4.5 stars. This started pretty slow but I just knew something big was waiting under the surface. Naomi is still working through her childhood tragedy. She’s distant and cold but can lean on her two best friends. There are secrets from that night and they’re starting to unravel. How much trauma can one person endure before it’s too much? The second half really flies by and the ending was great. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

This was a very well thought out slow burn suspenseful novel. I love the trope of friends revisiting an event in the past and watching the details unfold in this book was enjoyable. The twists were not predictable and the ending was very satisfying.

I wrote about this on The StoryGraph and on GoodReads with links sent to Twitter and to Mastodon. I also reviewed this for AudioFile Magazine.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5337347039

Naomi, Olivia, and Cassidy were eleven the summer they started playing The Goddess Game in the woods. They were having the summer of their lives pretending the be goddesses and practicing rituals until the girls were attached and Naomi was stabbed seventeen times. By some miracle she survived and identified her attacker. She went on with her life, trying her hardest to move on and forget about what happened until her attacker died in prison and suddenly Olivia wants to tell the truth about what happened....but what truth does she want to tell since they didn't lie......right??

Oh my god!!! I could not stop reading! This is one of the best books I have read in a while. I was absolutely blown away by the twists and turns! This is a dark, like dark dark, psychological thriller that is character driven. The story is told through Naomi's point of view, with a duel timeline between the summer of The Goddess Game leading up to and after the accident and present day. I really enjoyed Naomi as the narrator and found her really reliable which isn't necessarily the norm with psychological thrillers.

As soon as I finished, I went to look up Kate Alice Marshall in hopes to read other books by her and found out that this was her debut book. And wow!! What a debut! I will for sure be reading her next book without a doubt! I loved this book so much, I bought a physical copy!

If you're looking for a dark, twisty, mind blowing psychological thriller, this one is for you!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was extremely good. I felt the characters are relatable. The story caught my attention from the first chapter. I felt like I was on a wild goose chase for a quick minute because there are so so many twists and turns. I really did like the clever plot. I look forward to reading more stories from this awesome author.

I loved this book more than I expected to! A lot of books have predictable endings but this wasnt one of them. Everyone should read this book

I really enjoyed this book - it was one that I took with me in my car when I left the house so I could read it any chance I got. Hooked in the first twenty pages, twists throughout, thought I had it figured out 4-5 times and I never ended up guessing correctly. Always enjoy a book that isn't easy to crack. Would recommend!

Twenty-two years ago, 11-year-old best friends Naomi, Cass, and Olivia frolicked through the forests of the Pacific Northwest, playing their magical, wondrous Goddess Game. But the magic stopped when Naomi was attacked, stabbed 17 times while Olivia and Cass hid in fear. Miraculously, Naomi lived and was able to identify her assailant, ultimately putting away a serial killer who had previously murdered six women. But now that serial killer has died in prison, and Naomi has returned to her hometown to reckon with the events of two decades ago...because Naomi, Cass, and Olivia weren't telling the truth back then.

What Lies in the Woods includes some of my favorite plot elements: serial killers, verdant and menacing forests, the feral savagery of girlhood. I am absolutely going to read any book that includes those things, and there is a lot about this one to like. Kate Alice Marshall's writing is textured and perceptive, rich with atmosphere and fascinating imagery. This is a well-composed and intricate thriller that kept me engaged from start to finish, even in the slower-paced sections. I can't quite say that I liked any of the characters -- even the narrator, Naomi -- but I did feel like their actions and motivations made sense in the context of who they were.

This is Marshall's first novel for adults, and unfortunately, that shows. It's a common issue with YA writers making the jump to adult fiction; the writing is at times overwrought and hyperbolic, with characters often experiencing their emotions very melodramatically. Some of the characters felt immature at times, especially during the novel's big reveals.

Ultimately, the main issue that took away from my enjoyment of What Lies in the Woods is that I found it to be really predictable. This is definitely a "me" problem and not a problem with the book itself; I do think it's clever and there are some interesting reveals...it's just kind of hard for a psychological thriller to surprise me these days. I spent a lot of the book just waiting for what I knew was going to happen, to happen. As my kids would say, at this point it's not hard for me to spot when something is "sus."

Overall What Lies in the Woods was a decent enough thriller, but probably not a book that will stick with me for long.

