I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite a book. I thought the story moved along well, the characters were all really well developed, and it had lots of turns. There were one or two things that I guessed but way more that I didn’t see coming,

When Naomi was eleven she entered the woods with her two best friends, Olivia and Cassidy. Little did they know that Naomi would leave those woods with seventeen scars representing the seventeen times she was stabbed. They all said it was a man named Stahl, and this testimony put him in jail for life, but they all lied. Now Olivia wants to come clean, but unfortunately it isn't easy as all that, and some are willing to do anything to keep the truth buried.

While I enjoyed What Lies in the Woods, I very early on (I mean almost right away) the truth of what happened in those woods when they were eleven; there were quite a few aspects that reminded me of some true crime cases. That being said, there were some surprises along the way and I still found myself in the grips’ of the story. It is fast paced and full of great–and twisted–characters.

I enjoyed the audiobook as well. Vacker creates suspense with her pace (once I sped it up a little), inflection, and the emotion within her voice. She brings the characters to life, as well as the story. The audiobook added to my enjoyment of What Lies in the Woods.

As young girls, Naomi and her two best friends, spent their summers dreaming up worlds of magic and roaming the woods near their homes. They created a game called the Goddess Game. But not everything in the woods was magical - and Naomi was brutally attacked. She barely survived, and together with her friends, was brave enough to identify and put her would-be killer away for life. They were lauded as heroes for their testimony because the man was wanted for murdering six other women.

But did they tell the truth? Who knew the real truth? And will they go to their graves protecting each others secret?

Decades later, someone wants to talk, and Naomi must find out what really happened. But at what price? This was a total page-turner and I loved it! It was quite unique for a thrill, and I didn't find it to be predictable at all. I loved the characters, the survival of trauma, and the delicate nature of memory itself. This novel will leave you guessing - and guessing again - right up until the very end. This would be a great choice for a summer vacation read. I highly recommend it.

I alternated between the physical book and the audio book - thanks to the publisher and Netgalley! This audio is great and I really enjoyed the narrator.

If you like dark and twisty tales, this could be right up your alley. Three young girls, childhood friends from very different backgrounds, spend lots of time playing a fantasy game that they make up as they go along until at age 11, one of them suffers a brutal, near-fatal stabbing attack as they play the game in their beloved woods. Now adults, news about the convicted attacker brings them back together in their small hometown and Naomi, the victim of the attack, begins to question what she really remembers about that day. Don't want to say too much but I enjoyed this one - it kept me guessing and I was sometimes correct with my guesses, but often surprised. I listened to the audiobook, and Karissa Vacker's narration was excellent as always.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Woah- I LOVED the audio! It made me want to keep listening. The perfect spooky story without being too spooky!

Thank you Net Galley for providing this book and allowing me to read it in advance. I was unable to personally get into this book but that is the power of reading. There’s books for everyone. I know someone else will adore it!

I really enjoyed listening to ‘What Lies in the Woods’ by Kate Alice Marshall. The narrator Karissa Vacker was awesome! There were lots of twists and it was very suspenseful and entertaining. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC.

#NetGalley #WhatLiesintheWoods

Marshall is back with another thriller, this one loosely based on the Slenderman attack. We follow a trio of women who put a man in jail when they were children, for brutally stabbing one of them while they played in the woods. That man has died, and instead of feeling relief that there isn't a possibility of revenge, Naomi is left with a feeling that she might have put the wrong man in jail. The book then follows all sorts of twists and turns while the secrets of the past come back to the present.

I liked the tone and pacing of the book, and enjoyed the friendship that seemed real and was told in a voice that depicted both ages of the girls well. There were times when I thought the dialogue was odd or the responses of some characters unrealistic, but the thrill ride of the twisty tale was worth those issues. A great summer read or a fantastic spooky time thriller, this one wasn't groundbreaking but it was entertaining.

The narrator was good, and the pacing was easy to listen to. I think I would have enjoyed the addition of spooky sounds of ambiance, to really set the scene.

Three unlikely best friends - Naomi, Cassidy, and Olivia - spent their summer as young girls in the woods, playing the magic-filled Goddess Game until Naomi was viciously attacked (17 stab wounds). The girls’ testimony put away a local serial killer. Lauded as heroes, the girl were also liars. Now, as secrets come to light, dangerous consequences of the truth affect everyone involved.

What I loved:
✨Secrets & Lies - some of the twists I did guess, but one I did not! I love how the secrets and lies layered within the story affected each character and their family differently.
✨Serial Killer trope - done effectively without being gory, making this trope more appealing to the mainstream audience and still not dull for die-hard thriller fans.
✨Narration - I’m forever a fan of Karissa Vacker. She once again elevates the story, adding authenticity and tension as I hang on to every word! I highly recommend this format!

I found this book to be twisty and fun. I thought the characters were flawed but still found myself empathizing with them. The secrets kept me wanting more, I couldn’t put it down.

One memorable summer left a man in jail. Years later there are still so many questions and so much trauma left to process.

A special thanks to NetGalley and FlatIron Books for this digital review copy.

Three best friends who put a man away in jail after they feared for their lives but was it real? What really happened in the woods and who is really responisble?

