Name: Angel Hammon's review of Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson
Item: Damnation Spring
Rating: 4
Author: Angel Hammon

Ash Davidson

For generations, Rich Gundersen's family has chopped a livelihood out of the redwood forest along California's rugged coast. Now Rich and his wife, Colleen, are raising their own young son near Damnation Grove. For decades, the herbicides the logging company uses were considered harmless. But Colleen is no longer so sure. As mudslides take out clear-cut hillsides and salmon vanish from creeks, Colleen's search for answers threatens to unravel not just Rich's plans to buy 24-7 Ridge, but their marriage too, dividing a town that lives and dies on timber along the way. Print run 125,000.

Damnation Spring

Julia

Very true to life novel about the experiences of logging families in the time of sprouting environmentalism. This book reminded me of my hometown - a story about patience and love weaved with toxic masculinity and greed. I understand the symbolism but it did not have to end like THAT. 

Angel Hammon

Kristen Claiborn

This book was all over the damn place. I spent most of it scratching my head and trying to figure out what, exactly, I was trying to read. I don't usually provide a synopsis, if you've stumbled upon this review, you've already scrolled through a description and I don't feel like it's necessary, or even wanted, for me to rehash the details. If you would prefer me to write a brief blurb, lemme know. 
 I'm not a logger...nor do I know a lot about logging...nor did I ever really want to. I was intrigued by the premise of this book because I have seen giant redwoods, and I know how catastrophic the logging industry was on the centuries-old redwoods in California. They came really damn close to becoming wiped out completely. I'm also aware of how dangerous weed-killing chemicals can be (a fight we continue to battle in 2021...it makes no sense). Crap, I just went on a tangent. Anyhoo, I was completely baffled by the logging terminology used all over the damn place in this book. Spoiler alert: a "pumpkin" isn't a gourd in the logging world. 
 While the story is presumably supposed to focus on Rich and Colleen, it kinda doesn't. They're a significant part, but there is so much more going on. Rich spends most of this book being grouchy and unpleasant, then redeems himself towards the end and then dies. The rest of the characters pop in and out with little to no explanation as to how they fit in, and they're legitimately terrible people. Even Daniel, who is arguably one of the "better" souls in this cast of antagonists, makes the unforgivable decision to sleep with a married woman. I mean, come on...there is NOTHING good to work with in this book. It is 450 pages (I usually polish off 450 pages in about 6 hours, this one took me 12 days and 9 other books to finish) of painful meandering and irredeemable characters. 
 On the other hand, I feel like this could be turned into an outstanding movie. Some books are absolutely wonderful novels but don't translate well to the screen. I feel like this one should have started on the screen...and maybe stayed there. The print version wasn't super enjoyable.

Suz Corso

Absolutely loved this book. Cried multiple times reading it. Such a beautiful and sad story about family and how far you’ll go to protect them, among other things. What a great piece of literature

Salam Kabbani

This book was so disappointing. As someone who lives in Humboldt and has so much reverence for the redwoods, I was expecting so much out of this novel. 

It follows the story of a family who suffers many miscarriages that could be traced to some of the pesticides sprayed on the redwoods as part of the logging practices. The wife is an unregistered midwife and the husband is a logger and naturally when the government begins to investigate the logging practices and their potential impact on the health of the community, a schism begins to form in the family. 

While the idea behind the story was great, the buildup was very long and drawn out. The ending honestly made no sense to me. It just felt like what was the point of this entire book? I know that sounds harsh, but it was that bad. 

I also did not appreciate the author's constant use of the word "retarded" in conversation, and overall there was a lot of crassness thrown around in the book. I personally enjoy tasteful swearing very much in writing, so it takes a lot to gross me out, and this book definitely achieved that. 

I did enjoy the familiar references to places I've been to, and the love of nature that is described in the book because as a Humboldt transplant, I definitely see that same passion in the natives of this wonderful area. 

I was hoping to get a lot out of this book, but I honestly would not recommend reading it at all. It was very choppy writing and ultimately did not make sense at all.

Julia &
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

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Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson