Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I've felt my interest in nature and the impact of us yucky humans on it grow (surely most of us have now, given the very apparent impact of our bad choices), so the hopeful title of this book grabbed my attention.

Lloyd recounts her various visits to areas in Europe and across the UK to projects where attempts are being made to restore the environment and it's wildlife, including wolves and vipers. I wasn't sure what her background was, I think she is a writer with simply an interest in this field, but felt that she was able to talk about the topic knowledgably enough for a lay person like me!

I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this to begin with. I'm a bit more into the aesthetics of nature rather than the factual side (something I'm sure is part of the problem humans have with caring for it properly), and I just couldn't share the reverence Lloyd had for vultures. I also felt that there was an element of things sounding overwritten. But I grew more into the rhythm of her writing, and found further sections were more interesting to me. And what I got from this book was really what I was looking for - hope. That there are people/organisations out there trying and doing things that are having a real impact, and that what has been done to nature can in fact be undone, the order can be restored, and a future is possible. Although I get the sense from this book that these attempts are very small scale and it will take a hell of a lot more to make true impact, which I don't know if the world the way it is would be capable of, I'm happy to cling to that hope.

This book has definitely inspired me to be more conscious about the things I can control when it comes to my impact on wildlife, and has sparked a deeper interest for me.

I cannot praise this book enough, it was a thoughtful, and considered collection of essays on the environment; but in many ways, it was much more than that. This is a book that made me stop and think about what we have lost in the last 50 years from the natural world.

The narrative conjurors up recollections of flora and fauna that once abundant are now scarce or lost. It was one of those books that makes you stop and read chapters again because punctuated through this chronicle that looks at the serious issues concerning the wellbeing of the planet and humanity, there are these wonderful pearls of hope, that make you smile and in turn give you a modicum of optimism that in the end humans just might do the right thing.

This was a great book I loved it from beginning to end, well done Karen Lloyd.

'Abundance' reminds me most of Helen MacDonald's 'Vesper Flights' - both are a series of essays centring on our relations with the natural world, particularly with birds.

Lloyd writes beautifully (although my only criticism would be that some sentences are more convoluted than they need to be). Her subject matter exemplifies what I think will be increasingly common over the next few years - feeling the effects of climate breakdown firsthand. The author lives in Cumbria, and writes at length about the flooding that has plagued her home in recent years. She also speaks of the same fears that so many of my younger generation do, namely that the future facing her children (or the unborn children of my peers) is one of horror.

I'm rather jealous of Lloyd as her travels for this book have taken her to some wonderful, wildlife-abundant places in Europe, including Greece and Romania where pelicans still fly and bears still raise their cubs. While there are still plenty of threats in those places too, they remind us that the British way of doing things (i.e. casually destroying everything in the name of some temporary "progress") is not the only one.

This is nature/travel writing to savour.

(With thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)