I really enjoyed my time listening to this book. I have no complaints about the audiobook, I think it was well done and kept me engaged in the story. I liked how the backstory in this felt unique for a mystery/thriller book and I liked the direction it went in. I think everything was done well but for my personal tastes I wish it would have been a little faster paced and I did find it to be fairly predictable. I did like the reveals in this book and would definitely read from this author again. I will be recommending this book and think it is a great place to start with the mystery and thriller genres!

I really enjoyed this book!

This book has a lot of twists! By the end, the real story is so complicated, and I absolutely love that in a thriller. I thought that the twists were a little predictable, but I still really enjoyed them, and thought the book was really enjoyable.
The narrator for this book is fantastic. This is my third audiobook from this narrator, and she's so talented!

The pacing was the only thing that I wasn't a big fan of. The story takes a while to get going, and then the middle third of the book is a great pace, but then the ending feels a bit rushed once all the twists start.

4.25/5

I had somehow missed the fact that Kate Alice Marshall is the author of Rules for Vanishing which I actually own and haven't read yet. Doh. Well, at least I have officially read her adult thriller debut, right? I digress. Anyway, I am actually glad I got to What Lies in the Woods so quickly (for me) because this has definitely motivated me to want to read her other books that I haven't gotten to yet. Her YA novel Our Last Echoes was a very odd and unique tale that I highly enjoyed and I'm glad she has decided to dip her toes into the adult genre. This has elements of a story that I can't mention for spoiler purposes but ends up being so much more than that and I was completely enamored with the storyline as well as our MC Naomi.

There was a podcast element to the story that I really enjoyed and although you never actually get to hear the podcast in action, it was how Naomi met Ethan so I'm ok with it. I listened to the audiobook, and I LOVED IT thanks to one of my favorite narrators Karissa Vacker. I'm so glad they went with her to narrate, and she was perfect to breathe life into Naomi and make her feel real AF. The writing really got to me and listening to Vacker speak it to me just made it all the better. There were twists here that I never saw coming and I could absolutely see myself doing another read OR listen of What Lies in the Woods. I loved how suspenseful it was and having it told explicitly from Naomi's POV in the first person was exactly what the book needed. There is quite a bit going on and a decent number of characters to keep track of, but I was never confused, and it was very easy to keep them straight. I'm glad I grabbed a copy of the physical book now (the cover is gorge if you haven't seen it in person yet), and I am now an even larger fan of this author.

Okay, so a long overdue written review but you can check out my video from right after I finished it here, https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwpc46C/

While I did get this as an ARC I also ended up grabbing a physical copy too, because I enjoyed it.

One fateful summer day our 11-year old main character Naomi was stabbed 17 times while playing in the woods…
Her and her friends work together to put the serial killer behind bars. Fast forward to the girls adulthood this killer passes away in prison, and unlocked both questions and memories of what happened that summer.

This story is told with dual timelines which is a trope a really enjoy, we get to see what happened to these girls as children as well as seeing them try and unpack this trauma and how this is still affecting them years later.

While this is a mystery/thriller, I never felt shocked by any of the reveals or twist but still felt that they were handled in a satisfying way.

This book explores how trauma can affect our perceptions and twist our memories of events, but on top of the trauma it also touches on the effects that our secrets can have on others. It delivers believable characters and a pretty well paced story.

This book was Narrated by Karissa Vacker, and she delivered a fantastic performance which really helped to bring this story together.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this book as an arc, this does not affect my review in any way.

The audio for What Lies in the Woods was wonderful! I really enjoyed the production and the narrator! The book was fantastic in the first place but the added theatrics of the audio made it such a good experience! I would love to listen to this narrator again!

While playing in the woods with her two best friends, eleven-year-old Naomi is attacked. The accused serial killer is sent to prison. Twenty-two years later, the lie the girls used to put away the alleged killer comes back to haunt them. Who is responsible for Naomi’s seventeen scars? The suspect list grows as more truths emerge. Initially, I thought I knew exactly where the story was going. The final fourth of the book is packed with one shocking revelation after another. The first major twist I would have never imagined. Unexpected and the perfect beginning of a series of jaw-dropping events. The narrator expertly brought the characters to life while adding a layer of intensity and emotion. Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my audiobook.

This book was so good. There were a few times where I thought I knew what was going on and I had it wrong. A couple of the"mysteries" I had figured out almost right away but that didn't hinder the great storyline here

Wow! This one grabbed me from the start and I held on for a wild ride of twists, red herrings, and surprises! Marshall has a way with words and metaphors and I stopped several times to reread her masterful descriptions. Her characters are authentic and flawed but not in an overdone way (I was so happy our narrator wasn’t a drunk with memory issues like most thriller heroines). Even though I guessed a few of the surprises I was still engaged throughout the novel and, honestly, I didn’t put everything together in the end so I’m calling that a major win for Marshall!

I flip flopped between reading and listening to the audiobook and I enjoyed the narrator. She had good pacing and articulation and was able to pull off the voices for the various characters. She was able to convey the tension without it being over the top.

Great read to get me out of my reading slump! Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. I was happy to provide an honest review.

This was highly entertaining and twisty. Pacing was great. I suspected almost all the characters at one point or another. Some parts were predictable, but it did keep me guessing until the end. Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron for the gifted audiobook!