The very talented Liz Moore returns with this who-done-it of a literary thriller. On the surface, this is the story of the disappearance of two children of the wealthy Van Laar Family; the much beloved, Bear, in 1961 and the troubled misfit, Barbara, in 1975. Who is responsible for the disappearances of these children and is Barbara's disappearance related to her brother's? The Van Laar property in the beautiful, evocative, sometimes eerie, Adirondack Mountains is home to the family estate (aptly named Self Reliance) and to Camp Emerson, a summer camp catering to the offspring of the well-to-do. Both are in sharp contrast to the lives of the local people. Familial dysfunction is as much the backdrop for this story as the woods. The novel explores themes of gender and sexual identity, class and societal roles, right and wrong. The novel unfolds as we seek justice for Bear, and a future for Barbara amidst startling revelations which continually move the story forward to its unexpected and satisfying conclusion. Moore deserves praise for keeping "all the balls in the air" as the reader seeks the resolution to this engaging page turner.

This was an interesting book, though it took me more than 100 pages to get involved with it. Partly that was because I did not like the characters in the Van Laar family, and the book is about the disappearance of their son Bear, and later, about the disappearance of their daughter Barbara. Barbara is the only person in that family I came to care about. The search for Barbara takes four days and is the main subject of the book, but the story moves back and forth between looking for her, and remembering the past which is the story of Bear. It took a while to get comfortable with the switching of time periods. After about that hundred pages the people became interesting and the mystery had a surprising end which I did not see coming, but was completely satisfying. I would recommend it as a good read for someone with time to commit to it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc and for not requiring a positive review.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this novel. It is heartbreaking yet empowering. The ending is amazing.

I would love to see it made into a film if it was done well.

Based on the description of this books (a child missing from a summer camp that has a connection with a past, similar disappearance), I was expecting some common tropes and predictable pot. I was pleasantly surprised. Liz Moore takes a slow-burn approach that pays off, with multiple points of view that are all given equal emotional weight and character depth, and a careful pacing with her revelations and resolutions. The pieces of both mysterious disappearances come together at the end, and it feels like you've spent a whole summer in the Adirondacks yourself. In the hands of a less skillful writer, this book could have felt like it had too many characters or was too slow of a build. Fortunately, Moore makes you empathize with the people and the world she has created. There is something compelling about every face she introduces, and even if they aren't 'likeable', they are realistically human with motivations that feel genuine.

I would highly recommend this book for mystery and thriller fans looking for a summer read, and for book clubs who are looking for something with depth to it.

This is an incredibly strong, richly developed summer thriller, though I didn't love some of the final resolutions/twists. Others were pretty fantastic, though, and I adored all of the POV character voices. It was tough to read the intense misogyny/patriarchal gaslighting at times, so I did find myself skimming from time to time, but overall it was a great read with some pointed critiques in terms of class and gender oppression. It also had some truly spooky wooded ambience.

This was a riveting family saga and mystery that I could not put down. Set in the 1970s in the Adirondacks, the Van Laar family own a summer home and a summer camp program. Tragically their young son, Bear disappeared in 1961 while hiking with his grandfather. He was never seen again. Fourteen years later, Barbara, Bear's sister also vanishes from the camp. The story is very descriptive and partially reads like a survival guide. We are introduced to many different characters from the camp counselor, the flawed family of the Van Laars, Tracey who is Barbara's campmate, TJ the camp director and Judyta the female police inspector. This fast-paced novel was very well written. I highly recommend! I received a complimentary eBook from the publisher in exchange for a review.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lake, camp mystery set in 1975 with flashbacks. Two cases of disappearance at the camp, tragedies that play out over generations, a long twisty mystery that I enjoyed.

Liz Moore”s God of the Woods was a hauntingly perfect novel. You will be sucked into this mystery from page one. Moore shifts deftly from one character’s POV to another and back and forth in time seamlessly. Each chapter leaves you wanting more, of Moore- lol see what i did. The setting was atmospheric and the mood of the book was eerie. If you are looking for a literary thriller to sink into, this is it!

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

I really enjoyed this slow burn literary mystery about two siblings that go missing in the woods during different time periods. There were lots of characters and interconnected storylines, which could get confusing, but the author wrote it well so that I never got lost.

I enjoyed this book and would classify it as a literary mystery. There was quite a bit of character development, which I have mixed feelings about. At times, I enjoyed it; other times, I felt like it made the book drag. I thought the ending tied everything together well and would recommend this book to readers who enjoy this genre.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Liz Moore's The God of the Woods captured my attention from the start. It's 1975 and a girl goes missing from her family's summer camp. As the novel proceeds, we go back-and-forth in time and between the perspectives of the different players in this story. What unfolds is a tragedy that has played out over generations. I appreciated the way the novel pieced together the events of twenty years and explored the way that individual choices impact multiple people over many years.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.

