Natural Selection: A Short Story

I read one other of Ms. Hilderbrand's books and didn't care for the lavish descriptions of luxury she is known for, but this short story was free in First Reads so I thought I'd try it and I liked it much better. It started out with a lot of name dropping but became less and less so as the heroine experienced character growth. The author was descriptive about nature and animals found in The Galapogos which for me is far more interesting. The gist of the story is that the heroine learns life lessons by observing nature and those around her. At 35 years old she learns that she's capable of adaptability and self-reliance. It's a well written short story that is nice to read.

This is a cool story with the themes of natural selection and survival of the fittest, told in a clever way. Sophia is supposed to go to the Galapagos Islands with her fiancé J.P., but at the last minute, he drops out, claiming an emergency with his youngest adult son, whom she has never met. He insists that she take the trip without him, and she reluctantly does. The week's trip on a small cruise ship with just a handful of other people changes her life. I had the "mystery" figured out, but I liked reading the story anyway.

PROS: This is an easy reader book with characters and easy to follow story line. Book is a nice fun distraction about survival and natural selection of the human species a bit like a parable from the bible, but more entertaining. Promoted as a short story and delivered as a short story.

CON: While the author was creative with the story throughout the book I would think of a bit more creative ending to the book. The central character adapted and learned new skills the I was hoping would have been used for a more productive ending.

This book is a great distraction. Not sure what age would be appropriate, so I'd recommend this for an adult not a child. Read the book on first reads, but this was the type of fictional distraction book that I was looking for. Yes I would buy this for current kindle pricing. Also I would recommend it for anyone looking for a bit of distraction from everyday life. BDV

Natural Selection by Elin Hilderbrand 54-page Kindle Ebook ends on 52

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Short Story

Featuring: Dating Couple, May December Romance, New York, Oklahoma, Ecuador, Galápagos Islands, Traveling, Real Estate Agent, Wildlife Photographer, Ditched at the Airport Trope, Spanish, Yacht Ride, Sex - Mentioned, Advertisement and Blurb for Swan Song

Rating as a movie: R for adult content

Songs for the soundtrack: "Penny Lane" by The Beatles, "Fortnight" by Taylor Swift, Happy Anniversary" by Little River Band

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½🛥🐬

My thoughts: This was okay, it wasn't as exciting as I hoped for, but it wasn't bad. What I expected from a short story is condensed action, it should start with a bang or quickly lead to one. This story was just cruising along from start to finish with a few swells.

Recommend to others: Sure, it's currently free on Amazon with Prime.

Natural Selection by Elin Hilderbrand is a story of discovery of one’s own strength and courage to face life head on when it’s going in the opposite direction that you planned.

Sophia and JP are in the airport about to go to go on a cruise when he mysteriously gets a phone call and tells her he can’t go and insists she go without him.

I enjoyed this quick read with its limited but interesting cast of characters and the beautiful setting. The MFC made the most out of her situation and saw the silver lining in the end, what started out as a trip she never wanted to go on ended up being something beautiful and memorable.

I recommend this women’s fiction short story that ends with positivity and a HEA.

Elin Hilderbrand is auto-read/auto-buy author for me so I was super excited to see Natural Selection come through as an Amazon First Read choice.

Natural Selection is a short story that can be enjoyed in a single sitting. I loved the Galapagos Island setting, the limited number of characters, and the centralized plot. It was a well-formulated short story though my attention waned a bit toward the middle.

Often, short stories leave me wanting a bit more and I did have that here. It wrapped up a little too tidy and I probably could have done without the entire last paragraph. The resolution felt obvious and I had wished there had been more personal growth or revelations during Sophia's journey.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and devoured it in one fell swoop. If you're a Hilderbrand fan and have an hour, I definitely recommend.

Thank you to Amazon First Reads for the copy.