Kate Alice Marshall keeps you guessing until the very end. I couldn't put this book down! Naomi is a shattered, broken mess after a mysterious attack in the woods at 11 years old. She continues her loyalty to her two best friends despite the many questions about who really attacked her - a now dead serial killer or someone she knows? Ethan's real identity was a little predictable but the rest of the story was twisted path to who really was responsible for Naomi's death all those years ago.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

What Lies in the Woods is a lyrical, spooky slowburn mystery that centers around a crime that changes three girls forever. Naomi and her two best friends, Liv and Cass, spent their childhood playing elaborate make-believe games in the woods. When Naomi is brutally attacked, their story of what happened that day puts a serial killer behind bars. However, they were lying and those lies come back to haunt them 20 years later.

I am a huge fans of Kate Alice Marshall’s YA books and I am so excited for more of her adult novels. This thriller is atmospheric and creepy with beautiful writing. I enjoyed the true crime element and the third act was perfection. It is a slowburn, but the payoff is worth it. Karissa Vacker’s narration is spot-on as always. Definitely recommend reading this on audio.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC! I will always recommend an audiobook narrated by Karissa Vacker - pub day is tomorrow, January 17th!

It’s no secret that thrillers/mysteries are very hit or miss for me lately and while this is 3⭐️s I still lean more toward hit than miss.

✨creepy children
✨small town mystery
✨podcast element (because they all have one these days…)
✨Greek mythology
✨slow burn
✨lots and lots of lies

Overall a solid and enjoyable book but not one that’ll stick out to me!

What would you do if you thought you were stabbed by a serial killer and left to die as a child? How would it shape you? After the death of the serial killer that the girl and her friends put behind bars, the child is now a grown woman that returns to her hometown.

Things aren't always how they seem in the small town, and it is rief with lies, corporation, and betrayal.

I loved this book, the characters and development of the story line.

A good thriller. Interesting premise, and good character development.
There was a part of the storyline that I couldn’t really get into, and I think that affected my rating.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance coffee in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the audio arc to this book. I enjoyed the narrators style and the way she added voices to each character. The storyline was good and kept me guessing at where it might go. I did predict a few things, but then was completely surprised at how they connected to the rest of the story.

4 1/2 stars

Naomi is the survivor of a knife attack by a notorious serial killer. Her life was changed forever that day when she was eleven years old. It also altered the lives of her two best friends, Olivia and Cassidy, who were forced to watch her being stabbed without doing anything for fear of what could have happened to hem.

Years later, the girls are adults and are still struggling to put those events fully behind them. Naomi returns home for the first time in years expecting to make a quick trip, catch up with her friends and be back to her normal existence before long. But nothing at home is as she expected it to be. And now her doubts about what happened that day are starting to creep in which leaves her suspecting almost everyone of being involved in some nefarious way. I hesitate in saying too much because this book should be enjoyed one word and a time and I'd hate to give away any twisty surprises.

I was fortunate enough to receive an early listening copy. This story really lent itself to this format. The narration was done well and added to my enjoyment of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this Audio ALC. I voluntarily chose to listen to and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Thank you to Kate Alice Marshall and NetGalley for this audio-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

Naomi along with her childhood friends, Cassie and Liv survived an attack from a serial killer in the woods when they were 11. Only Naomi was attacked while her friends hid. Now years later her would be murderer dies in prison. Naomi receives a letter from the serial killers son protesting his fathers innocence and claiming Naomi put the wrong person behind bars. Liv calls Naomi back to their hometown to discuss telling the secret they've been holding onto since that time in the woods. Naomi starts to doubt all that she thought she knew about that day and her whole world, Will the girls secret be with dying for?

I loved loved loved this novel!! Although I did guess some of the twists it was still laid out in a way that had me questioning myself. I loved the characters and their development. All of these characters felt flushed out to me and thoroughly relatable. I highly recommend this thriller!!

A whodunnit thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. I wanted to know who was to blame in the years old mystery. I felt like everyone in the small town was getting blamed for something. The story felt forced toward the end when the blame kept shifting. The end was definitely a shocker and not at all expected!

What lies in the woods...... darkness, secrets and the past.

I have been seeing this book everywhere, and am so glad i was able to listen to it. It took me 2 days to listen to it and it has indeed captured me in.

"Trust was a choice " This was a good mystery and i can not wait to read more.

I will have a full review for this on my channel at the end of January. I am giving this a 3.5 stars rounded up. I would say it is a good starter thriller for those looking to read something in the thriller genre. On the flip side, for seasoned thriller readers, this isn't anything new. The plot and ending are something I have seen done many times before, and I wasn't really surprised while reading. If you're looking to read a thriller and you normally do not read much in that genre, I would suggest this book to start you off.

