DNF at 40%.

Just felt meandering and pointless. Disappointing because Stephanie's last horror was nuts and fun. This just lacked a lot.

I did have to DNF this because I wasn’t mentally able to get through it. I felt like it was extremely disturbing.

If you’re interested in picking this up, I suggest reading a sample of it. You can tell pretty early on if this is a storyline you can handle.

A page-turning thriller with a whole lot of gruesome.

For a good chunk of this book I had the same uneasiness/unsettling feeling of the way Blair Witch Project made me FEEL about the woods (seriously IRL I get spooked by dark woods). That anticipation and unease has made its way straight into dark, gruesome and terrifying in a much more real way. More slasher-film like. ⁣
⁣
I was equal parts eager and also mildly scared to finish the last 75 pages and had to put it down last night so I could finish today in DAYLIGHT so I don't have any messed up dreams thanks to reading this before bed.

I wish I could have felt their friendship a little more and I feel like I always knew were it was going but overall I was in search for a horror thriller that would get the heart racing and it delivered.

3.5 stars

I have heard absolutely wonderful things about Stephanie Perkins books, so I was a little let down with this one. I have only read a few YA horrors, so I don't have much to compare it to, but what I have read, I can safely say this one is probably the lowest on my list of how much I enjoyed them.

YA horrors always have slightly annoying main characters, but I genuinely could not handle Neena and Josie. I don't believe for a second they are actually friends. I think if we saw a little bit more of a frienship prior to everything going wrong, the impact would have been greater.

There were only a few moments where I got a little creeped out, mainly only when I thought about what /could/ happen to Neena and Josie, not so much what was actually on the page. But that being said, there are definitely graphic scenes in this book.

I didn't totally hate this book, but like I said, it's not my favorite. It was a quick read however so I'm not annoyed having spent time reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book! I really loved There's Someone Inside Your House so I had high hopes for The Woods Are Always Watching. Being lost in the woods is definitely scary to me and some of the situations the girls got into were freaky... however, I just couldn't get past how much Neena and Josie really seemed to dislike each other. It was hard for me to buy that they were best friends.

I really enjoy this thriller side of Perkins, and although I enjoyed this book, It wasn't my favorite or anything spectacular. It was actually a bit cringe and I hated that ending. Like very cringe.

Um. Well, I think I can safely say that this may not be the author for me. I didn't particularly care for 'There's Someone Inside Your House' though I did enjoy the Netflix adaptation... and THE WOODS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING... well.... yeah, it's a no for me.
Now, I do enjoy backwoods horror such as Wrong Turn, which this had some slight feels of, but these girls.... uffffffffff. Where do I even begin? The beginning of the book was just them kind of whining at each other. They decide to go hiking, which they've never done before, and are not very well prepared for this new adventure. THEN BAM. Things did take a turn and start to get interesting. Let's just take any plausibility out of the situation. This made it a bit better once I decided that these girls basically have super powers (they don't, I'm making it up) and a pain threshold I can only wish for.

Enter villains with Appalachian accents (this was mentioned quite a few times so it is quite drilled in my head). FINALLY. I was rooting for them the whole time. KILL THESE GIRLS PLEASE. 😈 And then that ending... what the actual..... anyways......... And don't come at me saying that this is YA so what should I expect because I have read some fantastic YA horror. BUT, I will say that I did find myself intrigued and wanted to see what was going to happen, no matter who I was rooting for! I did find it quite entertaining once I decided not to get so nit picky. I didn't find this creepy or scary in the slightest but I did enjoy the romp that it is to a certain extent. For now, I'll wait for the adaptations because if this comes to film, I'm definitely watching.

Best friends Neena and Josie want to have some special time together before they go away to college. They have never backpacked or camped before, but they decide it would be a nice chance to bond before they are separated. During their three-day trip, they venture off the hiking trail and fall into a nightmare. The woods are haunted by more than just bears.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting at all. It was described as a companion to There’s Someone Inside Your House, which I loved. That book had more thriller aspects, but this one was gruesome and horrorific.

What I found strange was that the real suspense didn’t actually begin until halfway through the story. The first half described their camping challenges in detail, which have assured me that I never want to go on a trip like that. The second half of the story was filled with gruesome horror scenes. It was quite disturbing at times. I only kept reading because I wanted to know what happened with the girls. The story didn’t end the way I had expected to, so I’ll give it credit for that.

Unfortunately, The Woods Are Always Watching was a disappointing read.

Thank you Dutton Books for Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t think I’ve read a young adult thriller before and I felt this was perfect for the season! The premise of this one sounded really interesting. Two high school best friends decided to go into a National Forest for a 3 day hike before going their separate ways to different colleges.

