My plan is to read more serial killer thriller this year and this was the perfect book to kick it off the year. The author does a fantastic job of leaving clues and hints as the story unfolds. I loved how the whims of young girls were at the center of this one and caused a massive fallout for the whole town. Naomi's character was well-written and strong and Cassidy and Olivia were excellent counterparts. I wouldn't say I was blown away with the ending but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

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. The girls called it the Goddess Game. That summer Naomi was attacked and miraculously survived seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who hurt her. Naomi’s testimony along with Cassidy and Olivia’s put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. The girls became hero’s. But…they were also liars.

I loved the play on words in the title. Karissa Vacker narrated this one as well and I am quickly becoming a fan of her narration. She did such an amazing job with the characters. I had a few theories as I listened, but as always none panned out, which I really enjoyed.

What Lies in the Woods is filled with twists and turns. You may think you know exactly where it is going, but then it gives misdirection and makes you question everything.

Characters are unlikeable, but I didn't find that it took away from the story too much.

Narration was also well done and an easy listen while doing chores around the house.

A twisty and suspenseful story! There were a couple parts that just didn't make a lot of sense, but it was compelling enough to make me look forward to folding extra loads of laundry so I could listen to more chapters!

I love this book so much I recommended it to three different people before I even finished reading it. I love how the story goes back and forth in time and you can’t trust Naomi simply she because she herself doesn’t really know what happened in the day she was attacked.

🔊Song Pairing: Under Your Scars - Godsmack

🗯Thoughts:

There were some twists I did not see coming but bulk I knew what was to come. Not that by any means I was disappointed!

Took me a hot sec to get the characters straight with their backstories. Maybe I just need to pay better attention 🤦🏼‍♀️

This book gave me some serious Megan Miranda vibes so if you’re a fan of her works then this one is for you as well! This author I imagine will be a household name soon enough!

This book was easy to get into from early on. Shortly after the book begins, Naomi goes back to the town where she grew up to meet up with her two childhood best friends - Liv and Cass. When the three girls were only 11 years old, Naomi was brutally attacked in the woods while the other girls hid and then ran for help. The serial killer who had been in prison for his crimes had recently died so the girls wanted to get together to comfort each other as they were all still dealing with the aftermath 26 years later. This is how the book begins. Then, questions start arising and more and more happens as the story builds.

It was an intense psychological thriller with a lot of twists. I liked some of the characters and didn't like others, as expected. Each character had his/her own unique personality and was written in a way that led you toward your feelings about him/her. The novel was carefully crafted to lead you where it wanted you to go. I kept trying to figure things out as I listened to the narrator telling the story but, when nothing is as it seems. Only some answers are easy to guess for a voracious consumer of the mystery/thriller genre.

The only downside of this book was that there were SO many different twists that it was a bit much. They were written well into the storyline, so at least they didn't come out of left field, so to speak.

The narrator was mostely easy to listen to. I have heard one other book that she co-narrated and her voice is easily recognizable. I'm not a huge fan of the voice she uses when providing dialogue for male characters or children, but her main narrator and female character voices are good, so it's easy enough to get used to the other voices as well. She reads with emotion and pauses in all of the right places to provide the appropriate amount of suspense.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an audio ARC of #WhatLiesintheWoods by #KateAliceMarshall and narrated by #KarissaVacker

4 stars for story content and 4 stars for narration

What lies in the woods? Apparently everyone, at least everyone in this novel.

What's with all the breathy whispering narration for female characters in mystery/thrillers? Are we being told a secret or are we reading a book?

Overly large cast of unlikable characters lying to everyone to protect themselves and the futures that they are building. Throw in some big fish in a small town politics and apparently no police force (or, as we are lead to believe, a police force under the influence of the mayor's wants) and you've got a a serial killer in your backyard with no crime scene investigation. Some of the plot holes were so big you could hide a body in them. Nearly as many red herrings as there are "twists" that are fairly predictable. By the time we got to the big reveal, I barely cared anymore.

I selected this novel as my 12 year old son has been recommending the author to me for quite some time. Maybe her YA novels are better.

This is a fast-paced and well-written thriller about three friends who undergo a tragic attack in childhood that binds them together and impacts their lives into adulthood. Each of the women is coping with post-traumatic difficulty in building strong adult relationships, in maintaining relationships with their families of origin, in forging any kind of stable future. The peripheral characters (fathers, boyfriends, etc.) are well-developed and believable, and the central character, a woman who survived a brutal stabbing in the woods when she was 11 years old, is movingly drawn and sympathetic.

