Great read! This is the first book that I've read from this author, an ebook gifted from Netgalley. Mysteries aren't my normal genre of choice but the description led me to requesting a copy. I read this in one day-couldn't put it down. The story has a good build up to whodunit at the end.

Growing up, Naomi lived through a traumatizing event with her two best friends, Liv & Cass, that still haunts her 20 years later; but, the problem is Naomi is starting to question if what she’s always believed to be true about what happened is the fully story.

There’s really only one word that I can think of to describe this book and how I felt when I finished reading it: WOW. Between the character development, the storyline, and the author’s ability to keep you guessing, this book was amazing. I loved Naomi’s character and how she was unapologetic about the person she was and gave off kind of a take it or leave it vibe but she was also still vulnerable. Ethan started out as the guy you thought was sleazy and just ugh, but turned into the guy you could see yourself rooting for and that’s saying something.

Between the storyline itself and the writing style I thought this book was amazing. The flashbacks to explain what happened in the past weren’t confusing as they can sometimes be and flowed well with the story. Overall I give this book 4.5 stars because I felt like the beginning moved a little slow and wasn’t nearly as engaging as the middle to end. Either way I would without a doubt read more books by Marshall in a heartbeat.

*Thank you #NetGalley & Flar Iron Books for providing me with an ARC for my honest review*

I loved this book! It was a little bit of a slow burn at first but once it got going I couldn't put it down. There are so many twists and turns in this book. Some I predicted but a few surprised me. This was the author's adult debut and I cannot wait to see what else she comes up with.

Naomi used to believe in magic and goddesses at the age of 11 with her two friends Liv and Cass. But when Naomi is attacked by a serial killer one day in the woods, her whole life changes. At just 11 she sends a killer to prison, but the question is, what she wrong? Naomi is called back to her hometown by her two friends because it is time to tell their secrets. What really happened in the woods all those years ago? And why does it seem like there is still magic holding them to the woods?

I enjoyed this book! I was interested in it from the beginning and I read it fairly quickly. The dynamic of Naomi was interesting because while you dont necessarily "like" her, you can definitely see why her life is as complicated and hard to read as it is. My only complaint about this book was the ending was a tad predictable, as the friendship of the 3 girls was very similar to a popular true crime case that happened near me. The similarities are what made me drop my rating. But if you dont keep up with the news or crime you may not know. All in all I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to people.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of this work in exchange for my honest review. All reviews are entirely my opinion.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
Publishing Date - 01/17/23
Rating (4/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC. The numerous twists and turns made for an unexpected ending. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Looking forward to reading some of her other books in the future.

The twists just keep coming with this book! It was amazing! Naomi was 11 years when she playing in the woods with her two best friends. She was almost stabbed to death by a known serial killer at the time. Her best friends were witnesses at the trial and stood by her side into adulthood. Naomi returns home after her almost killer dies in person. From here things begin to unravel. Does she remember the events of that day as they really happened? Are her friends telling her the truth? Whatever the truth is, she’s about to find it.

This thriller had excellent pacing, that leads the reader along for a wild ride. The characters are fully fleshed out, and enough subtle clues are given throw out, that the ending makes complete sense. I enjoyed this mystery, and will be purchasing for my library collection.

After a traumatic attack when she was eleven, Naomi has tried to put the past behind her. She's a survivor doing her best to pick up the pieces, but when the man who attacked her dies in prison, the secrets she's been keeping over the past two decades threaten to shatter her once and for all.

A slow-burn mystery with lots of twisty paths and darting shadows. The main character is flawed but sympathetic. This is the kind of book where the less information you have going in, the better your reading experience will be.

Recommended for readers who enjoy Gillian Flynn vibes and small-town secrets, and for anyone who ever played in the woods as a child.

I received this book as a ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.


I absolutely loved this book! Every-time I thought I knew what happened it would take a twist. This book sucks you in from start to finish. It does talk about suicide so keep that in mind. But would I suggest thriller lovers to read this… YES!! It keeps you guessing and on your toes.

I love Kate Alice Marshall's YA and MG books, so I was super excited to dive into her debut adult title. And in the end, this thriller is pretty freaking great. Yes, there's one 'twist' that I saw coming right away, but the rest of them were solidly unexpected, though pretty clear in hindsight. I very much enjoyed the MC and her narrative voice, and the borderline-Twin-Peaksy mill town in rural Washington was a suitably dark and claustrophobic setting for the story.

Love a good thriller? Every had a unique friendship? Been or know someone who has been betrayed? Then look no further and read what lies in the woods by Kate Alice Marshall. This book has all the things to be a great book which it is! The story is about Naomi Shaw who survived the attack of a serial killer. Naomi Shaw and her friends are not as innocent as they seem . They have dark secrets that are beyond the surface. This book has it all. Without giving away any spoilers. Let just say this book has a lot twist, It is dark, surprising, and unpredictable. It has an ending that no one could have protected.

I'm still spinning a bit from all of the delightful twists and turns in Marshall's novel, What Lies in the Woods. Told in the 1st person POV of Naomi Shaw, survivor of a childhood attack so vicious she is permanently marked by physical and emotional scars, the story follows her return to her hometown and the site of the violence committed against her when the man who was convicted of the act dies in prison. What follows is a reckoning of not just the actions of Naomi, her two best friends, Liv and Cassidy and the extended cast of characters who bore witness but of the lies they've told and kept hidden all this time. The details are meted out just slowly enough to build suspense but quickly enough for the pace to be propulsive and pulse-quickening, and the last quarter of the book is filled with revelations that flip everything the reader thinks they know upside down and around in circles. 4.5 stars from me for this fast and satisfying, well-written read!

