Published by Macmillan audio, Wednesday Books Genres: Fiction, Horror, LGBT, thriller, young adult
Format: ARC, Audiobook, eBook
WOWZA!
Gripping, tense, dark, horrific and hard to put down! Like two of the main characters, I was instantly grabbed from the very beginning of What the Woods Took! This book had me turning the pages, not wanting to put it down as I was fully invested in what was going to happen next in this coming-of-age tale of survival!
Devin Green, asleep at her foster home, is taken from her bed in the middle of the night and thrown in a van. In the van she meets Oliver, a teen who was also grabbed at his home as he slept as well. Initially, they are given very little information, which ramps up their anxiety and unease. What they do know is that they are being taken to an experimental therapy program where they will hike, camp, and survive in the woods with two camp counselors and other teens for 50 days. The intended result of the therapy program is that the teens will emerge from the woods changed for the better! When they wake up and their two camp counselors are missing, the teens find themselves faced with the unimaginable!
I enjoyed the mixing of personalities and backgrounds of the teens in this book. I also enjoyed their dynamics with each other and their reactions after being thrust into a situation beyond their control. Can you imagine strangers waking you up and taking you by force with little to no explanation. That you are a minor and have no say in what is happening to you? I thought Courtney Gould did a fantastic job of depicting this. I enjoyed how Devin fought and tried to escape while Olive, who did not like the situation, was more accepting of what was happening. Their reactions alone in the beginning of the book show their personalities. Then they meet the other teens who are distinct and add so much to the plot.
What the Woods Took has that trapped feeling that I enjoy in books. While they are not physically locked into any room or house, the group of teens do have the task of finding their way out of the woods – woods that they are unfamiliar with. Survival is the name of the game for them. This book was oozing with atmosphere. I also enjoyed the sense of unease, tension and mounting danger. I enjoyed the sense of something-isn’t-quite-right that morphed into full on fear! When they learned that they were not alone in the woods, the creepy factor went off the charts. Their therapy adventure in the woods morphed into a horrific nightmare! What the Woods Took also morphed into a great story about friendship, romance, survival, trust, and battling your own demons.
Creepy, scary, tense, well thought out, spooky!
I had both the book and the audiobook versions of this book which made for an enjoyable reading experience. I found the narration of the audiobook to be wonderful.
Thank you to Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
