The writing in this was absolutely beautiful! The book explored many important themes such as family, grief and motherhood. The two POVs were really interesting as it became clear there was an aspect of unreliable narration going on. I do love an unreliable narrator! What happened to Tree absolutely broke my heart. Finding out Lydia's story was also heart breaking.
Overall, a really good read!

4.25/5

Wow I absolutely adored this book! The blurb had me interested going in, but I still wasn't completely sure what direction the story would take, and I think that made my personal reading experience even better. The middle 50% of this book in particular had me enraptured - I loved the floral, scenic writing style and I thought the themes of motherhood, parenthood and female autonomy were explored and woven very naturally into the story. I really felt for Nemony and her struggles with family, and Zoe's "independent" POV added a bit of mystery to keep the plot going as well. All in all, "The Unwilding" was a really intricate family story that tugged at my heart strings and I can't wait to read more from this author!

this was such an unexpected love!! so evocative, I loved flipping between the two narrators and slowly realising the unreliability of their perspectives. I was hanging on every word at one point, desperate to know how each loose thread would find its way.

some plot points felt slightly forced but overall I absolutely inhaled this and will be recommending!!

This was a really interesting novel that reminded me a little of Deborah Levy's Swimming Home. I found it well paced and I really enjoyed Kemp's minimal and detached narrative tone. Characterisation was also done very well, and although.I found it a bit slow to start I found myself gripped as the story progressed. I particularly enjoyed the novel's nuanced exploration of the complexities of family and imbalanced power dynamics.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.