this book had me feeling so much throughout. so much so it surprised me. seeing this man connection to his place, to the place he loves and the people in it. to this nature and these spaces. i could feel it through every part of him and every moment i read. the setting was a character in itself. having a friend who lives in this country and even just from her tales and video calls the same feeling i got whilst watching, talking and seeing her in this setting made me see how realistic this book also was. the topics felt real and actually relatable to more wider issues involved. this topic is also so very current.
there are sides to this story where you might think either side might not be bad guy. but also where should the balance be between environment, ownership, loggers etc. but there is definitely some greed and power imbalances or power taking that feels very wrong indeed. you can see how people must fight back sometimes but also what they are up against. how can you either beat certain types of power? especially involving money.
with Don Karlsson we see a man that has lived and breathed his land for years. hes built this life and everything in it. almost literally. he built the land around him too by planting these very trees that surround him. this land is peppered with his decades. each year he timbers. just enough though, never too much. that is until a endangered species of voles is discovered amongst his forest. and a judge forces an injunction so logging must cease Karlsson feels the loss of everything coming to the fore.
he enlists his lawyer but even there there is mixed feelings. shes more concerned for the man involved rather than the trees. there is his son who wants to preserve this way of life as much as his dad. and is willing to show it. but his other son, well he wants the trees to live and believes they have a right to do so. he doesn't want them cut.
and look at that. we have a wonderful story. so much detail in this book makes it feel so immersive and capturing. it really drew me in. i cant pretend i know half of the issues being told here, or enough to give any balanced view. but i felt it. i felt the directions of all those involved here and that is thanks to Micah creating that for me.
i was engaged in this book from start to finish and invested in it all. i cared about the characters and really liked how we got a breadth of views in them. it was like we were seeing an argument from all sides just from the difference in people.
i felt little bit of learning seeped in too. not to much so i felt i was being taught a lesson lol. but even through this book id be googling about certain things that came up. Micah peeked my interest so much just from the way this was written.
the historical parts and people made me feel a whole lot in this book too and made me look more into the native side of things in my reading.
this was such a wonderful read. i cant say enough about it. it was all so different from my usual and one i dont think i'll be able to pinpoint the like of again. it was pure accident and im sad that i wont be able to go search out another without that being an accident too!

This is a hard book to review. It is not one to listen to, it needs to be read page by page. I loved the story, it tells of a man that loves the land and his family along with the sacrifices, trials and tribulations of a life in the wild. Don Karlsson’s goal in life was a vision he believed in, and he was good to his word, his love for what he had built and raised was evident.
The story changes once the government gets involved telling homeowners they no longer can log their own land, you could feel something was going to happen and the author brought my emotions to the surface knowing tragedy was imminent. Very well done!!
My reason for suggesting of reading instead of listening, is the way the story is written, there is normal font and then italics, listening with voiceview on my Kindle I could never figure out when the person reciting the story changed or who was speaking if I wasn’t looking at the print, so I would have to stop and back up in order to not miss something.
I have lived in a rural area most of my life owning acres of land and I could feel the injustice of being told what I could and could not do. Don and his family held a bit of my heart with them. Comes in with 5 stars. Highly recommend.
This is my own opinion of this ARC from NetGalley.