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Heartwood (A Read with Jenna Pick): A Novel
Heartwood is a “gem of a thousand facets—suspenseful, transporting, tender, and ultimately soul-mending,” (Megan Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning) that tells the story of a lost hiker’s odyssey and is a moving rendering of each character’s interior journey. The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. At its core, Heartwood is a redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.
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Community Reviews
Don’t be swayed by the zealous reviews. While I found the story compelling and the twist intriguing, the overall narrative felt lacking. At times, I found myself skimming rather than savoring the prose. The characters were relatively uninteresting—unsympathetic, uninspiring, and in some cases, underdeveloped.
The suspension of disbelief required was higher than expected, and the character of Santos felt haltingly and awkwardly integrated into the storyline. What truly unsettled me, however, was learning that a significant portion of the plot closely mirrors a real-life tragedy. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be the surviving husband or daughter of the nurse hiker who died of exposure on the Appalachian Trail.
This raises ethical questions, and it reinforces a sense that the publishing industry often prioritizes profit over the depth and integrity of storytelling. I would not recommend this book to others—and I certainly wouldn't gift it.
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