Just no. This was dreary and filled with the wrong kinds of foreshadowing and mystery. And the characters were boring.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but I felt it could have used more fleshing-out. I would have liked more character development -- everyone seems to just be conveniently "mysterious" but I wanted to know more about each member of the Homestead and what brought them there. There was also so much foreshadowing of "something goes terribly wrong" that I was expecting something with a little more twists and turns throughout, rather than it all just kind of happening at once at the very end. I did enjoy reading about their various homesteading projects, as that's something that has always appealed to me.

The story is slow and drags on. I stopped less than half way through. While I was interested in finding out what happened to Mac that she had to move back home the plot wasn't good enough to keep me reading until the end to find out. Pass on this one.

We Went to the Woods is fictional, but seems so very believable. It chronicles the lives of five young hipsters (Jack, Beau, Louisa, Chloe, and Mack) who decide to leave traditional society behind and take a stab at communal living in a place they called The Homestead. It involves living off the land—residing in tiny individual cabins without electricity and running water and existing only on the food they can grow on their farm. They exist mostly off-the grid and only venture into town occasionally. Their only companionship comes from each other and other hipsters living a similar lifestyle at a nearby farm, known as The Collective. Mack, the narrator of these chronicles (and former anthropology PhD student) has fled society after being publicly shamed in the social media after making a poor decision. The others at the Homestead have their individual reasons for seeking a less commercial, simpler way of life and as time passes, Mack learns that some of them also have deeper secrets. Mack’s fascination with a journal presumably from the late 1800s that tells of a similar communal experiment near The Homestead, adds an interesting dimension to the book. We Went to the Woods draws the reader in and compels them to embark upon a vicarious journey into a social experiment with Mack and her new-found friends. Despite some hints along the way in the narrative, the reader is not prepared for the ending. This is a book that has good character development and an interesting look at communal life and interests the reader until the end. Honestly, this is not my typical type of book, but it actually kept my interest much more than I initially expected.

Let me start by saying that I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book as I absolutely loved Dead Letters, Dolan-Leach’s debut. When I started this book, I had the highest of hopes but as this story dragged on, I wanted this just to end.

This book centers around Mack, who was a post-doc student who got kicked out, after a bad decision when she was on a reality tv show. She is at a point of her life where she does not know what to do. She is asked to participate in a collective with 4 other people, and she decides this is just what she needs.

They Went to the Woods spends the majority of the time discussing about the collective and how it is set up. It does have a few elements that kind of keep it interesting, like when they decide to sue their neighbors for utilizing pesticides that is bleeding over to their property. It leads to strange things happening which they believe is due the the lawsuit.

Overall, I felt this book was utterly dull. If you want to learn more about farming and not much else, then this book is for you. By the time the author tried to perpetuate the story (which felt like the last 15%), it was way to late. I was personally over it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book for an honest review

The synopsis was intriguing but sadly, the story didn't live up to it.. I ended up giving up about 20% in. The characters were so unlikable and pretentious. I was so bored with them. I think that if I went into the woods with these characters, I would waste away from boredom.

I was on the struggle bus with this one for 2/3 of the book and often contemplated just not finishing it. It was hard to care about any character as they were entitled and their pursuit to stick it to capitalism felt like a load of sh*t the entire time.

For some reason I just couldn't connect to this story or the characters. Perhaps it's that the premise didn't really speak to me, nor the reality show fallout that seemed to define the main character. The millennial feel was off-putting. I don't think I was the right audience for this piece.

I really enjoyed this book, perfect for those who read fictional books. This book was generously provided to me through NetGalley. Highly Recommended!

Your favorite reality show taken to extremes! A group of individuals working together to build a retreat from the world's disappointments and escape the predicted changes to their community. Sound familiar? The Caite Dolan-Leach shares the characters' strengths and weaknesses as they work hard to insure a safe place for them to live when the world goes crazy. At this point, the characters leave familiarity way behind and becomes a unique look into what could happen if....

When I read the info. about this book, I thought it sounded really interesting. It tells the story of a girl who meets some interesting characters and they all decide to move out in the middle of no where and become self sufficient. Needless to say, since none of them have any experience living off of the land, they have a lot of problems. I believe the author is a good writer but I just couldn't follow this book. The other problem was that it seemed to just go on and on about the same things. I kept reading it hoping it would get better and I did want to see how it turned out... I just couldn't get to the end. There was just too much jumping around and too much of the same scene over and over again. I will be interested to read her other books.

I really enjoyed Caite Dolan-Leach’s debut novel Dead Letters so I was super excited when I got to receive this ARC.
The main character Mack is longing for something fresh and different after she becomes a social pariah. It all seems to come to fruition when she meets a group of likeminded people as herself who decide to go off the grid and form a commune. What comes next is a tale of blood, love, and loss, Wrapped so perfectly in a hipster dream bow.
This was interesting in a way that I enjoyed it to a point. The characters are a pretentious dreamcast and the plot is confusing and meandering.
The writing saves it all, it’s gorgeous and you feel the stark real ness of the commune and envision the setting perfectly. My main problem is the story was boring :( And i’m sad about it.

All in all, an okay read but not a MUST read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy of this ARC.

This is a premise I can totally relate to, at least my younger self. Disillusioned (and burned by a reality tv show mishap), Mack throws caution to the wind and joins four friends to live of the grid in the Finger Lakes region. Given the region’s backstory in the novel, there was quite a bit to explore, but perhaps too much? The novel got bogged down and moved slowly for me. I also read this one on the heels of The Ash Family, so perhaps it was just too much of a particular plot line. If eschewing modern life is your jam, check this one out, as the writing itself is good.

