleen question what she saw. The fact that Warren spells it all out quite early on, takes away any doubt.

It’s being pitched as a Beauty and the Beast retelling as well, which leads the reader to assume certain things. It’s honestly not the same story, more very loosely inspired and given an Alaskan twist. Birdie doesn’t meet a beast. She meets a quiet and awkward man who keeps to himself, for good reason. She inserts herself into his life, and only finds out the truth when it's too late.

I did feel sorry for poor baby Arthur, stolen from his mother by well-meaning people who thought they were doing the right thing. Perhaps this is the crux of the book. Birdie should be allowed to raise her child even if onlookers think she’s doing a bad job. And there’s no point in trying to tame a wild thing.

Emaleen was around five or six for the majority of the story, and I personally dislike adult fiction from a young child’s point-of-view, so this definitely took away from some of my enjoyment. However, she’s an antidote to her doesn’t-give-a-crap mother and important for the ending, which I’ll admit was incredibly moving.

I'm sure others will get a lot more out of this book than I did. It would certainly raise some questions for a book group to discuss.