Book Review: “The Stillwater Girls” by Minka Kent

Aug 18

Håfa adai! Welcome to my review of The Stillwater Girls, by Minka Kent.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

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Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

Wren and her younger sisters, Sage and Evie, live in an isolated cabin near the Stillwater Forest of upstate New York. Their homestead, as they call it, is entirely meant to function off-the-grid; meaning the sisters and their mother live without electricity, running water, plumbing, or the community of other human beings. The world is not what it once was when their mother was a child. Wren and her sisters have been given strict instructions to never leave the homestead, never answer the door for anyone, and absolutely never travel into or beyond the Stillwater Forest. But then their mother and youngest sister Evie leave for supplies and do not return for over 60 days, their supplies begin to dwindle, and a mysterious man pushes his way into the homestead, Wren and Sage have no choice but to make a run for the forest.

Nicolette’s life is what many could only dream of having! She’s the daughter of wealthy luxury hotel managers, her fit and handsome husband is a renowned photographer, she travels the world and has annual winter trips to Florida to spend time with her best friend, and she lives in a posh home in upstate New York. Yet even someone who “has it all” cannot help but feel paranoia when their life partner is acting strange and seems to be checked out of the relationship. He must be having an affair! It’s the only logical explanation. Nicolette feels that her suspicions are all but confirmed when she finds something she can’t explain among her husband’s possessions. Unable to pretend she knows nothing, Nicolette cancels her annual Florida trip to stay home and confront her husband. But what if this causes her to experience another episode? Would it create more problems than it solves for her to skip the warm green scenery of Florida for the cold white landscape of the Stillwater Forest?

My Thoughts on The Stillwater Girls: 4.25 stars

The Stillwater Girls is told from the alternating first-person perspectives of Wren and Nicolette. Wren’s life has been spent in absolute isolation. Made to believe that the world as her mother knew it has collapsed into nothingness, Wren and her younger sisters (Sage and Evie) have been raised without any of the modern-day comforts and normalcies that we might take for granted in 2025. They have never had electricity, running water, or neighbors and—before the events of the story—have never been in the same room as a man. Nicolette’s life, while not perfect or without her own devastating experiences, is defined by privilege and comfort. Wren’s dystopian cabin and Nicolette’s luxurious mini mansion are separated by only one thing: the Stillwater Forest of upstate New York.

Minka Kent manages to maintain distinct narrative voices for both Wren and Nicolette as the story alternates between the two character’s storylines. Wren’s perspective demonstrates the struggle between mourning the loss of a parent and coming to terms with an entirely new reality. While in the perspective of Nicolette, you can truly believe why she comes to the conclusions she erroneously comes to with the information she believes she has. The overarching theme connecting both Wren’s and Nicolette’s experiences is role of deception in their daily lives.

While listening to the audiobook of The Stillwater Girls, a single central theme resounded through the lines of Minka Kent’s eloquent prose: deception in the name of “protecting someone” is still deception. I cannot go into excessive detail about this without giving away spoilers and endings, so I will be intentionally vague in my explanation. Wren’s mother spent decades outright lying to Wren and her sisters in the name of keeping them safe. Nicolette’s husband spent nearly a decade lying by omission (which is still lying) to her in the name of shielding her. From my personal perspective, while one type of deception depicted in The Stillwater Girls is far more heinous than the other, they are both still intense examples of dishonesty. The egregious forms of deception depicted in this story make it so gratifying when the truths finally come out, even if I would not have reacted the same way as a certain character when the truth relevant to them surfaces.

My overall rating for Minka Kent’s The Stillwater Girls is 4.25 out of 5 stars. The Stillwater Girls is an emotional mystery filled with various forms of deception. I was able to figure out some parts of mystery halfway through, but the other parts I thought I had figured out were disproven by the unexpected plot twists. There was a plot twist that seemed so absolutely ridiculous that I could not help but wish it was instead what I had originally thought it would be, but I can’t go into detail about that without giving away a major spoiler. The audiobook for The Stillwater Girls is just over 7 hours long. The engaging story made it a great choice for an 8+ hour drive. I recommend The Stillwater Girls for fans of chick noir crime fiction and psychological thrillers.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 11 August 2025