Thank you NetGalley, Crooked lane books and Katherine Green for allowing me to read an advanced readers copy of “The woods are waiting.” Said to be published July 11th 2023.
Cheyenne Ashby returns to Blue cliff Virginia after up and leaving 5 years ago when 3 children turn up murdered in her own back yard . She felt like her superstitious mother and all of her quirky things she does to rid everyone of evil would soon wear off on her and she didn’t want that to happen. She came back as fast as she could to take care of her ill mother once the sheriff called her. Another child’s missing and the whole town still believes the out of towner Jasper is guilty. They are so wrong !
This book was an eerie and creepy mystery that was so fast paced. Little did I know the ending would turn out the way it did . And I was so drawn in from the very beginning I had to finish it as fast I could ! Definitely looking forward to more written by this author.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading creepy fast paced mysteries.

I enjoyed this atmospheric thriller that gives me some vibes of bogeyman stories mixed with Dexter. Won’t say too much more at risk of spoiling. I did predict this one fairly early on but enjoyed seeing how it all played out and how the details ending up coming together at the end.

I'm sorry, only after reading reviews with the high amount of 5 stars I wanted to share their enjoyment. Sadly it was hard going with too much repetition and probably needed a strickter editing.
Time after time in the same town where children go missing and later are found dead, I am surprised anyone would live in such a dangerous place. Constance carried on with voodoo rubbish which was repeated ad nauseam. Cardboard characters and an ending that was strange to say the least
Independent review thanks to NetGalley / Crooked Lane Books

The Woods are Waiting has an incredibly interesting premise. A small town with some questionable traditions, a woman in the woods seemingly in charge of keeping the evil at bay, and that woman's daughter who has to come back to a town she had hoped to leave behind. The author does an incredible job setting up the atmosphere; it's easy to actually get immersed in the descriptions of Blue Cliff, Virginia, and it's eerie residents. I had to lower my rating, however, due to the pacing and the characters.

I'm a huge fan of stories where there is little plot but lots of character development. Unfortunately this book had neither. The plot was almost stagnant; nothing happened for a huge portion of the book and then the big reveal was extremely rushed. The characters also felt a bit flat at times and somewhat forgettable. It wasn't a bad book by all means, but I'm not sure if I would pick it up again.

This is one of my favorite tropes in books. The woods, Appalachia, supernatural aspects, but I also like a story with good timing and not predictable. This one was a bit too predictable for me. It was a good book for a debut, hopefully the author will keep getting better

I live in the country, in the woods, isolated, far away from everyone and let me tell you this book was scary. Not an unbelievable kind of scary, but an I can believe that this could happen somewhere kind of scary which is all the more frightening to me. Kudos to Katherine Greene for her novel The Woods are Waiting and thank you for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I will be recommending this one to my friends for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for a review.

In all, "The Woods Are Waiting" had an interesting premise, ultimately bungled by its execution. The spooky atmosphere of rural Appalachia and occult vibes akin to True Detective season 1 were, sadly, not quite enough to give it a higher rating.

I wish we could have gotten a crumb or two more of Chey's motivations or backstory. I couldn't really tell how old she was as it was not explicitly stated. What was the final straw that drove her to leave? What did she do in Roanoke? Does she have a job, was she a student? So many unanswered questions that would have further fleshed out her character.

The climax of the book was great, at first. A simmering story finally brought to a rolling boil... and then I noticed there was still ~20% left in the book. The villain monologued for entirely too long, and the writing was going in circles constantly (did we need two nearly identical mint-based epiphanies in such quick succession?)

I found the final scenes to be severely lacking in spatial logic. It took "several hours" before Jackson was rescued and he somehow didn't bleed out in that amount of time, despite being shot in the gut and needing "pints of blood."

I still think I enjoyed the book for the most part, even if the end meandered a bit.

The Woods are Waiting by Katherine Greene sounded really good on the surface, dark woods, a mystery to sort out, but this book left me wanting less, not more. The characters were predictable and the plot plodded along. Not the best and stopped reading about three-quarters of the way through.

Book Title: The Woods Are Waiting
Author: Katherine Greene
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: July 11, 2023
My Rating: 2.7 rounded up

I always enjoy a story ‘in the Woods’.
I am okay with dark and creepy.
Books promo: In the tradition of Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware, Katherine Greene’s debut thriller is a dark descent into the sinister traditions and customs of a small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet no superstition will prepare childhood friends Cheyenne and Natalie for the macabre truth that awaits them.

Okay this got me!

I like stories about ‘the woods’. I grew up in West Virginia and the hills behind our home were always fun. My friends and I would explore and let our imaginations run wild. Creating magical creatures in the woods - No we weren’t into creepy.

Now I love a good thriller and really am okay with dark and creepy but not disturbing creepy!

