Review: Leaving Blythe River by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Leaving Blythe River

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 322

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Seventeen-year-old Ethan Underwood is totally unprepared to search for his father in the Blythe River National Wilderness. Not only is he small, scrawny, and skittish but he’s barely speaking to the man after a traumatic betrayal. Yet when his father vanishes from their remote cabin and rangers abandon the rescue mission, suddenly it’s up to Ethan to keep looking. Angry or not, he’s his father’s only hope.

With the help of three locals—a fearless seventy-year-old widow, a pack guide, and a former actor with limited outdoor skills—he heads into the wild. The days that follow transform Ethan’s world. Hail, punishing sun, swollen rapids, and exhausting pain leave him wondering if he’s been fooled yet again: Is his father out here at all? As the situation grows increasingly dire, Ethan realizes this quest has become about more than finding his dad.

Kritters Thoughts:  First, I don't read a ton of adventurie stories with hiking and bears and wilderness and I don't read a lot of books with males or even younger males as the lead.  This was a departure from my usual, but with an author that I have read and loved!

I loved how it was formatted.  I loved how the story lets you know from the beginning that Ethan's father is going to go missing, but we need to start before he does to set the foundation.  I am so glad we meet Ethan and his parents before his move to Wyoming and before his dad's disappearance, so we the reader are somewhat informed.

The people that surrounded Ethan on his adventure were so full and rich.  I enjoyed watching them guide him in all ways and teach him lessons that his parents didn't have or make the time to do.    

This was another great book from Catherine Ryan Hyde and I will definitely read her upcoming things and hope to check out her extensive backlist.  


Rating:  definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.