I'm giving it 5 stars because of the talent in the writing, it's a page turner. A quick read which is smartly written. Absolutely no "story lag" which I can't state 100% about any other read. Strong environment creation. The character development was strong, even "raw", a little too much for my personal liking, but perhaps that was the author's way of letting the reader really getting to know the characters... really. I liked the "lists" in the story, and the actual nature of humans which surface when survival and instinct becomes relevant which show strongly in "Ruth" and "Danny" at various moments in the read. The characters were written completely "unguarded" as to their "lives", which has made me question my own approach in fiction writing I have done (short stories) as to have I created character "guardrails"? I'll likely read all his novels at some point. I liked his take on trees, woods, and nature, even small details such as insect response... all that was interesting. When the reader is analyzing grocery lists and recipes specific to a character then I'd say a character was "made" which has some interest, probably you'll be doing that if you read this one. Rural people, don't "lemon zest" pasta, which I guess is besides the point of the story itself, lol. The decisions with doubt even to the characters themselves seem like a "recipe" for total loss, then things go back into alignment and there seems to be some optimism again, that occurs several times throughout the story line, except for with a couple male characters who decide they are confident of their actions plan who make adjustments along the way, but give no indication that will be.. he does leave the reader with some peace at the end. I have no idea how "Ruth" was changed to be the daughter when this was made for film what I read online about that, to me she seems like an integral part of the story as wife of one of the two couples. I'm surprised at the amount of one star reviews, maybe my reading preferences are different from other people which I hadn't been aware of. I rate it the best modern era novel I've read, I read past era lit. 1890 to mid-century commonly because I think the quality lacks in the writing of many current era novels. It might be a matter of preference as to which stories are actually about "nothing" something which was referred to in low reviews, I often say that about books and movies, I think this novel is about plenty of something. That being stated I do think the audience who it's catered to is the 40 and older group which might account for some of the lower reviews and maybe some other life dynamics of the reader ones who have navigated through life a bit, something like that. I found the flow of the narration to be very smooth , again reading style preferences maybe. What does confuses me now based on some of the reviews is what actually is considered quality written fiction, I bought my copy new and at what I think is a very low price, that's not very encouraging as someone who has been an "on and off" aspiring author. I'd like to state something as to what makes each character interesting, none of them really are "all that" alone, except for maybe "Rose", it must be a collective group thing which makes that. I don't even know why "G.H" needs to be there, how'd he become a structural pillar of the story, he's just sort of "there"..