I was set to give this novel five stars, moved as I was by the intriguing plot points and rich character development, but then toward the end the plot took some odd turns that seemed weirdly predictable.

Stop here for potential spoilers:

Multiple characters we have grown to trust and admire are suddenly revealed to be bad guys. Other characters are suddenly revealed to be in cahoots and psychotic. The convoluted plot twists need to spelled out and over-explained. Children turn out to have been villains. Everything just starts to seem crazy and highly unlikely. (How many psychopaths can there be living in one small town?)

The ending -- after all those wild plot twists -- is satisfying and restores the previously drawn and believable relationships the novel had established, but the crazy twists and turns cost the book a star in my estimation.

I am grateful to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for providing me with an advance-reader copy of this audio book, expertly narrated by Karissa Vacker.

This book was so sneakily good! I requested the audio from Macmillan on a whim, and listened to it while getting ready for my office’s holiday party this year. I ended up absolutely blowing through most of the audiobook in a matter of hours!

I’m a big fan of listening to podcast-based books as audiobooks, and What Lies In The Woods was no exception. While we didn’t hear a lot of Ethan’s actual podcast, the audiobook still gave this thriller the creepy vibes it deserved. Karissa Vacker killed it as usual.

Naomi was a great main character. She’s clearly damaged, but she’s also resilient and determined to figure out the truth. I found her very interesting to read, and her character was well-developed.

The reveal got me in this book! Everything was revealed at the perfect pace–I was never bored with the plot or overwhelmed by the twists. I didn’t know who to suspect but enjoyed how all of the twists were explained.

This is a quick read that had me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed What Lies In The Woods so much that I picked up a copy from Book of the Month this month as well.

Thank you to author Kate Alice Marshall, publisher MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advance listening copy of What lies in the Woods.

There were times when I thought I knew who was behind everything, except I was definitely wrong. There were number of characters that were highly flawed, and I could picture them doing terrible things. The novel is fast paced with a lot of twists.

Naomi’s fight to find out what happened to her all those years ago, as well as make sure the right person is in prison for the crime is admirable and is her way of finding closure and understanding for the events that happened. When she was stabbed 17 times, there were many things that she couldn’t remember, and didn’t have anyone that was willing to tell her the unbiased truth. Even her father was not reliable.

As I was listening to the narration, I knew that the narrator (the character) couldn’t always be trusted, given the trauma of what she experienced. The narrator did a fantastic job of inflecting and doing both the male and female character voices.

I would highly recommend this book; it will keep you guessing until the end!

I loved this book and it was the first I have read from this author and I plan to read others. This story has a lot of twists and those you think you can trust will do anything to protect themselves.

I loved this story which kept me on my toes and fully engaged in the twists and turns at just the right moment in my life.
Kate Alice Marshall does a great job at creating red herrings in the story and I changed my mind several times before deciding who the killer was and then when it was revealed, I was wrong and it made sense and it was heartbreaking! The games we play as children certainly prove to be serious business in this story and I won't soon forget this. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for this wonderful ARC in exchange for my review.

Naomi Shaw and her two best friends were attacked in the woods when they were eleven. Naomi not only survived from seventeen stab wounds, but also sent the serial killer to jail with her testimony. While the small town thought they were heroes, they were lying and had a secret of their own.

This was definitely a fast paced thriller with great atmospheric vibes. It had a lot of twists I didn't see coming and I wanted to keep on reading to see how everything will shake out. I thought Naomi's baggage and psyche was interesting and well realized. The only reason this wasn't a 5 star read for me was the neatly explained ending. I thought the narration and the story went great together and I really enjoyed the audio.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

WHOA.... holy curve balls. This was a very interesting and sad read. Three girls play in the woods and they stumbled upon a skeleton. Naomi is going to go get help when suddenly she is hit from behind and stabbed 17 times. The girls testify that it was serial killer Michael Shaw and he is put into jail for the attempted murder and the murder of six other girls. Time goes on and Naomi gets the call that Shaw died in prison. This call leads her to go home to see her childhood friends Cassidy and Olivia.
Olivia wants to tell what they found in the woods which leads Naomi to discover what really happened that day she was stabbed and discovers all the secretes that they thought was buried come to light. The beginning was a little slow but it takes off and sucks you in. first 5 star read for me for the year. Loved the drama and the suspense of this story. It keeps you guessing.