Fast paces and well written. While I guessed a "who," there was just enough of a question to keep me intrigued until the end. I enjoyed this story very much, and would absolutely read more from this author.

A great thriller that leads you to people you think did it but completely turns around in a great whodunnit mystery!t I loved the style of this writing and the friendships that were revealed over the course of the book! Highly recommend!

Marshall's These Fleeting Shadows was one of my favorite unexpected reads of the last year, and I was SO excited for this one. While it didn't absolutely enrapture me quite as much as These Fleeting Shadows, I still had a lot of time with What Lies in the Woods. It's more Gillian Flynn than Shirley Jackson/Lovecraft, but that's not inherently a bad thing. This wasn't the book I expected it to be, and the pacing was a bit off (too slow to start, too quick to end), but I still really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to Marshall's next book!

What a great story! I will be honest, I was not immediately hooked and had put it down for a bit. But when I came back to it it scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. There’s a great unreliable narrator, and man oh man did the red herrings in this book get me. I love that I was constantly second guessing who was really to blame, and who could be trusted (spoiler alert: trust no one!!). I really enjoyed this story and feel like it’s a bright light in a super saturated “murder girls” market.

The atmosphere of What Lies in the Woods makes it a compelling thriller. I enjoyed reading this book. I was constantly trying to figure out who was involved and what was about to happen. I never put the pieces together. This is an excellent book by Kate Alice Marshall and my first one by here also. This one is very twisty and while some of it I saw coming, other things I didn't. I don't want to say too much about it other than grab it if you can. It's a bit darker and contains more mature elements than her YA books, and I really enjoyed my time with it. It's also casually queer as Naomi is bisexual. The audio narration is fantastic, and I just wanted to keep listening to the end! I received an audio review copy via Net Galley, all opinions are my own.
*Content warnings include death, violence, injury, suicidal ideation, possible suicide, gun violence, attempted sexual assault of a child, references to child abuse, infidelity, depictions of hoarding.

3.5 stars

I loved the beginning of What Lies in the Woods, Marshall captures that feeling of being a young girl who is on the cusp of becoming a teen and knowing friendship can change. As someone who spent summers in the woods with my friends at that age, that part drew me in…

The twists at the end were, eh… one was pretty obvious and the other just didn’t work for me… but that’s just my opinion.

Overall still a good mystery and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

Three best friends spent their eleventh summer in a world of make believe in the woods near their homes. When one of the girls is violently attacked one day, their testimonies sent a serial killer to prison. Or did they. When the girls get together as adults, secrets start to come out. What will they do to stop them?

Highly recommend this for anyone looking for a thriller they won’t be able to put down. This book will leave you constantly wondering who can be trusted.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.

This is my first Kate Alice Marshall book, and I can confidently say this won't be my last. I am usually not a huge fan of thrillers, but this book was amazing. I could not see the twists and turns coming and I really loved the main character. I felt like I was discovering everything along with her and the pacing was excellent.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys thrillers with twists and turns you won't see coming.

I thought that this one started off a little slow. I don't really know what I was expecting going in and I must confess that Thrillers aren't my normal genre. I really loved the concept. I am always a sucker for a "is this the right person/lapse in memory" scenario. I did really dig that the characters were flushed out thoroughly, and I don't feel like the twists and turns were too predictable. I would probably read another book by the author, even if thrillers aren't my jam.

The nitty-gritty: Secrets, lies and shocking plot twists will have readers scrambling to find out the truth in this excellent thriller.

What Lies in the Woods is a slow burn mystery that was nearly impossible to put down. With this book, Kate Alice Marshall has made it onto my auto-buy list of authors, it was that good. With impeccable pacing, deep character development, and stellar writing, this is a definitely a "must read" thriller of 2023.

Naomi survived a vicious attack when she was only eleven years old. She and her best friends Olivia and Cassidy were playing in the woods when Naomi was attacked and stabbed seventeen times. Cass and Liv saw the attack and were able to identify a man named Alan Michael Stahl, a suspected serial killer who the authorities were only too happy to send to prison.

Twenty years later, Naomi gets word that Stahl has died in prison, and wanting to bring some closure to her horrible experience, she decides to go home and reconnect with Liv and Cass. But rather than bringing her comfort, seeing her old friends only opens up old wounds. Liv is clearly distressed about something and claims she has a big secret she wants to tell Naomi. And that isn’t the only secret threatening to spill out. The three girls discovered something in the woods all those years ago and swore never to tell, but when tragedy suddenly strikes, Naomi begins to question her memories. What really happened that day in the woods? And how is the girls’ big secret connected to it? With the help of a podcaster who has his own doubts about what happened, Naomi embarks on a dangerous quest to find the truth.