This was a fast-paced, entertaining read. Full of twists and turns, this book will keep you turning pages. ⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this! It was a solid mystery with a great atmosphere and Karissa Vacker absolutely nails the narration, as always! There were parts of the story that were predictable, but I loved all the twists and turns at the end! What an amazing conclusion to such an addictive story!

This book is full of secrets and lies with so many twists along the way. I really enjoyed this one and was drawn in right away. Although I did predict a few twists, there were so many that it didn’t even matter, I was still surprised and didn’t even come close to guessing the ending. Moral of this story, trust no one! I listened to this as an audio and loved the performance of Karissa Vacker. I highly recommend this twisted thriller that shows that memories are not always right, and everyone has something to hide. 4.5 out of 5 stars, rounding up to 5 on goodreads.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Kate Alice Marshall for providing me with this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded down
What Lies in the Woods is a psychological thriller about three young women dealing with the repercussions of an episode from their youth. When they were eleven, Naomi, Cass and Liv spent the summer in the woods. One day, Naomi is attacked and left for dead. Luckily, she survives. She and her friends identify her attacker. But it turns out, they were liars.
When the man dies in prison twenty years later, Liv decides she needs to tell the truth.
All three of the women are damaged goods, as one would expect. I don’t expect to necessarily like unreliable characters, but I need to find them interesting. These gals didn’t elicit any response and felt too much like cliches. I couldn’t buy one of the main premises of the story, why they didn’t tell the adults about Persephone.
But the story was engaging enough that I wanted to see how it would play out. There were numerous individuals that could be behind the attack on Naomi. In fact, my opinion on who was behind the crime changed several times. There are multiple twists here. Some were obvious from miles away while others caught me off guard. And the pace does pick up as the story goes on.
I prefer my stories to be believable, which is why I seem to have a love/hate relationship with psychological thrillers. This veered too close to the unbelievable side. But it passed the entertainment requirement.
I have a problem with narrators with breathy voices. So I wasn’t a big fan of Karissa Vacker. But she does a good job of differentiating the various voices.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.

My first read from Kate Alice Marshall left me with thoughts and all the feels. "What Lies in the Woods" is an intricate tale of friendship, sorrow and betrayal wrapped up in a suspenseful murder mystery. Marshall examines the cost of survival and the scars that childhood leave on her young characters both at the time of a monumental event in their young life and again years later.

Synopisis: Twenty-two years ago, Naomi and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, playing 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 but they were also 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.

The plot is dark (three girls were rescued from the woods after an encounter with a serial killer when they were 11.). "What Lies in the Woods" was the perfect blend of atmosphere, what happened, and who-done-it. With red=herrings, twists and turns, the past was slowly unraveled.

This intense thriller leaves the reader wondering if all is as it seems until much is revealed with reorganised memories. The story was impactful. Marshall's story line kept moving, keeping a reader on the edge of their seat. I look forward to reading more from Kate Alice Marshall in the future.

Audiobook Feedback: I really loved Karissa Vacker here! She also narrated Stacy Willingham’s thrillers "A Flicker in the Dark" and "All the Dangerous Things" — both of which I enjoyed. Vacker is quickly becoming my favorite narrator. She has a voice and vibe that sucks you into the story!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Kate Alice Marshall for the opportunity to read a tale of heartbreak and redemption.

I listened on audio, loved the narrator but it took me a little to get into this it. I would say slow burn until at least 30%. Three girls have a secret from childhood that could cause some issues if anyone finds it out. One of them was attacked and barely survived. So many lies, you don’t know who to trust or what to believe. What really happened on the woods?

This is the first book I’ve read by this author but would be interested in checking out her other books for sure.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “What Lies in the Woods” in exchange for an honest review. I thought Marshall’s mystery was compelling and engaging. It kept me hooked the whole time and I appreciated the resolution. I would recommend picking it up if you are in the mood for a mystery.

Short synopsis: 22 years after sending their attempted murderer to prison; Naomi, Liv, and Cass are notified the serial killer has died. But along with that comes lost memories of the attack, and not everyone is comfortable keeping those secrets.

My thoughts: Wow! This was a fun thriller. Serial killer, podcasters, childhood games, and survivors. The setting was amazing, the woods in the Pacific Northwest and the writing was propulsive and page turning.

There were a couple twists that I guessed early on, but many that totally came out of nowhere that made me audibly gasp!

I listened to part of this on audio, narrated by one of my very favorites Karissa Vacker. She does such an amazing job at bringing the characters to life, and setting the already atmospheric scenes.

Read if you love:
* True crime podcasts
* Serial killer thriller
* Then/now
* Survivor stories
* Uncovering repressed memories

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the audio version of this book!

Naomi is damaged. When she was eleven, she was attacked in the woods while her best friends hid and watched.

Now her killer is dead and Naomi returns to her hometown to meet with her friends.

But she had a secret- and she isn't the only one.

What Lies in the Woods has many twists and turns and spectacular reveals. The eerie story provides well developed characters and excellent plot twists. Definitely enjoyed this book.