The Yellow Wood

by Minnie Darke, Remy Hii (Narrator), Aisha Aidara (Narrator)

At twenty-two, free-spirited Amber Farrow has no concerns beyond finishing her final year of nursing on exchange in Australia. What she hasn't counted upon is crossing paths with Griffin Lee. Amber and Griffin's two hearts are clearly made for each other. But where Griffin is inclined to put down roots, Amber has always been a citizen of the world, treading lightly upon the earth, never staying too long in one place. Before long, Amber's inability to be still leaves Griffin behind.

At thirty, Amber has built a life of constant exploration and humanitarian nursing—yet she's haunted by the memory of Griffin. After narrowly surviving a near-fatal accident, she reckons with her lingering passion and no small measure of regret. Following her heart could mean tying herself down, or it could be her chance to rewrite her life's journey.

4 hrs. 56 min.

Genres: Audiobook, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Australia

5 pages, Audible Audio

Published July 2, 2024

About the author

Minnie Darke writes smart, contemporary stories about love ... of all kinds.

Her first novel Starcrossed - about a journalist who manipulates an astrology column for her own romantic ends - was published in over 25 international territories.

The Lost Love Song - composed in a slightly more melancholy key - tells the story of a haunting melody that finds its way home, all by itself, to the heart of the person who inspired it.

With Love from Wish & Co takes you deep into the world of a professional gift-buyer. It begins on the day Marnie Fairchild is wrapping two gifts: one for her best client's wife, and one for his lover. What could possibly go wrong?

Three Juliets brings together themes of motherhood, daughterhood, love, loss and dressmaking. It's the story of Claudie Miller, who designs the beautiful 'Juliet' dress in tribute to the daughter - who would now be 16 years old - that she never had the chance to know. It's also the story of Roisin, Bindi and Miranda – all born on the same day, all adopted – who are 16 years old when the 'Juliet' enters their lives. The dress was designed with one of them in mind ... but which one?

Minnie Darke is a lover of freshly sharpened pencils, Russian Caravan tea and books of all kinds. She lives on the beautiful island of lutruwita/Tasmania, at the bottom of the world.

Photo Credit: Karen Brown

Reviews

[Kaitlyn Monique ♥]

3.5 stars

When you're about to die, your life is supposed to flash before your eyes, isn't it? Not for Amber. Amber sees only her biggest regret. Not loving Griffin the way she should have.

This was a cute short love story, going back 8 years from the car crash to 2014 when Amber and Griffin first met, to their parting, all the way to four years ago, 2018, when they crossed paths again and traveled together for a year before she ran away from him, to now, 2022, when she got hit by a truck. Will she be able to fix her biggest regret?

[Ashley]

Honestly thought the book was going to go in a completely different direction than it did, but overall was still pretty interesting.

[Sian]

I love the attraction between Amber and Griffin, they have quite the spark together, I really enjoyed it. I listened to the audiobook and it was very well narrated. I wish that years were not lost between them, but that’s a life that many of us choose.

[Nicole Leedham]

Three stars until the ending.

[Jessica]

(Audiobook)

[MaFerLooCa]

I enjoyed this one quite a lot. Sometimes it's hard for me to follow when there are several timelines on the story, but I had no problem with this one–I think the way the chapters are named helped me a lot.

I loved the metaphore with the name of the book and the poem and Griffin's masterpiece, but more than anyhting how all of that connected to the MCs and their story together. Life is all about choices, and it's kinda scary to think about the possible futures we could've had if we had chosen differently, but I think it's even scarier to live with the regrets of the choices not taken.

I liked that the story was told in a way that I could understand why it was so paralyzing for Amber to think about being "tied down." However, I still felt a little frustrated when she didn't even give other options a chance or when she just made assumptions and acted upon those.

Phrases I loved:
-"Look at her. She's the sun." Jessie
-"I think it's you who misunderstood." Griffin

I really liked the ending and the final recognition and understanding that it doesn't necessarily have to be "my way or the highway", but you can make compromises that work for everybody.

