This one was such a roller coaster! I was not expecting much, as this is a YA thriller and we all know how hit-or-miss they can be. My track record is not so good with YA thrillers but I feel that they are a genre I can get behind. I selected this book because it’s premise sounded promising and I was intrigued.

The basic plot revolves around a teenage girl, who moves in with her grandparents after an initally unexplained event caused all her future prospects to dry up, and places her on several heavy perscription drugs. She meets a boy in the forest and begins to heal, but after a body is found in the forest, who can really be trusted?

I really enjoyed the thriller aspects of this novel. It was such a wild ride that kept me guessing from the very start. Very little was revealed about the core mystery in the first half of the book, so it actually felt like a contemporary romance. I was interested in the backstory that the beginning told, but it seemed like she was healing and just normal. This completely flipped in the final half and it did so many interesting things that I totally did not see coming.

The main character and the love interest were really fleshed out, but the main villain felt like such a cardboard cutout. He was evil. He loved killing. Blah, Blah Blah. There was also some really good discussion of mental health and the author took a second at the end to say that to really treat a mental illness, prescription and therapy need to be used in the right balance for the patient decided by the doctor. The character discussed the management of her mental illness. This type of discussion is really useful to have especially in a young adult context.

I ended up really enjoying this book and it really made up for my lack of attention at the beginning of the story with a really strong back half. I am now actually interested in some of the other titles that this author has released over the years. Hopefully the other YA thriller ARC that I have this month is just as interesting as this one was. Want to discuss this book futher or recommend other books I might be interested in? Leave a comment down below. Happy Reading!

4 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the copy of What she found in the woods. Josephine Angelini's newest YA thriller had me right from the start! Magda had been shipped to her Grandparents after a "scandal at her private school led her to a psychotic break". What it was is only hinted at, and told in small doses because she is living in a fog by being highly medicated -- until she meets a wild boy in the woods name Bo while doing the only she that gives her solace, hiking. But when girls start winding up dead in the forest, things really become out of control! I dont want to give away much of the plot but loved the twists the author put in. My family background includes mental illness, so the "over" medicated aspect of the story resonated with me. This book is great for teens but does have a dark theme of mental illness, suicide, murder and drug use.

Wow, I enjoyed reading this book! It was dark and twisted, and I loved all the directions that it went in! Magdalena isn't your usual narrator, because she was in a mental hospital, and she admits she did wrong. But there was a darkness in her that we saw more and more of!

The first part of this book was a YA romance, of Magdalena and Bo meeting in the woods, getting to know each other. But then it takes a darker turn, with dead bodies, drugs and blood. Then it became something of a mystery/psychological book. It was pretty creepy!

I really enjoyed the way this story was told, between times in the present, to her writing down her past in a journal-which becomes part of what confuses and messes her up when she needs that the least. It was a great way to get to know her and why she's where she is, and the pacing between the two was excellent!

That ending, when the dots were connected, yeah, the was pretty darned great. I loved how we got to that point, it was very tricky, and with just a little bit of information-or something said a little differently, and the pieces could've come together differently, or sooner. So it made the ending all the more better that they got to that point!

Yeah, this book was just so fantastic, and I enjoyed it so much!

3.5/5
This book is a fascinating read, it's a mystery YA thriller that had me guessing what is real or not.

The protagonist Magda is an unreliable narrator so you are left wondering what will happen next. She has a mysterious past that has made her move in with her grandparents for the summer. She runs into Bo, a boy living in the woods with his family, and when a murder occurs in the small town, no one is trustworthy.

Magda was an interesting narrator and the mental health aspect had an important impact on the story. It touches upon prescription drug use in modern day society and how it may not be helpful for everyone. It showed how society treats those with serious mental illnesses and how it can affect that person to their core.

The book began a little slower than expected but once the action started with the uncertainty of Magda's narration. However, I did find the entire book curiously exhilarating with a large twist at the end. It kept me on my toes and the conclusion was satisfying. The chase of the unknown was always lurking and it kept my attention as I was reading. The writing was great and I do appreciate the handling of the sensitive topics in this novel!

3.5/5*

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Children's Books for sending me a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a huge fan of Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed trilogy, so I was excited to learn about her upcoming standalone novel. This time she's given us a contemporary story about a teen struggling to understand fact from fiction as this small town deals with a troubling drug addiction and a rising death toll. With the past and present intertwining, this was a really interesting story to dive into.

Slow and Steady Interweaving of Past and Present
I love the mystery of Magdalena’s history and how it slowly unravels for us! There’s so much we do t know about her and Angelini has done a great job of bringing us in Lena’s journey of self-realization. She’s so numb to the world because of the meds that she’s on, so figuring out why she’s on them is a big draw, as is reading about her reaction too and relationship with Bo, the only person who makes her feel something. There are some moments that we really question Lena’s sanity and trustworthiness as a narrator, but I loved reading this from her point of view.

Loved Bo and Magda
Bo and his family are so interesting that I wish we had more time with them to learn about them! Beyond that, I really enjoyed his and Magda's relationship and reading about them getting to know each other. This is a boy who has never kissed anyone entering a relationship with a girl who has had more boyfriends that she can count; the dynamic could have been off, but Angelini does a great job having these character engage and learn to trust each other in an organic way. I just though they were so cute!

Not A Huge Mystery Build Up
​I realized after reading that one element of the story that I didn't connect with as much was the creepy realization that someone is watching Magda when she's in the woods. I would have loved some insight into the watcher's thoughts as he studies and stalks her; it would have added that extra element of creepy to the story. That said, that's clearly a personal preference and I don't think that the single point of view was a bad call -- Madga already has a lot in her head that readers have to juggle!

Overall, this was an interesting story and I completely dove into it. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down! I'm thrilled that Angelini has written another book and I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of her writing, who enjoys light YA mysteries or YA contemporary fiction, or anyone looking for an interesting fall read. What She Found In the Woods comes out September 3rd!

What She Found in the Woods by Josephine Angelini is a YA psychological thriller that, unfortunately, failed to fully resonate with me.

Magdalena has been sent to spend the summer with her grandparents following a scandal at her elite New York prep school. Heavily medicated, she spends her days in a haze, wandering in the woods, when he meets a 'wild boy' named Bo. The attraction is instantaneous, and the two slowly let each other into their own secretive worlds. But when a number of bodies begin to turn up in the immediate area, it becomes unclear who, if anyone, can be trusted.

This novel was a bit of a slow burn for me, but I do appreciate the author's execution of a somewhat complex storyline. I very much enjoyed the unreliable narrative provided by Magdalena throughout, and applaud the twists along the way that caught me by surprise. For me, it was all a little too far-fetched, but that is simply a matter of personal preference. I have no doubt that this one will hit the mark for many others.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC