Member Reviews
I'm so sorry, but I didn't finish this. I managed to get to page 213 and then just gave up. I hated the characters - they were so immature - and was just bored by our mystery. Likely a me problem and I'll try the author again in the future.
**I was very excited to have been given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Listen, I like Kristopher Triana & his books. His concepts are unique, and he can hold his readers attention. My favorite book by him is Gone To See the River Man. The concept of that storyline was strange but unique. I do not want to compare that book with this one, but I will say that while I loved Gone to See the River Man, & I really liked That Night in the Woods. Triana is a superb author in his vivid grotesque descriptions. The way some of the demons and congregation members were described were just gross LOL in a good way though if that makes sense. LOL (Fellow horror readers will know what I mean). Another aspect of the story that I adored was the setting. This book takes places during Autumn in Connecticut, Halloween to be exact. So, you have those Autumnal vibes throughout the entire story. One of the scenes that I recall was reading that Steven was taking a walk near some bridge by a farmland that had a various number of swollen pumpkins. It was the perfect book for me to read in the month of October. It was just enough spook to leave my palette satisfied. I enjoyed the concept of friends going into some creepy dark woods on Halloween night!! Come on! That screams good times RIGHT?
Overall, this was a great and fun read. The story went somewhere I didn’t see it going. I do wish we would have read more on the demons though. Still, it was fun to read. Thank you to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
3.5⭐️ a slow burn horror story that follows a group of childhood friends and dives into their secrets and traumas. The beginning of the book hooked me, but around the 60-70% mark the slow burn aspect of it did start to lose me a bit. The ending definitely caught me off guard. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting and I think a lot of people will not like it, but it’s definitely an ending that has stuck in my mind even after finishing the book a week ago.
Over twenty years after sharing a traumatic night in the woods together on Halloween, a group of childhood friends return to their hometown to mourn the passing of their friend Steven…and maybe finally confront what really happened to them all those years ago in the woods.
I really enjoyed the beginning and the ending of this book but found the middle to be quite boring and drawn out. The pacing of the friends all reuniting at Scott’s place to discuss Steven’s passing and seeing how they’ve all changed (and even stayed the same) was interesting but then having the recollections of their night as teens retold to them by Scott took all the actual fear out of the situation for the reader. I almost think that section of the book would work better written so that the audience experiences it with the characters and then there can be a time jump or something? I think this would be a more effective way of building and maintaining the fear of that night while also mitigating the drawn out middle section I so disliked…
All-in-all I enjoyed the ending enough to make the middle boring bits worthwhile. I think the ending is unexpected but still somehow completed expected which was sort of awesome.
Thank you to NetGalley, Kristopher Triana, and Cemetery Dance Publications for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
That Night In the Woods is Kristopher Tirana’s latest horror book and a great addition to your spooky TBR. What made this book really interesting was the characters and the alternating timelines. The characters were presented in different ways throughout the story and it was obvious early on that things weren’t necessarily what they seemed. There were definitely some unexpected happenings that made the book extra interesting and the ending was 🔥
Thank you @netgalley @kristopher_triana and @cemeterydancepub for an eARC of this book!
The phrase "something goes bump in the night" is a great way to describe the vibes this novel gives. The chills this book will give you is comparable to old campside stories.
The storyline itself fell short, as some aspects chilled me to my core and other aspects lacked my attention.
Overall however, I enjoyed this read. Special thanks to Netgalley & Cemetery Dance Publications for providing me an advanced reader copy.
I love Kristopher Triana’s work. He is an incredible author, so it’s no surprise that i also loved “That Night in the Woods.” In 1995, some horrible things went down in the suicide forest. Scott invites his friends back to put the past behind them. It’s a quick, incredible read, and you’ll be hooked from the first page to the last. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! I absolutely loved it.
That Night in the Woods follows a group of friends that were torn apart by what happened one Halloween night when they were teenagers. They reluctantly get back together only to have old wounds torn open. In true Triana fashion there is mystery, maybe something paranormal maybe not, and lots of blood with some gore.
I thought the story was well-written and truly intriguing. The characters being haunted by what happened that night came through in the writing. The emotions of the characters were raw and pulled me into the story. I didn't want to put it down, I wanted to read late into the night to find out what happened and what was going on now in the present day.
That Night in the Woods by Kristopher Triana is the perfect read during the spooky season! TNITW has a well written plot with some unexpected twists and turns and a surprise ending made it a highly entertaining read.
There is plenty of intrigue in this story with shocking twists throughout.
I enjoyed reading this story.
"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Thank You NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
As a fan of Trianas books, this was a major let down. It’s a slowburn through and through with multiple POVs of characters that aren’t very interesting. When you’re not invested in any of the characters, it’s very hard to get into the story. And what makes it even worse is the amount of backstory given to each character you already don’t care about. I wanted to DNF this so many times but still tried to give it a chance. The only detail I enjoyed is that of the creatures in the woods themselves and the atmospheric setting. The writing is immaculate but the storyline was unexciting and quite dull. When it nears the end the action picks up and things gets somewhat interesting but then what should have felt like an ending just kept going into a long twist that really had my eyes rolling. It almost felt like a rushed idea that was randomly inserted just to make it shocking. Overall, it just didn’t quite work for me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love horror books, so I was excited when I saw the cover and the title. The beginning of this book is creepy and atmospheric. It had great Halloween vibes. I love the trope of old friends coming back together later in life to solve a mystery or spill a secret.
