Rating: 4.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc copy of God of the Woods.

The book follows many different characters and povs- but the real stories are the mysterious disappearances of the Van Laar siblings, Bear and Barbara 20 years apart.

The family dynamics as well as the running of the camp that is connected to the Van Laar family takes you through many twists and turns- with many different possibilities of who could’ve abducted the siblings.

With phenomenal storytelling - even as a slow burn I was engaged and wanted to know the truth of what had truly happened not only to the missing siblings but each character in the book.

This is definitely a favorite read for me so far this year & worth the commendation to mystery and suspense story lovers!

The God of the Woods is a quiet, literary mystery about a teenage girl who goes missing from a summer camp in the Adrionacks, unraveling years of secrets and lies.

I really liked this! This was a solid 4 star read except for 2 of the Parts in the middle that were based solely in the past that were just utterly boring. I found both of these parts to be meandering, following strictly characters I cared nothing about. If these parts had been shorter, my enjoyment would’ve been higher.

However, besides that, this was so intriguing!! The last 30-40% I could NOT put this down. I liked most of the characters we followed. Short chapters and multiple POVs made the majority of this fast-paced.

Thank you to Net Galley and Riverhead books for letting me read a copy of this early!

I will be posting my review on my bookstagram (linked below) on Release Date (07/02) and I will be interesting in purchasing and promoting this title at my library.

This is a big, deep, twisty, turny novel about family, lies, loyalties, and power.
It centers around the wealthy Van Laar family who lives in a compound that includes a summer camp in the Adirondacks.
At the core: the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar, the daughter who was also attending the camp. Her disappearance follows that of her brother, Bear, who went missing 14 years before at age eight.
Are the two disappearances connected? If so, how? And who is responsible?
Be ready to stay up all night reading deeper into the story and waiting for the answers. This book kept me guessing until almost the end!

A really good page turner.. perfect for a summer read.
Set in 1975 at a sleep-away summer camp in the Adirondacks.
13 yr old Barbara Van Laar disappears from her cabin overnight .., the same camp that her brother Bear disappeared from many years before. Her wealthy parents own the camp as well as all the land surrounding and the huge waterfront house on the hill above the camp.
There are many characters and secondary mysteries.
I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead for the ARC!

On sale July 2, 2024

Wow, what a beautiful book.

This was completely different than I thought this book was going to be and I'm so glad.

I thought I was jumping into another summer thrilled but instead I got one of the most accurate views of small town dynamics I've ever seen.

I don't want to say much on this because this slow burn tale you just have to experience. You won't be disappointed, it's such an intriguing and great tale.

The author also did the best job with multiple timelines and POV I have ever seen. There's 6+ timelines and more POV than I can count. The author painted the people and times so well that I never once questioned who was talking or where I was in the story. The chapters with a brilliant timeline made it so easy too.

Seriously one of the best books I've read, it's really a must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Riverhead for allowing me to read this ARC.

Wow. This thriller is truly beautiful, heartbreaking, and intriguing.

Told from multiple perspectives with multiple timelines, the author does a really great job of character development so it’s easy to follow the cast of many characters. You will hear a LOT about this book this summer.

This is the perfect summer thriller/mystery. I had not read Long Bright River and have now bumped it up on my TBR. Moore’s writing invites you in and has you fully invested in her story. So so good!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this advanced copy!

This was SO good. Seriously, if you need a slow burn mystery, pick up this book. It was so well written and absolutely engaging. Multiple narrators can be hard, but in this book’s case, it was necessary and added so much dimension to the story. One of my favorites this year, for sure!

The God of The Woods was such a twisty, layered, slow burn mystery done in such a masterful way. The setting being a summer camp in the Adirondacks adds to the eerie vibe as we unravel a current (1975) disappearance as well as a disappearance of her brother 14 years earlier. Seeing how the two mysteries intersect while exposing the secrets of the Van Laar family had me unable to put the book down until I finished.

The Adirondacks in upstate New York is where my family would vacation every year growing up so the familiar setting added to my love of this book. Even if you’re not familiar with the setting, Liz Moore describes it so accurately and beautifully that you’ll feel like you’re on there. The characters were written so well to the point you’ll feel sympathetic but also suspicious of almost all of them.

The way the parallel mysteries twist and turn and finally intersect was done in such a beautiful way that it’s definitely a new favorite of mine. If you love a slow burn, character driven mystery in a beautiful atmospheric setting, you’ll love The God of The Woods.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Wow, THIS BOOK. The mystery, drama, and setting had me fully immersed and devouring! Let me give you a guide. There are a lot of characters, multiple timelines, and it is slow moving at the beginning while all of the characters are being developed. I started with audio, but had a hard time keeping track of who was who, and what was happening when. I switched to a physical copy to get it all straight, then finished with audio 😂 It is worth being patient. Once I got into this one, I literally COULD NOT put it down! I was completely captivated and had to figure out how it ended.