[Robyn]

Oh my goodness, Minnie Darke you have ruined me!! I absolutely LOVED this story!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️‍🩹 This book reminded me so much of why I love contemporary romance anything! The dual timelines and POVs, the love, the anxiety, the yearning, the not knowing if it's going to be a happy ending, the heartache but still very much in-love all throughout the years, and their inevitable reunion. Oh my beating heart!!!🥺😀🥰🤍
(and thank you for the good and sad reminders of what big world events were happening between 2014 and 2022.)

[MELISSA]

Happy to find a book with an Australia writer and I believe Australian narrators, Remy Hii and Aisha Aidan. Glad I grabbed it and commenced to listen to the story and the talented narrators. Quite interesting to me since I live in the United States and do not hear Australian pronunciation often. I enjoy second chance love stories (which seem pretty universal) and Ms. Darke filled these characters with life and a engaging plot.

[Izzy]

It tries too hard to be profound.

I enjoyed parts because I thought it was going to be about regret and not being able to change the past. I actually thought he was going to end up with the new girl.

Having an fmc that is so difficult to like and is really selfish and inconsiderate THEN giving her a happy ever after style ending ruined it - mostly bc it ruined his life.

[Greta]

3.5 stars
Quite entertaining, but predictable and familiar - which can be very welcome sometimes!
The character and relationship development and simple but believable. Particularly between the main male character and the child.

[Jodie]

Minnie’s writing just gets to me. I only realised that she was the author of the Lost Love Song (which I loved) a few chapters in. A really sweet love story that had me yelling ‘no’ a whole lot. Loved it.

[Arlene Bowers]

I enjoyed this “listen”. A good storyline and I enjoyed the characters. They both had well thought out backstories and neither of them were annoying to listen to.
I’d read a sequel if there was one.

[Erin]

Short and sweet. The ending felt a little abrupt, I guess I wasn’t paying attention the time left on the audiobook but it was a happy ending so I’m good with it.

[Ella Leadbeatter]

The story had from the beginning. I love the way the author jumps between time periods and still constantly moves the narrative forward. This is a new favourite.

[Catherine Kerr]

Struggled to get through this...the over acting and the romance was just not hitting right. Couldn't stand the main female character and found the main male character just...blank. That was tough...

[Amy Horler]

I enjoyed the jumps in timeline and character growth in this book. Serendipity 🩷

[Ann Parker]

What a great tale of love.

[Joe Diab]

I really enjoyed it, it was a sweet story with what was a positively engaging love story!

[Merrin Millard]

Loved this! Such a gorgeous story. Held my breath in the last couple of chapters, just beautiful.

[Bree T]

3.5 🌟 RTC

[Alex]

It captured first love well, story was nice, didn't blow my mind. But everything was well written and characters were both likeable and had depth.

[Caristie]

3.5

[Rose Adams]

Really enjoyed this. Was expecting it to be very predictable but I don't think it was. Beautiful, a bit bittersweet.

[Susan Ballain]

The narration was really good and the characters were great but this book just wasn’t what I thought it was gonna be!

[Angella Mitchell]

3.75

[Candi]

I actually really enjoyed the story, but just not the reliving of current events from the characters pov.

[Scarleth Castro-Jones]

Didn't pay much attention. It was very interesting and a type of plot I haven't read much of, did remind me of Love, Rosie a bit. Appreciate that it's Australian but the narrators voice was not it, I couldn't like it, especially when she had to speak the spanish bits, it was not enjoyable to listen, yet not good enough for me to want to read some day.

[KylieAtkinson]

3.5 stars When I came to write this review, I had to reread the blurb to remind me of what the story was about. It didn't really grab me or leave a lasting impression on me.

I did love the idea that people who are meant to be together could cross paths several times before they discover each other. I love the serendipity of that. However, the unrequited love was hard to take. I felt for the MM. It's like his life was on hold.

A short and sweet love story.

[Kim Wakefield]

4/10 There are moments of beauty - travel, experience, regrets… life. But the rest, dull, slow.
Moments within this are my lived experience, and I kept thinking “If they wanted to, they would”, but really, it’s just flaccid indecision.
Side note: as a fan of the number 2, much of this being set in February 2022 was supremely satisfying.
Audiobook VAs were good. The FMC had a very distinct Australian accent for a character described as a mixed accent. Otherwise, they were both very good.