'We Went to the Woods,' is the first book I have read by Caite Dolan-Leach. This novel focuses on a group of young folks who move to live in their own 'commune that they call the 'homestead' to become self-sufficient. The writing was interesting and kept me reading, but I struggled with the personalities of the characters. The members of the commune happen to come from a very upper class life, and they come off as whiny.

I really enjoyed 'The Secret History,' which this book is often compared to. Though those characters were also unlikeable, I felt they had redeeming qualities. I think many people could LOVE this book, but my mind kept comparing it unfairly to 'The Secret History.'

The author has a lot of talent and I will definitely look into her other books.

A group of young adults forms a farming commune in upstate New York. It seems like everyone has a questionable past, and secrets come out as the story unfolds.
I picked up this book based on the summary alone but I was pleasantly surprised to see a small cameo by a character from Dolan-Leach’s earlier release, Dead Letters.

We Went to the Woods is a quietly intense novel following five not-quite-yet adults as they leave the comforts of the modern world to create a commune of sorts in upstate New York. All are there for different reasons but the narrator of the novel, Mack, is attempting to escape her infamy after a very public experiment goes awry. While the threads of a mystery are woven throughout, this is very much not a thriller; the focus is held much more deeply on the characters and their relationships and introspections than on the plot itself.

Mack herself is quite relatable in some ways: she has fallen into this tightly knit friend group and feels more like an outsider than anything else. As readers, we are not privy to the ins and outs of the four other characters and must slowly figure them out alongside Mack. There is a strong element of voyeurism to this and it was difficult not to be torn between wanting things to settle down and wanting to watch the drama unfurling.

I found the parallels drawn between past and present to be quite interesting. Mack begins researching older communities that had struck out from society at large in similar ways. It seems obvious that humanity keeps making the same mistakes rather than learning from those who came before them. Even when drawing comparisons to the Collective, another nearby commune, this much is obvious. Whilst Mack’s group has struck out alone in an effort to avoid existing groups and their mistakes, this means they simply turn around and make their own.

There is a lot to be said about the portrayal of sexuality in this novel, and I’m intrigued to see what others have gotten from it. It is clear that Mack’s draw to the others in the group is firmly rooted in the erotic tension they all share. This is something that Mack herself focuses heavily on, literally obsessed with the physical relationships between each of them. There seems to be little delineation as far as gender or sexual orientation goes and most of the focus is on “free love” though it is clear that not all of the characters enjoy participating in non-monogamy. Indeed, it’s clear that any lack of boundaries is more forced than natural, particularly as secret upon secret is slowly unearthed.

As much as I enjoyed the novel, there were some aspects that I felt could have been handled better. For one, Mack’s infamy is a point of interest throughout the book that I felt was played up a bit too much. It is quite some time before the reader finds out what had happened and in my opinion, the eventual reveal was quite anticlimactic. It felt heavy-handed and clunky in the moment and I felt it could have been woven in better. Aside from that, the reason itself just confused me. Sure, what Mack did was terrible, but I was expecting something so much worse and felt let down by what had promised to be a major confession. Where Mack ends up in the end also irritated me and seemed like a throwaway, but that’s something I can’t get into without spoilers.

Speaking of which, what an ending it was! While the tension slowly builds throughout the novel and a climax is strongly alluded to (there are a lot of “had I known what I was coming…” reflections), I was still unprepared for where it led. Again this is difficult to discuss without spoilers, but I’d compare Caite Dolan-Leach’s writing to a well-done score: it is easy not to realize how much it is impacting you until you realize you are taut with anxiety and all hell is about to break loose.

Anyway, yeah this is a doozy of a read. I wasn’t sure what to think of it as I progressed but I have to say that the last act really cemented things for me. I was actually racing through the pages and dreaded the idea of not finishing before I would have to put it down. There’s much more to think about than what I touched on here, and even what I discussed could be analyzed at great length. I’m really interested in seeing what others have gotten out of this, and definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a slower, more intense read.

I would give this a strong 3 1/2. I really liked it but did not love it. I can see where this imagined utopian society of living off the land sounds interesting but with that comes problems. Lots of them! I enjoyed Mack's point of view as an outsider of the main group of founders. I actually enjoyed reading about the planting schedules and food choices and the story really starts to come around. I also enjoyed reading about the next door society who is making a go off living off the land. Eventually secrets are revealed making this an enjoyable read.

Interesting book-the characters, the setting, the premise and the mystery revealed are all interesting. A group of privileged young adults decide to get away from society and start a communal experiment. Three women and two men “get back to nature” in the finger lakes region of New York State. One of the women is a writer and we are seeing this unfold from her point of view plus she is researching other communes from the area for clues for what not to do and a possible addition to her story. Suffice it to say, things don’t go as planned or hoped over the course of the year but I won’t put down any spoilers for #wewenttothewoods and I thank #netgalley for the arc to read and review. Although I am a little ambivalent about this story I did enjoy the read and it will definitely stay with me.

This was a story that could be from the headlines years ago when communes were popular and in the news. I didn't know it was going to get into domestic terrorism from the description. Five friends decide to move to rural New York and live off the land. They are all convinced the world was going to end up in chaos. I had to make an effort to finish the book but since the first chapter was the end of the story I had to find out how they got to the conclusion. Many will enjoy the style and characters that Ms Donlan-Leach has created. I enjoyed reading her book, Dead Letters. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Review by 2shay....1 Star...DNF’d..........

I hated these characters. That’s right. HATED! Five millennials educated far beyond their intelligence without a thimble full of sense between them just pissed me off. I didn’t care what happened to them, and just wanted them to disappear. Ungrateful brats. ARC provided by Random House and NetGalley.