Barbara Van Laar is the 13 year old daughter of wealthy parents who own a summer camp. This is the first year she is allowed to attend, and she goes missing in the night. Even worse, she is not the first Van Laar child to go missing. As the search begins, secrets begin to unfold.

Pub. Date: July 2, 2024

Perfect if you like:
•Multiple POVs.
•Summer camp.
•Family drama.
•Character driven.
•Missing kids.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice: 🌶️
Mood: 🍿🫗

⚠️: explicit language.

The God of the Woods is the newest novel by Liz Moore. This one is set at a summer camp in the Adirondacks in the summer of 1975. Barbara is a camper who has gone missing. Louise is the counselor who should have been watching her. TJ is the director of the camp. Over the course of a couple of months all three of their lives become deeply intertwined in a manner that will have long lasting effects. I devoured this book in a single day and found myself thinking about the characters whenever I had to take a break from reading it. Highly recommend checking this one out. Read and enjoy!

THANK YOU to NetGalley & the publisher for allowing me access to a free copy of this book in exchange for a review!

I think this is a 3.5 star for me. Pretty solid read, but not really what I was expecting based on the title. A little boring, and a little "unfinished" feeling, but overall a solid read for the genre.

I think if the description matched a little better with the actual concept of the book, I wouldn't have been so thrown off. However, it was easy enough to overlook once I realized there would be no paranormal or mythical element to the story, & I should stop expecting some deity to show up. (I was actually really disappointed by this aspect. I REALLY wanted a literal God of the Woods to show up. Frankly, I'm not sure who/what the "God" was supposed to be).

I was sort of initially thrown off by this book, I think, because (description aside) there was a lot of superficial, somewhat sexualized descriptions of women immediately. There was hardly any 'emotional' aspect to the characters introductions/thoughts/feelings for me to feel a connection. This way of character introduction is usually what I see in male authors, so I was thrown off to find that Liz is actually a woman. Author aside, it did create a slight annoyance in me that the few things I gathered about our main female characters (and there is a handful of them) is how their bodies or physical attributes are and less about them as individual personalities. I'm still not sure any of them really had personalities that ran much deeper than superficial.

This lead me wondering after a while -- why do I even care? I think this was my primary issue with the book. I just didn't care about what was happening with any of these characters. I didn't care about Barbara. I didn't care about Alice. I didn't care about the family. I didn't care about the drama. This made the first 65%-ish very dull to get through. This also, of course, made it difficult to care about the climax/ending once things started to snowball.

Some of the POV cuts are in weird spots, or very abrupt. Frankly, the ending was the exact same way. I think it just added to the confusion a little bit in the story, rather than working as a cliffhanger like the author wanted it to. Or maybe, not so much a cliffhanger, but like an "end scene".

I found myself thinking about Silence of the Lambs (Judy), and Twin Peaks like A LOT. This story feels like it borrows from both of those in concepts and descriptions. It's not a bad thing, just an obvious one. I would be surprised to learn that Liz doesn't have any expose to either of these as the similarities are so close. Woodsy theme, a rebellious teenager with twisted fantasies, a "Leo Johnson & Shelly" type relationship/characters, Family drama, & "pine trees acting like curtains". IYKYK.

Lets talk about the ending. **SPOILERS**
It felt a little convenient or cheap that the main suspect we discover was someone never really included in the primary plot at all. Like, of course we the reader would never pick up on that, because we were given anything to pick up on. This felt a little "ugh" to me. If I’m reading a murder mystery and NOT a fantasy mystery about Gods in woods, let me at least have the opportunity to "Clue" it out a little.

When it was actually revealed what had happened & 'who done it', I was honestly disappointed. I thought it fell really flat and it made me go "aww why thoooo". It just didn't do it for me. I also felt like the whole book ended too abruptly. We got no closure or conclusion. I know it was intentionally, I just don't think it works. Again, why the hell did I slosh through all that stuff I didn't care about for no payoff? I didn't care about anything from the 'past' timeline, and then when I started to care about Barbara, it was just pulled out from under me. Ugh.
**END SPOILERS**

Overall, I would recommend it for traditional Mystery fans if the premise of the description speaks to them, but would advise a revision to the description to make it a little clearer that the story really isn't about a teen girl going missing, and whatever the "God of the Woods" is, isn't going to be literal. I think that was my major disappointment (if I knew this was a straight mystery novel, I probably wouldn't have picked it up as Fantasy is my genre). Also, the pacing issues due to past/present content/switches. All in all, a 3.5!