What Lies in the Woods is a fast pasted thriller based upon a friendship of three girls in a small town, a serial killer, and a past that catches up with them.

This book is read by one of my favorite orators and her inflection and depth of feeling leaves you feeling like you also are a part of the story.

My only complaint was that the book ended and I was left on the edge of my chair wanting a sequel. I strongly encourage picking this book up and reading it. It's addicting so make a plan to not put it down.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. There were many twists and turns that were unexpected and they kept me guessing. Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

WHAT A BOOK! DANG!

*bows down to Kate Alice Marshall*

Welcome to the world of adult thrillers, you nailed your debut! My mind is a puddle thinking about how phenomenal this story is.

Is 2023 going to slap me in the face with marvelous thrillers? *fingers crossed* Because I am charting a path to believing in this genre again.

Thank you to authors like Kate Alice Marshall who can come up with stories that keep you on edge, shock you and something you won't want to put down.

I would have given this book a five BUT I didn't for two reasons. One, there is a gargantuan amount of characters, details and curtail moments to the plot introduced right from the beginning. I think a lot of readers are going to have an issue with this. SO, TO YOU READING THIS REVIEW and are very interested in this book BE PATIENT with it, you don't want to quit her. I was intimidated with everything that was being thrown my way.

One of my updated on Goodreads literally said "I am only one hundred pages in and so much is happening?"

Don't get me wrong, I loved that it was chaotic. This is what kept me going. I was curious about every single characters storyline. I needed to know more. I didn't want to stop.

What to compare this to? Think "Pretty Little Liars" but twist in wickedly dark details and add a creepy small town in a woodsy setting to the mix plus suck up some of the juvenile tween drama garbage. Boom, "What Lies in the Woods."

"Nothing good comes from old trouble" is a quote one of the characters says in the story and I think its a very great representation of it as a whole. It focuses on the present but the horrors of three little girls past comes to haunt them when they thought they finally could achieve some closure from one fateful afternoon where one of them was close to death.

I am telling you, you will never guess what Kate Alice Marshall has in store for you. I was shocked by (almost) everything that was revealed. [One thing was a little predictable BUT my brain waves were influenced by a book I literally read right before so I think a lot of people will be surprised at THIS SPECIFIC reveal]

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy of "What Lies in the Woods," I highly recommend the audio. The narrator does a wonderful job depicting Naomi and the distress that she constantly felt throughout the entirety of the story.

Kate Alice Marshall's debut adult thriller comes out January 17th! Great debut. If you're a thriller fan, check out this dark and gruesome story!

This started off a little slow but by mid book I was HOOKED. I still cannot believe all the twists turns and ending I did not see coming. So good. Thank you!!

Kate Alice Marshall really knocked it out the park with her first adult thriller, What Lies in the Woods. From the eerie setting to a plot twist that made me audibly gasp, I have no doubts that this book will be gaining a lot of attention.

The story focuses on Naomi, who was brutally stabbed by a serial killer while playing with her friends in the woods. At least that’s what she was told. She has no memory of it, but her friends were able to identify the attacker as a man who was also linked to the murders of several other women. Naomi, believing them, went along with it. Now, after receiving news that Naomi’s attacker has passed away, the friends decide to meet up. As they begin to discuss the past, Naomi is not so sure if she sent the right man to prison.

This was really one of those books where everyone is suspicious and unreliable, even the narrator herself. There were so many clever red herrings, so many secrets, and so many lies. It reminded me a little of Final Girls combined with the tone of A Flicker in the Dark. If you enjoyed either of those books, I think you would definitely love this one too. While I did guess one piece of the puzzle, Marshall cleverly weaved together so many details that there was no way I could guess the whole picture. The only real issue I had with the book is that I feel the ‘true crime podcaster helps victim find answers’ trope is a little overdone now. While it worked well with the plot, I’ve read several books lately that utilize a true crime podcast/podcaster.

The audiobook’s narrator, Karissa Vacker, is one of my favourites and was fantastic as always. She really captured the dark and mysterious tone and made the story come alive. I actually found I preferred listening to it over reading a physical copy, which is not usually the case for me.

While this wasn’t a book that was initially on my radar, I’m very grateful to Macmillan Audio for sending me an ACL and introducing me to a new thriller author. I look forward to her next book!