First thing to point out. This is YA and it felt like it. The main characters and their personalities got on my nerves. So be prepared for some of that. I prefer my young adult to be a little more mature as far as that goes.

Second if expectations. I was expecting this to be a thriller obviously, but because this author is well known for a cute YA series, I also thought it would be thriller light. That’s not the case as far as the gruesomeness of the book.

As you can imagine, things don’t go as planned in the forest and they are caught in a pretty bad situation. At times it felt pretty unbelievable. Not that it could happen, because it obviously can and probably does. But how everything was handled. I wanted more motivation and backstory as to what was happening and even in the end I don’t think this book does a good job explaining that.

The story does fit the cover and is the right time of year for it. But I definitely had higher expectations in the execution. In the end, I could’ve been ok with both girls dying and at times I was rooting for that anyway. So I never did come to like either of them much.

"The darkness itself didn't frighten her; it was what the darkness concealed." (!!!!)

The tension in THE WOODS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING is magnificent! The way Stephanie Perkins takes a seemingly everyday hike in the Appalachian mountains and deftly dissolves it into this psychological suspense fest had me completely hooked. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give any spoilers away, but I think anyone who likes jump scare movies, would enjoy this as well.

This spooky read is perfect for Halloween!

The Woods Are Always Watchings is a creepy "lost in the woods" horror story by Stephanie Perkins.

It features two best friends, Neena and Josie, on a camping trip that quickly turns into a nightmare. I loved the buildup- the creep factor slowly building as they go deeper and deeper into the woods. Loved the way the author describes the forest, it feels like it's own character, along with what the woods contain....

Definitely read this with the lights on!

The Woods Are Always Watching was a quick and thrilling read, although not the most believable of ones. These two girls were the last two girls in the world that I could believe would be spending time alone camping. But putting that aside, this book was pretty creepy. The tension grows slowly, starting out with simple irritation between the friends and grows into something much more ominous. The feeling of being watched is a constant. And then things get terrifying.

I do wish there was a little bit more background, I guess, to the…villain. I like there to be a little bit more of a psychological element to the thrillers that I read. However this is a great quick slasher book for those looking for a little scary fun at Halloween! If you liked There’s Someone Inside Your House, then you will probably like this one as well.

"I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own."

I have to say this was a pretty good storyline, but I did feel like it fell short in some aspects. We are introduced to our two young adults who are about to move on with their life of going to college and working and decide to go on a hiking trip as the last hurrah before they go their separate ways. Neena and Josie spent the first maybe 100 pages driving me crazy with just not having any real depth to them. I felt as though they were shallow. Yet, perhaps they were meant to be that way because they just got out of high school. Also, for two best friends, they were mean to each other. I mean, come one you will spend three days with your best friend and yet decide to be ugly. It doesn't sound like a fun trip to me, but who am I to judge the characters. They are all ready for this trip which I think is excellent, but then it turns deadly. It will be a fight for survival, and one that leaves you a bit creeped out with it. I do feel as though the ending could have been a bit better. Who were these people? Why was there nothing posted on the bulletin boards near the hiking parks? Just a lot of unanswered questions that I had. I will say the title of the book did go with the story being told, and now I am not sure if I genuinely want to go hiking ever!

This book definitely has a slow start, but once it got going I honestly couldn't put it down (I stayed up way too late reading it), and I've really needed a book like that lately. The premise is that Neena and Josie decide to go on a 3-day camping trip as their last hurrah before Neena goes away to college, leaving Josie behind. The first half of the book is Neena and Josie showing their complete ineptitude at camping (why did they choose this trip?) and bickering over little things until they get to a big blowout that they both worry will ruin their friendship forever. And then in the second half of the book, things go VERY wrong. Basically, once I got to the second half, I absolutely had to keep reading to find out what insane, horrific, possibly gory thing was going to happen next. Honestly, I'm surprised I felt that way, since I don't like horror movies at all, but books give you all the suspense with none of the crazy jump scares or having to actually see the gore, so I guess I like them better. Here's the thing: I had to suspend disbelief. A lot. The things that happen in this book are often preposterous--but I really wasn't going in expecting realism. I also wasn't sure how I felt about the head-hopping (the book is told from both Neena's and Josie's perspectives and jumps between them randomly in the first and third sections of the book), but once I got to the second section and realized it was an authorial choice based on head-hopping when the girls were together so that the reader would feel more of a sense of isolation when they were alone, I could definitely respect that choice. In the end, I enjoyed reading this book, especially the second half. And I am now convinced that I need to pick up There's Someone Inside Your House, so I guess Perkins must have done her job!