Marshall brilliantly shows how fragile memories can be and how over time you can convince yourself that something is true, even if it isn’t. I loved watching Naomi come to the realization that perhaps the events from the past happened differently than she remembers. Naomi was an interesting protagonist in many ways. She still has terrible scars on her face from the attack, a daily reminder of what happened to her. She changed her last name because she was tired of the notoriety that came with surviving a serial killer attack, and she just wants to be left alone. Coming back to the scene of the crime, so to speak, isn’t doing her mental health any favors, but you can see how badly she wants to discover the truth and put the past to rest.

There are quite a few characters in the story, but the author gives each one an important role, and of course casts suspicion on many of them, making it nearly impossible to guess the final outcome. All of the characters seem to be damaged in one way or another, and none of them are very good people, but honestly, doesn’t that make the story more interesting? I ended up really enjoying the relationship between Naomi and her estranged hoarder dad, who was never a very good father to her growing up and didn’t give her the support she needed after the attack. But seeing them interact as adults was, believe it or not, one of the more heartwarming parts of the story.

I also loved the feeling of nostalgia I experienced during the flashback scenes, when Naomi, Liv and Cass spent hours playing something called the Goddess Game. The “game” revolved around Greek goddesses and magic, a heady experience that ultimately spiraled out of control. These scenes in the past leading up to Naomi’s attack were steeped in mystery, as the author only sparingly hands out details of the game and the actual events. I remember as a child myself having an overactive imagination, and I could see how the machinations of such a game could lead to misunderstandings and high emotions. The author brought the past and present together in spectacularly thrilling ways, and even readers who don’t like dual timelines will probably find themselves riveted by Marshall’s skillful plotting.

There were so many twists and turns in the last twenty percent of the story, I couldn’t stop gasping from shock! In fact, that might be the only negative for me, that there were just too many crazy twists so close together, I couldn’t keep up. I did love that Marshall chose a feel-good, emotional ending that felt highly satisfying. I cannot wait to read more from this talented author!

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

🌲Book Review 🌲
What Lies in the Woods
Kate Alice Marshall
January 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Qotd: How do you feel about daily affirmations? Do you use them?

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I chose this book strictly on the cover and title and it did not disappoint. Full of plenty of suspense and mystery with just enough red herrings to keep you guessing. I did not figure this one out and was quite surprised by the ending. The writing was fluid and easy to readand I found myself disappointed when it was over.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one for a beginner thriller reader but maybe middle of the road. Not too gorey but plenty descriptive. Looking forward to reading others by this author. If you enjoy thrillers, go find this one.

Synopsis: "Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.
And they were liars.
For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods—no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be."

#review #mondayreview #bookreviews #Reviewer #whatliesinthewoods #netgalley #netgalleyreview #thriller #thrillerbooks #katealicemarshall #digitalcopy

This was my first five star read of 2023. It had everything you want in a murder mystery plus some. Our MC was a survivor of an attack when she was only a child. Seventeen stab wounds and the ability to not only survive but name a wanted killer her attacker sure did put her on the map. It also instilled some crucial emotional and social survival skills that outlined the last 22 years of her life. She was a riveting main character filled with trust issues, isolation, and skepticism.

So what brings her back to the small town she had always been desperate to escape - even before the attack that solidified her reasons to leave? The killer she pronounced responsible for her attack dies. Her best friend calls her back asking for the truth to be set free. Naomi was always curious how she was able to identify her killer seeing as she couldn't remember anything about the attack besides the excruciating pain of being stabbed seventeen times. She had always been able to compartmentalize this "wounded" side of herself but returning back to her hometown opens the floodgates.

I appreciated Naomis unwavering personality but willingness to use her brain to decipher what didn't seem right. I loved the writing of this author. The first page had me sucked in and glued to the book. Her writing is enchanting like a fantasy book but invigorating as a murder mystery should be. I had read it alone at night and was spooked at every small noise going through my house. It had me double and triple checking the locks at night. Everything about this book was perfected. It creeps into your mind and festers, calls to you. Loved every second of this read.