Book Review: What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould
Not exactly what I thought it would be going in, but this novel was seriously terrifying. Check out my full review for What the Woods Took below!
Book Information
Devin Green has always been a loner. She only has a month left until she turns 18 and can get out of foster care. Unfortunately, though, one bad decision causes her to end up in a wilderness therapy program. Not knowing what to expect and getting angrier each day, Devin just tries to keep her head down until she can escape. When their counselors go missing, though, and they’re stranded miles in the woods from any civilization, Devin is forced to work with the other kids to find a way out. Something is lurking in the shadows, though, and is determined to make sure none of them ever leave….
Review | Heidi Dischler
I was not expecting a horror novel…. After just finishing two before this, I was hoping for a dramatic novel to make me sob. Apparently I didn’t read the second part of the description that talks about the monsters 😂. Does this mean that it was a bad book? Absolutely not. It’s probably one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year.
You have two narrators: Devin and Ollie. Devin is hard as nails and Ollie seems resigned to his fate as he tries to keep the peace. Then you have three other characters: Hannah, Aiden, and Sheridan. This makes up our group of lost campers. What is trying to kill them, you ask? Weird monsters. I can’t say more without spoiling it but they are CREEPY. The whole story (after the counselors get lost) is this group of teens trying to survive. It’s an awesome horror novel that will definitely keep you reading until you hit that last page.
A lot goes on in this novel when it comes to deeper meanings, so keep an eye out for that when you’re reading. For example, they’re “lost” more than one way. They’re also lost in their life. Finding a way out of the woods is a pretty cool metaphor for them finding themselves. So even though I didn’t get this dramatic story about wilderness therapy, I still got a lot of hard hits emotionally in this novel.
Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars. This was a great, thrilling novel that gives you more than just scares. You get a lot in character-wise and their growth is shown beautifully in the pages of this book. Definitely worth a read! A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Source: Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)
