“TWO girls went in the woods…Only ONE came out.”
Why Did I Read This Book?
I was kindly gifted a copy of this book through a Twitter giveaway held by Rosanna Forte; an editor at Little Brown. The book itself even looks creepy, so I thought in the lead up to Halloween I’d get in the spooky mood…
What Did I Think?
First of all, I expected this book to be a thriller but what I didn’t expect was it to be a ghost story too. I personally think if you got the creators of ‘The Conjuring’ or ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ to make this book into a film, it would be genuinely terrifying. Ghosts surround the main character throughout the majority of the story, and some of the imagery it was creating in my very own head was phenomenal ‘keep-your-bedroom-light-on-whilst-you-sleep’ sort of stuff.
The Woods follows protagonist Tess who is haunted by the death of her sister 10 years ago. It’s been 10 years since she’s left her hometown but upon her stepmother’s imminent death, she has to return to say her goodbyes but instead, has to relive the nightmare of that night all over again when a body is found at the empty house on the edge of the woods. The truth about that night needs to be revealed but for that to happen, Tess needs to return to the woods…
All the reviews say that this book is ‘unputdownable’ and ‘utterly additive’ and they are right. I started this book at 8:30 pm one Wednesday evening and was up till 2 am still reading. I had to force myself to put down the book and get some sleep. I was also worried that going to sleep after reading this book would give me some pretty horrific dreams, so I made sure to watch something lighthearted and funny before eventually getting to sleep.
I love a book that keeps you guessing and this book did exactly that. It made me feel uneasy about every single character in the book, second-guessing them all at some point…even our protagonist. Yet I think the defining element of this book is the imagery it creates. Everything is so descriptive, it was like I was actually watching the film in my head whilst reading. I could picture the house, the woods, each and every character so clearly, it was CREEPY.
I would highly recommend you give this book a read but don’t blame me when you’re having nightmares…
The Woods
Publisher: Sphere
Published: 2020
# of Pages: 385
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Horror
Trigger Warnings: Murder, child murder, bullying, depression, PTSD, insomnia, family death, paedophilia, child abuse, trauma, graphic scenes, Stockholm syndrome
Links: Goodreads, Amazon, Blackwells
This looks like such an interesting book, the cover really drew me in 🙂
It’s a really great book and one I would HIGHLY recommend if you like this type of thing!
Wow, just reading your review has sent shivers down my spine! I love atmospheric and unsettling books, I’ll definitely have to take a look at this one! Thank you for sharing your thoughts 📚❤️ X x x
Me too and this book was certainly all those thing! No problem, and if you get round to reading it, let me know what you think!
I’ve still got my copy of this book to read and reading your review has made me bump it right up my TBR Pile.
Awww amazing!! Glad I can do a service haha! Let me know what you think of it if you do end up reading it!
Lovely review, Jessica! This one certainly sounds tense. It’s always a special book when it keeps you awake for so long!
Yes I’d definitely agree! The best ones 😉