This is the author’s debut book and it is pretty solid. Scary woods, children missing, superstitions galore… it is the perfect set up for an atmospheric thriller.

I was enjoying the book at first, but then it struck me that I’d encountered similar narratives before… many times, in fact. This isn’t to say the book is bad, it’s just that I’ve read numerous books with similar themes so there wasn’t much left to “thrill” me. Additionally, I predicted the ending quite early, which always dampens my enthusiasm. Perhaps that is the downside of reading over 200 books year for the past two decades… eventually some plots start to feel repetitive.

If you are new to this genre, I’m pretty confident you will like this book. It really is a solid story. If you are a seasoned thriller reader, you will likely have the same experience with it that I did.

Thank you @netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I wasn’t a fan of the writing style from the beginning, but once I got to 63% and realized I didn’t care what was happening I knew I needed to let this one go.

Maaaan, this book was dark and atmospheric - it's the perfect book to read on a dark and stormy night. I love books based on local folklore, with nursery rhymes based on past horrors, etc. my only complaint is that the two main characters were kind of similar so it was very meh in that regard. 4 stars

This was a pretty impressive debut! I love stories with monsters based on nursery rhymes. While some things fell flat for me, I did enjoy this overall.

This book didn't make me very excited. I found it difficult to keep track of the characters as they were very similar and there wasn't much to keep me invested. It isn't bad, maybe it would be a good audiobook, but I got lost here and there and it wasn't that memorable for me.

This was kind of a slow burn thriller with a small town atmospheric setting that grew on me. There were many plot twists that left holes in the story for me. So overall, I liked the story, but I wouldn't say it was the best of thrillers either.

I keep asking myself why I’ve been putting this book on the back burner for a year! It’s the very first book on my NetGalley backlist, but the Goodreads ratings were brutal for this thriller and I kept putting it off. I’m the Queen of DNF’ing books; but I thoroughly enjoyed this one and don’t understand how this book received over twenty 1 star reviews. Like how?! Did we read the same book?

Cheyanne moved away from her hometown of Blue Cliff five years ago because of the superstitions around the small town that the Hickory Man would take small children if they wander too far into the woods.

“Keep silver in your pockets, walk with dirt in your shoes, or he’ll poke your eyeballs from their sockets, and boil your bones in stew.”

Children have been disappearing for 100 years, and no one can quite figure out who or what is responsible for all the murders. Cheyanne left without saying goodbye to her two best friends Natalie and Jack, but she doesn’t regret leaving.

Fast forward to the present where Cheyanne receives a call from the chief of police begging her to come back to take care of her ma because another child has gone missing and she’s in a catatonic state which only Cheyanne can fix. Cheyanne is back but there’s tension between her, Natalie, and Jack. There’s secrets spilling all over town about the Hickory Man and it’s up to Cheyanne, Natalie, and Jack to find out the truth…if they survive the bogey man.

I INHALED this book in one day! I fell in love all the characters, the storyline was nicely paced, the twists surprised me, and the ending blew me away! After devouring this book I jumped right into Katherine’s newest book, The Lake of Lost Girls, which publishes later this year and I love it so far.

I love books with Appalachia as a setting! This was creepy, atmospheric, and suspenseful-a true slow burn mystery that kept me guessing.

Being a big time Lisa Jewell fan, this one served exactly what I was looking for. The dark atmosphere, slow burn pacing, well built characters had me hooked from the start. I didn’t want to put it down! And believe me the first line had me screaming in silence.

Absolutely a solid read for lovers of slow burn, scary, mysteries with supernatural vibes!

2.5 stars, rounded up.

A slowburn paranormal mystery set in the Appalachian Mountains. I found this rather far fetched and thought the characters were underdeveloped, and therefore I had a really hard time getting into this. There were also a number of plot holes that took away from the story as well. I thought the concept of the book sounded really interesting, it was the execution of it that was lacking.

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

DNF’D this book pretty early on as it was just too slow paced for me.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Anything that has to do with the Appalachian mountains always intrigues me the most. This book was unpredictable and definitely so CREEPY. Kids going missing in a small town, where the woods are the most dangerous place to be. It was a fast read and was so good.

