Guys I can't believe I'm in the minority for this one. I'm out here seeing rave reviews left and right and I'm so not there I'm feeling like I read the wrong book. On paper, The Vaster Wilds seems like it would be right up my alley. Survival historical fiction, beautiful prose, grim, bleak. That's my shit. But it has been a while since I've felt this disconnected from a book.

The best thing this book has going for it is its prose. I saw another reviewer describe Groff's writing as "cinematic" and I think that's the perfect descriptor. The writing is, without a doubt, wonderful in its descriptions. You can feel the atmosphere and the chill and the hardship leaking from the page. All 2.75 stars are devoted to the great writing.

Any further than that, though, and I simply could not bring myself to care. I felt the book moved along at a snail's pace, without any plot to feel like we were moving towards. And while the cinematic purple prose was wonderful for setting scenery and describing events, I felt  it removed us from understanding and connecting to our protagonist. Third person limited is one of my favorite POVs, but when there are no other supporting characters to help development through dialogue, it's hard to feel a connection, even more so when our protagonist spends the whole book on the brink of death and starvation and hypothermia, so there aren't a whole lot of actions and charisma that can be used to develop her personality either.

I found myself tuning out pretty hard during this audiobook, despite concerted efforts to focus and rewind and understand. And frankly at some point, that stops being my fault. I really wished I had liked this book, but apart from some pretty writing, it didn't do much for me.