This was my first thriller for the Fall season and it was a good way to jump into things. I read this book in less than 24 hours and I definitely did not see the twists coming! There were multiple different twists and turns within the book that you never got bored. Life lesson to never play in the woods!

These friends have been best friends since a young age but they never realize there is always secrets not shared. Chester is your small town gossip where people always find out the truth about you even if you don’t know it yourself.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy of this read

Atmospherica and claustrophobic story of childhood trauma, small town secrets and an overall gritty read.
Naomi Shaw is still recovering from an attack by a serial killer as a child. She and her childhood friends were able to identify the man and put him behind bars for life. When the accused killer dies in prison, the friends return to their small town to reconnect. Naomi has blocked most of the experience out, but her friends do remember, and they seem to be keeping some of the events secret from her. Suddenly Naomi is not sure if the serial killer did attack her. Beginning to panic, Naomi begins to work with a podcaster to try to get to the bottom of the events of her childhood. Be prepared for a gritty and dramatic story! If you love small time secrets, atmospheric stories, flawed and damaged heroines, then What Lies in the Woods is for you!
#Flatironbooks #Whatliesinthewoods #KateAliceMarshall

Thank you for the ARC.
I can't describe how this made me feel. It was relatable and disturbing. The end was darker than I ever would have imagined and I have a dark mind, three of my childhood friends are in prison for murder after all. Horror rarely upsets me.

And yet I couldn't go there. I loved every character and every twist. This is a very twisty book.

Oooh this book is good.

Filled with lots of small town drama, unlikeable characters, and years worth of secrets that some would kill to protect.

Very gritty and raw -- some twists were predictable but others were not! I loved how it all came together in the end to create a shocking tale.

Definitely pick this one up when it comes out in January 2023!

One thing about Kate Alice Marshall is she is going to leave me at the edge of my seat. What Lies in the Woods is no exception. Marshall is able to weave an intense narrative that made me genuinely anxious at times. This is bolstered by the relationship dynamics amongst the characters, I was never sure who I could trust. Even the main character was unreliable, which only added to the mystery and the finale. I couldn't put this book down!

“We tried to forget. We didn’t tell the story. Not the real one. Not ever.”

As children, Naomi Shaw and her friends, Cassidy (Cass) and Olivia( Liv) believed in myth and magic. Being raised by a negligent father who was drunk most of the time, Naomi found comfort and companionship in her friends, whose lives were very different from hers. The eleven-year-olds invented games and imagined mythical adventures. One such game was the Goddess Game, where they pretended to be goddesses from Greek mythology. A surprise discovery in the woods, one that they kept to themselves, only fueled their imagination further and their game became more elaborate and intense. However, that summer would change Naomi’s life forever. A gruesome act of violence in the woods leaves Naomi fighting for her life after being stabbed seventeen times and leaves both of her friends traumatized. They identified the attacker, a serial killer who was responsible for the death of other women, who was caught and jailed based on the testimony of the three girls. Naomi’s memories are foggy at best but she and her friends survived to tell the tale. But, they lied and twenty-two years later, after the killer dies in prison, the three friends reunite in their hometown of Chester, their guilt and secrets pushing them in different directions. Liv, who struggles with her mental health issues, has been digging into the past and wants to own up to their lies and reveal what they had hidden from everyone; Naomi, who still bears the physical and emotional scars from the attack, is willing to hear what Liv has to share as she tries to remember what really happened in those woods over twenty years ago; Cass, the Mayor’s daughter and a single mother who has built a life for herself in Chester, would rather not revisit the events that occurred all those years ago.

A lot is going on in Chester. Secrets and lies permeate the atmosphere of this small town. As the narrative progresses, Naomi begins to realize that her memories of that night were tainted and there is a lot about that night and the attack that she has never remembered. But some people would rather let sleeping dogs lie and would do whatever it takes to stop Naomi from discovering the truth.

Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is sharp, well-structured and absorbing. Naomi is a convincing protagonist – scarred by the violence she has endured, emotionally unavailable for the most part, cynical and distrustful of the world around her, she is immensely flawed and has not made the smartest choices. But she is a survivor and resilient. Initially, a slow burn, the story picks up at around the 30% mark. There are a lot of characters we meet along the way, but it is not hard to keep track of who’s who. The novel is narrated by Naomi, in the present-day in the first person. Flashbacks take us back to the events that occurred during her childhood. Full of twists and red herrings, this book had me hooked till the very last page. While one of the twists is not difficult to predict, this book kept proving me wrong as the story progressed and topped it with an ending that I did not see coming! (I love it when that happens!) Well-written, chilling, atmospheric, and suspenseful, Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is a gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the first book written by this author that I've read and and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Many thanks to the author, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this gripping thriller. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is scheduled to be released on January 17, 2023.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I really enjoyed this book. At first, I thought it was slow and I really didn’t like the main character. However, by the end I did like her. The characters were dark and messed up. This book will question if you really ever know who your friends are. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that in the one sentence you were in the present and the next sentence you were in the past. It got kind of confusing. I had to reread a paragraph over to know what was going on. Overall this was a good book and I would recommend for people to read it.

I took a short break from reading and this book totally sucked me back in! The twists! The turns! Just when I was for sure I had it figured out, I was wrong, again! This author is spectacular in leading you to what you think may happen and totally throwing you a curve ball! This was one heck of a ride. Thank you netgalley and publisher for gifting me this eARC!