I liked this story, but didn’t love it. The dark, spooky setting of the woods gave me the creeps, but in a good way! I knew something was to come. It couldn’t just be a story about two friends camping for the first time. There was an ominous undertone throughout and the story really began to ramp up when the injury forced the two to separate. I would suggest reading this book on an empty stomach because there are some nauseating scenes that I could’ve lived without, but in the name of all things gory and scary, it fit the bill.

I was really excited about this book, but sadly it was a bit of a disappointment. Part of that is my own fault, because for some reason I thought there’d be more spooky elements or at least a fake supernatural presence tormenting the characters, and this ended up being very real-life, fucked-up horror. In fact, it was reminiscent of a Criminal Minds episode! Which isn’t a bad thing, but not what I was anticipating. (Although, was this completely my fault when a character in the book alluded to some supernatural stuff at the campsite?? I feel led on.)

Outside of my expectations, when I realized what this book actually was, I was open minded, but it still fell flat. There wasn’t a lot of tension from the danger as it drew near; it just kind of showed up when the girls needed to split up (I know that sounds scooby doo silly, because 99% of the time you NEVER separate, but they really did need to!!) Like yes, the story has tension, but from the characters’ situation more than anything, for most of the time.

What I liked most, which is funny because so many reviews are ragging on Neena and Josie for being unlikeable, was Neena and Josie’s friendship. Idk why people are acting like best friends can’t fight, or that friends don’t hide hidden resentments toward each other? Especially when you’re young and your lives are diverging. Josie, having lost a father and now living with a depressed/grieving mother, has her own trauma. Neena, struggling under her parents’ expectations and the fear of leaving everything familiar for college, can’t seem to talk about these things with Josie, who is going to college locally and feels like she’s being left behind (again). I think Perkins did a really good job of bringing these characters to life, as well as other characters along the way, in such a short story.

I feel like I’m rambling a little, but since this book is so short, there’s a lot I could give away by going into even a semblance of detail. I’ll leave with this: will I read more horror from Perkins if she writes more? Yes. Would I recommend this particular book? No, unless I know the person I’m recommending it to really enjoys outdoorsy/survival stories.

Sadly, this one just wasn’t for me. After reading the synopsis, I really thought I was going to love it. But I kept waiting for something to happen that would help me enjoy it, and that moment never came. I didn’t feel connected to the characters, and their own connection seemed a little off to me. Ultimately I think it just took too long for anything big to happen, and at that point I was already checked out. I definitely plan to try another Stephanie Perkins book in the future!

Neena and Josie are best friends that decide to go on a hiking camping trip together before college. They have no idea what waits in the woods. This was my first thriller by Stephanie Perkins. I was not disappointed at all. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book. I enjoyed it! It was a good one for the spooky season. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really fast read. I liked the portrayal of our two friends as they go on one last trip together before they separate for university. They are both inexperienced with hiking but saw this as a great bonding experience for them. However, they have a lot of unresolved issues between them that they never addressed and it all bubble to the surface as they spend more time together in the woods where they get lost, tired and hungry. What made it unbelievable for me is the rest of the plot. Especially all that happens to one of the girls. And as the story went on, I couldn't suspend my disbelief. It felt like these certain events got added for the shock factor. It had potential and there were some great moments but it became a bit too much.

YOUNG ADULT

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins; Dutton Books for Young Readers, 240 pages ($17.99) Ages 14 and up.

Best-selling author Stephanie Perkins (whose "There's Someone Inside Your House" comes to Netflix Oct. 6) offers a riveting thriller of two best friends who run into more than they bargained for during a camping trip in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina.

Neena and Josie are working their shifts at the local Kmart in Asheville, N.C., when they come up with a spur of the moment plan to take a three-day camping trip before Neena heads off to college in California. While Josie's older brother is an experienced camper and lends them his gear and advice about a route, Nina is a complete novice and the two immediately find themselves in trouble, barely able to lift their backpacks out of the car, barely able to stagger to the first campsite.

Against the vividly described backdrop of dense forest and mountain, Perkins expertly ratchets up the tension between the two friends over the extreme physical discomfort of unprepared amateurs camping in the wilderness, the survival situation amplifying the discord between them over their sharply different financial status and family circumstances. The two are barely speaking to each other when Josie falls into a sinkhole, and Neena sets out alone to go for help. Then two serial killers emerge from the shadows. Willingly suspend your disbelief, and you will be mightily entertained.