Mystery — between 4/4.5⭐️

Barbara is a thirteen year old who missing at summer camp. But she’s not just any teenager, she’s the daughter of the camp’s owner and the second of the Van Laar children to disappear.

I’ve only read Long Bright River by this author, but having loved that one, I’m not surprised I was equally captivated by Moore’s newest.

This captivating mystery (x two!) is packed with drama, secrets, and creepy summer camp vibes. Every character seemed suspicious and the ending still caught me completely off guard. Plus, as a summer camp kid, I loved the setting.

Beneath the mystery, is a multi-layered story that explores themes of class, misogyny, parenthood, and trauma. The kind of depth that I crave for when I pick up thrillers/mysteries.

Just to note, there are a lot of characters in this one that required me to take strong mental notes to learn who’s who.

Dysfunctional family, police procedural, complex characters.

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing.
What comes next is a mystery following a family history, two missing family members, and so much more.

I am simply OBSESSED with this book.
The writing, the storytelling, the characters. It’s INCREDIBLE and you must read it. I was enthralled with the summer camp setting and quickly became obsessed with this book as the mystery began to unfold. Before you pick this up, it is not a thriller, it’s a mystery, but there are sooo many elements that make this incredible.
Reading this book is like peeling back an onion, there’s just so many layers to it. You get the POV of an investigator, family members, and children at the camp. This is a must read. Definitely will be one of my best books of the year.
🏕️ Summer Camp Setting
🧑‍🧑‍🧒 Family Secrets
🔎 Tense Mystery
👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏻Multiple POVs
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this incredible book. This book comes out July 2, so get a pre-order in!!

Rich people behaving badly. A nice twisty mystery. Strong writing.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

I loved LONG BRIGHT RIVER and now THE GOD OF THE WOODS is another five-star read from Liz Moore. It's a bit of a slow-burn mystery, but doesn't drag at all, even at over 500 pages. It's a dual-timeline and multi-POV story, covering the events surrounding the disappearance of a young boy nicknamed "Bear" and then the disappearance of his sister fifteen years later at a summer camp on the grounds of a mansion owned by a wealthy family. The bulk of the story takes place in 1975 and features female police investigator Judy, along with other strong female characters - T.J. the summer camp director, Louise the camp counselor, and Barbara, the missing camper. A perfect summer read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars! Once I started reading this book I had a hard time putting it down! I loved the author’s writing style and with short chapters and little reveals throughout, I was engaged the entire time. I really loved the atmospheric descriptions and summer camp setting. Mix that with toxic families and kids going missing and I am on board to figure out the mystery.

Very much character driven, we get multiple POVs from the camp counselor, Barbara’s bunk mate, her mother, and the detective on the case. There were quite a few characters to keep track of, but as the story progressed it was easier to slowly figure out who was who.

I really enjoyed the swap between multiple timelines from the 1950s to 1970s that helped unravel the characters motives, trauma, and actions. The characters were flawed and everyone seemed to be hiding something.

This was such a unique book and I think a lot of people are going to love this one!

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me access to this arc!

I devoured The God of the Woods: the campground setting nostalgia, the perfectly flawed characters, the intricate web of evidence woven into every exchange. I’m not normally a thriller reader, and I loved this read.

A girl goes missing from a camp in the middle of the night. As the search for her ensues, clues to what might have happened to another missing child- her brother- come to light and both cases are run side by side in this character driven, dual-timeline novel.

Although on the slightly slower paced side, I loved this layered mystery novel. The characters and the intertwined plot are so good, and it is a very satisfying read. I do wish the chapters were labeled with character perspective and time frame a little bit better for clarity, but hopefully that is enhanced for the final version. Despite a larger cast of characters, once I got into it, I was able to keep everything straight just fine.

I'd highly recommend this book for a summer camp mystery with some creepy vibes. This is definitely not horror, however, more of a complicated family saga with missing children.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC for this book – my first ever!

I generally love Liz Moore's prose, and she maintains a quiet, methodical voice throughout this novel that fits the overall tempo of the plot. The result is a steady-flowing character drama ("thriller" maybe suggests a higher adrenaline level than is present here) that muses on themes of class, parenthood, community, and trauma.

To my knowledge, this is Moore's first time balancing multiple narrators (or at least, this many, and across so many timelines). After an initial learning curve, I did settle in easily with each character's backstory and motive.

Two things I didn't love about the structure of the book:
1. Extremely frequent mid-chapter page breaks. I felt that these were thrown in a bit too generously, and struck me as a filler/crutch, rather than having any real impact.
2. End-of-chapter cliffhangers directly followed by a perspective and/or timeline jump. By the time the cliffhangers were resolved, I'd often been inundated with so many other plot developments that I'd forgotten about the initial reveal.

In all, I'd rank this book below "Long Bright River" and on par with "The Unseen World". A solid addition to her repertoire.