I mentioned in other reviews that sometimes a ~ “A good story is all about timing”
Unfortunately the timing wasn’t good for me with this one.
I considered putting it on the back burner. I hung in there and it ended okay ~ not great but okay!

This is a debut by author, Katherine Greene].
Her Biography states she cut her teeth on spine-tingling thrillers and true-crime. Her love of dark twisted tales with a strong female voice led her to create stories that leave you guessing.
I will give her another try and will be on the look-out for her next story.

Want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for granted me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 11, 2023

Dark, eerie and just plain creepy. I connected so well with this book being from a small town and spending lots of time outdoors. Katherine did an amazing job capturing the small town feel and it’s truly what intrigued me from the beginning. The woods in general are absolutely terrifying, especially in the dark. Throwing the Hickory Man in the mix it’s a big NOPE for me. I adored how creepy the hickory man was and became very invested in the lives of the children. I couldn’t put this book down and of course I now have unanswered questions, which I weirdly like? What an awesome debut.

A huge thank you to Net Galley, Crooked Lane Books and Katherine Green for the opportunity to read this novel!

This debut novel by Katherine Greene was such an enjoyable read! It was suspenseful and creepy from the beginning, with a nursery rhyme setting the stage for a mystery that was generations in the making. The book had me rapidly turning pages well into the night!!

The cover of the book intrigued me, and the synopsis drew me right in. I am so thankful for this ARC because it helped me discover a new author I’m sure to love! I can’t wait for her next one!! So if you’re a reader who enjoys a thriller with a haunted feel to it, a mystery you’ll want to unravel, and a twist you won’t see coming, then you have to pick up this book as soon as it hits the shelves!

A huge thanks to NetGalley, Katherine Greene, and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the early release of this book! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!!

A great story, kept me interested and the writing is done very well; I could picture the woods perfectly from the details shared. Creepy vibes & Definitely recommend!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I can see "The Woods are Waiting" becoming a movie thriller. The author, Katherine Greene brought the woods to life with her words; the crack of a stick in the darkness, the wind in the trees.
Cheyenne Ashby fled Blue Cliff, Virginia five years ago, just after high school, She could no longer stand the oppressive feeling of being stuck in time in the town she grew up in. Some might call it picturesque, set amongst the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, but the superstitions of the people that had called it home for generations compounded with the unsolved deaths of 3 children finally sent her away to create a new life. But now another child was missing and her mother was succumbing to her fears so she was returning to her home at the edge of Hickory Woods.


Thanks to NetGalley, Katherine Greene, and Crooked Lane for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for and honest review.

I loved the setting but that was the real highpoint of the book. It sounded like a solid story but the writing wasn't there. The plot was so obvious and plodding. The "red herrings" were not clever or well done. It was atmospheric but I felt like I was reading a children's novel about very adult events.

The small town of Blue Cliff, Virginia is home to the folkloric Hickory Man, a demon-of-the-woods who demands the blood of the young to keep good fortune coming the denizen's way. Five years ago, three young children were murdered in the woods. The killer was caught, or so the town thinks—because when another body shows up in the woods, all hell breaks loose and Cheyenne Ashby, who ran away right after the last body was found, comes back home.

Katherine Grenne's debut novel, The Woods are Waiting, is a love story to Appalachia and things that snap in the distance. Those looking for a true horror novel should steer clear because this novel isn't going to deliver in that regard. But, if you're looking for a solidly suspenseful thriller with some cool town lore, this will work for you.

I'm rating 3.5 stars because this feels like a first novel... which it is. Red herrings are too obviously red, the twist can be seen from miles away, and the secondary point of view was totally unnecessary (it also doesn't really make sense that we see things from Cheyenne and Natalie's PoV but not Jack's). I'm a sucker for Appalachian spookiness so, despite its pitfalls, I enjoyed this novel... I just expected it to be a DIFFERENT novel. That's okay.

Thanks Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for gifting me an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thus is incredibly atmospheric and creepy. Good use of alternating POV. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Cheyenne has returned to her families home after being away for the past five years. Her mom looked like she has aged quite a bit during that time period. Over the years many kids have gone missing. Cheyenne will try to remember the past to try and figure out who is behind these abductions. I was glued to this story from the beginning.

An eerie, slow paced thriller with a solid plot and some well written characters.
Cheyenne is a good vulnerable heroine and her friends make the setting more normal.
The small town ideal is challenged here and I couldn’t put the book down.
A little bit predictable but creepy all the same.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

A creepy thriller with an ending I didn’t see coming!

Did I love it? Did I hate it? I’m unsure of both, really. Currently somewhere in the vicinity of “meh” about the whole thing.

First, the “who done it” became incredibly clear pretty early on, despite the authors attempts at giving you some other characters to maybe think about. She also gives us Hunter, seemingly for not other reason than to hate him.

I don’t know. It almost seems like the author got tired of writing a book somewhere in the middle and still needed a word count.