Overall, I really enjoyed the title until the very end. The last paragraph-- not a fan. I feel like it didn't make sense after all the character development throughout the story. Not a book for me, but that is ok!
The cover immediately drew me in to want to read this.
We follow a group of friends in their forties who come back together after a death of a friend. They get together and talk about what happened that Halloween Night when they were teens.
The story in the beginning was really intriguing and kept me wondering what happened in the woods that night many years ago. I love the spook factor reading about that night many years ago. Once it got into what was really going on, I wasn’t a fan. It just got odd and made me hate a certain character. I wasn’t really expecting any of that and was very disappointed that’s the direction the book went. I was so disappointed in how the book ended.
I really enjoyed learning about each character,, and how their pov was set up throughout the book. It did confusing at times switching between past and present timelines and who was speaking.
Thanks net galley and publishers for my arc!
Let me begin by saying that Triana is one hell of an author and I love his writing style!
This book was not my favorite of his, however. And that's ok! Not every read is for every reader!
We follow a group of friends who come back together after a death of a friend and they revisit some spooky woods from years back. While the premise is quite interesting and was quick to pull me in, I do feel it lacked the true "spook" factor I was searching for. I still deeply enjoyed this book and cannot wait for more from Triana in the future!
'That Night in the Woods' is my first read of Kristopher Triana. I was really intrigued by the premise - a group of friends in their forties who are for one reason of another unhappy with how their lives turned out reunite after the death of their friend. As one would expect, secrets hidden for two decades start coming out. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, at least to me personally, it did not live up to its potential.
The writing style was engaging enough, however, the different POVs did not sound different at all and I was getting confused as to who was speaking. I also could've benefited from the past and present timelines being more separate as half the time I couldn't figure out which it was until I saw the name of the deceased character, but that might've been just me.
Overall, I have to give points to the premise and some atmosphere but I did not get any payoff and cannot give it more stars because of it.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange of an honest review.
That Night in the Woods follows the story of a group of childhood friends, grown up and back in town to celebrate the memory of one of their own: the recently deceased Steven. But the town stirs up childhood memories best left forgotten, and the secrets hiding in the woods want their due in blood. Will the group be able to survive the monsters that lurk in the shadows?
This was the perfect scary read for Halloween. This book was dark and atmospheric. I enjoyed the many layers in this carefully woven tale. There were secrets upon secrets that really helped keep things dark and mysterious. Nothing is what you suspect, prepare for midnight plot twists! I really enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the pacing. I love books that keep me guessing and this book did not disappoint.
Thanks to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.
This is my first Triana's book and I loved the writing style.. Although I was compelled to read it until the end, I have to admit I was underwhelmed by the whole plot and felt the story was dragged most of the time, with sparingly engaging and fast paced scenes.
Loved the setting and the reunion-of-old-friends-as-adults trope and how the characters were introduced at the beginning and were revealed to us throughout the book, through their thoughts, memories and actions.
As one fateful Halloween night as teens they decide to celebrate it camping in Suicide Woods, the woods revealed themselves in all their horror which they never talked about ever again! A secret that stayed with them all their lives.
When the group come together to honour the memory of one of their friends who has died, all the memories of that night come back as a punch and sets in motion something that should have happened long time ago..
Overall, although I expected more from this story from how it was laid out in the beginning, foreseeing some of the plot and getting confused at times toward the end, I did enjoy the writing and Triana's ability of creating the perfect atmosphere, so I definitely will be reading more from him.
Thank you to Kristopher Triana and Netgalley for the copy and this is my honest review.
I adored this book and couldn’t put it down. The pacing was amazing and it kept me on the edge of my seat. No spoilers but I was so happy with the ending too! Just perfection.
I thought many times I knew where this book was going. No I didnt see it coming. It's like the blair witch project on steroids. i enjoyed every minute of it!
That Night in the Woods is about five friends that are now in their forties, all unhappy with their lives (unemployed, divorcee, fails in achieve their dream etc.), has decide to have small reunion when one of their friends from childhood dies. They had all gone their separate ways after a tragedy on Halloween night in 1995.
The premise, the story was so interesting (which what make me want to request this book), the book start off very slow, with each have their own POV. So we get to know gist of their story after growing up. I start to get invested after 2nd part of the book where everything is slowly reveal on what happened in that wood. The atmosphere is creepy, sure. But its not scary enough to make me feel stop reading. It was okay, and I appreciate the writing style. Although I feel like this book could be shorter cause at some parts it feels like the story is dragging. Especially the insane feelings that the characters have toward each other, like who they had a crush on, who did they feel attracted to at the moment which make me goes ??? Their friendship must be the weirdest thing I ever read, it was messy and genuinely make me thinking how did they become friends?
I'm a sucker for something creepy, especially if its involve a huge dark twisted place like the Suicide Wood. Its a great suspense, intense moment but lack of creepiness in my opinion. Not only that, the story kind of goes insane in that 30% at the end. Its predictable and quite rushed.
Thank you to Netgalley and Cemetry Dance Publications for providing me with this ARC.
A group of friends get back together after many years as a request by one of the friends that has passed away. As they come together, they decide to go back to the woods to replay a Halloween night years before.
I enjoyed the authors writing style and also enjoyed the premise of the book. I somewhat knew the characters, but didn’t really have any strong connection to one of them.
I don’t get scared reading stories, but can say that this book is creepy.
I would love to thank #netgalley #cemeterydancepublications for the opportunity to have an ARC.