I thoroughly enjoyed the creepy mysterious vibe of this book right from the start! If you are a fan of a slow burn thriller set in the woods this book is for you. Set in a small town at the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, Cheyenne Ashby left her small town to escape her mentally unstable mother with her superstitions about something evil in the woods that takes the towns children. Five years earlier 3 children's bodies were found in the woods and a man named Jasper Clifton was convicted of the crimes which let the small town rest easier. But when Cheyenne returns home and another child goes missing she is determined to find out what is really happening in her small town.
I love thrillers, and this one had an especially creepy feel with this atmospheric story of someone or something lurking in the woods.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

I recently had the pleasure of diving into The Woods Are Waiting, an atmospheric read that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The author's skillful storytelling and ability to create tension and suspense had me hooked from the very first page. What I particularly enjoyed about this book was the twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. The pacing was perfect, making it hard to put the book down once I started reading. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a creepy ride filled with suspense, mystery, and unexpected surprises. It's a must-read for fans of the genre!

The Woods are Waiting is a fast paced thriller, that is well written and tries but doesn't quite succeed to get under your skin. The concept of an entity in the woods, preying on children, is inherently creepy and should work here, but just never quite reaches the level of unease it should. It's also too easy to figure out the twist well in advance of the big reveal, which makes some moments that would be otherwise unsettling fall a bit flat. Again, the writing itself is good and the characters are great; the story just needed to be a little bit stronger for this one to really be a standout thriller for me.

Thrillers. They’re what’s for breakfast….Seriously though, who doesn’t love a good thriller (besides people who aren’t into thrillers obviously)? I for one, am a huge fan of thrillers. They’re in my top three favorite genres. Honestly, I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this one. I have a really bad habit of choosing a book without reading the synopsis (I know, I know, I’m terrible). I actually tend to go more with the cover and/or the title of the book. I’m not entirely sure why, other than maybe it allows me to open my mind and not have any expectations. It’s a more heightened element of surprise I guess you could say. This one definitely heightened the element of surprise. The premise was very intriguing and while I didn’t get any sort of real connection with the characters, it didn’t hold back from my overall experience. To be honest, I thought that either a ghost or some sort of paranormal entity behind the missing children with all the creepy small town tales that are circulating the community. Very well played. It did take a bit to get into the book and the ending wasn’t as strong as I was expecting, but it was a pretty good book.
Thank you Netgalley, Katherine Green and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Two best friends who have gone their own ways until one is called back home. That is the story of Cheyenne and Natalie. Cheyenne left and hoped to never return, but she does.
The thing is ever since they were kids, there have been reports of missing kids and kids being killed especially in the woods. Someone had been arrested already, but they had just been released from Prision. Cheyenne and Natalie team up to get to the proof.

Ok things I liked:
Very quick read with a slow build though to bring the reader up to speed
enjoyed the small town feel in this book although that was a good and bad thing
I did like the relationship between the two characters at times.
It did have a sense of thrill to it

Things I didn't like
Plot Holes that never made sense
Easy to sort of figure out. Meaning the twist was not a surprise to me
sometimes things were very over played such as Cheyenne's annoyance of having to come homee

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

The Woods are Waiting by Katherine Greene is a slow paranormal thriller set in the Appalachian mountains. In this small little town kids are told do not go into the woods, or the hickory man will get you, but of course kids don't listed. Throughout this towns history kids have ended up dead in the woods, often in pairs of 3. Though that all changed 5 years ago when it turned out a man was arrested for the murder of the kids. It seemed like the mystery was solved and there was no evil prescense in the woods after all. But when the man gets released after new evidence found him innocent, the murders start again. What is happening in these woods?

Overall this wasn't great. The characters were quite flat and one-dimensional. The 2 main PoVs were so incredibly similar that i had a hard time keeping them apart, their voices were basically identical. The insane amount of skepticism and willingness to ignore everything that was happening by basically everyone really bothered me. If kids are disappearing and ending up murdered for almost 200+ years, always in pairs of 3s there must be something going on right? but nobody really went to investigate, no FBI investigations or anything.
The writing was easy to read but nothing really special. I often felt myself reaching towards my phone to check social media instead of continuing this book, which for me is a really bad sign.

My sincerest apologies for the delayed review! Thank you kindly to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC! I enjoyed this one and can't believe I waited so long to read it. I love that the author is a duo and these two pair well together. Plus, who doesn't love a creepy, small-town mystery?

This was a quick read, with great characters, but it was definitely darker than I was expecting. Overall an entertaining read! 3.5 stars rounded down.

A very creepy and atmospheric book from page one. Even the nursery rhyme set me off! Clever writer draws you in straight away whilst also making you guess. I’m a bit of a coward and did find it scary! Recommended to my bracer friends!