Tragic

The God of the Woods is a quiet mystery/drama about the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl at a summer camp in 1975.

Barbara Van Laar, the daughter of the prominent Van Laar family of Albany, New York, disappeared from her cabin one morning in a summer camp founded by her family. In connection with her disappearance, her counselor, Louise, her bunkmate, Tracy, her mother, Alice, and a young female detective, Judyta, share their stories. All are flawed, honest, and complex characters; each of their stories is impactful.

The plot slowly unfolds. Piece by piece, bits of the lives of the main characters intersect, coming together in profound ways. The timeline is non-linear, alternating between the past in the 1950s and the present in the 1970s; the non-linearity adds to the drama and trauma of searching for a missing child.

This is a rich, multilayered novel with multidimensional characters. Through exceptional characterization, especially the women, themes of motherhood, gender roles, sexuality, identity, and class are explored.

The setting is lush and vibrant, especially in the scenes in the woods surrounding Camp Emerson.

I could visualize the characters, the setting, the house named Self-Reliance, the camp, nature, and the fine details. Moore didn't just write a novel that takes place in the 1970s, she transports her reader to this time and place. There are a few flaws, but this novel is exquisitely written and emotionally impactful. My heart shattered as the events culminated in a tragically sad and painful revelation.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead in exchange for an honest review.

I finished this a few days ago, and I'm still trying to figure out what I make of it. I loved the beginning, but it lost me in the middle, but I was hoping that I would love the end. I didn't love the end, but I'm still glad that I finished it because I liked it enough. I think by the time we had gotten to the twist, I had decided that I didn't care for one of the timelines, and so when the reveal happened during that timeline, it did not have the emotional impact that I would have expected. Multiple timelines and POVs, can be tough for me, personally, I think they are hard to do well so I'm kind of extra critical of them. I think that this story was served by having multiple timelines and POVs, but I think it was just a *lot* of timelines and povs, making it the sole focus for me, more than any other elements of the story. It made the pacing so strange to me. It felt like we were leaping across decades and yet only a few hours had passed in real time, so much of it felt plotless. And when there were flashbacks within the multiple timelines, well. It just didn't feel very rooted. Which is a shame because overall, I think the setting and line to line sentencing were fantastic, and characters had potential. There was no reason at all to not feel rooted other than the structure, which overshadowed everything else. I would still recommend this one, because it might work better for someone else than it worked for me! But it clipped by so fast *and* so slow, that I didn't feel like it was thematically satisfactory.

When a girl, Barbara, goes missing from her summer camp, everyone’s deepest fears are realized as they are forced to relive the unsolved disappearance of Barbara’s brother, Bear, several years earlier. This is a multi-layered, extremely well-written family saga/suspense/mystery. Moore’s writing is exquisite as she deftly handles multiple narrators, as well as several different time periods. Everyone in this story has a deep secret that is revealed as the narrative unfolds. The summer camp setting in the remote woods of upstate NY will draw readers in. Fans of Kate Morton will devour this.

A twisty, keep you on your toes story of family secrets, betrayal and the choices made to protect social images. This is fast paced, unpredictable, and secrets abound. Told from several perspectives of varying characters and timeframes, I was afraid it would be tough to follow, but each character has such a distinct voice and story telling style that it flowed seamlessly and was hard to put down!

It is August 1975 and thirteen year old Barbara Van Laar is missing from her bunk at the summer camp that is owned by her wealthy family and employs many residents of the region of the Adirondacks in which it is located. Fourteen years earlier Barbara’s older brother Bear disappeared and was never found.

The novel explores how the disappearances impact those in the family and in the immediate orbit and also juxtapose the wealth of the Van Laar family with the blue collar families of the area that staff both the summer camp and the forest preserve. The book has a melancholy tone, as if to say there will be no winners here…but there might be. I enjoyed this.

There are the makings of a good crime story here, but the narrative voice is so flat and blocky that it’s like listening to someone tell it in a monotone. Better than trying to read excessively florid prose, I guess. I did appreciate the focus on women characters and, to a lesser degree, the rich folks vs less privileged townies angle and how each is dealt with by the law.

Thank you NetGallery,author,Liz Moore and publisher Riverhead Books/Penguin for the opportunity to read the arc ebook,God of the Woods. It had almost 500 pages but it was so interesting I read it over several days. It involved two missing youngsters over a ten year period,both from the same ultra-wealthy family,in a rural,wooded area in upstate New York. There were many characters and each chapter focusing on just one of several main ones. It was not confusing as so many books these days go back and forth from chapter to chapter in novels. It was a rather clever “who done it” and it was hard to guess until the very end who the culprit(s) was. I highly recommend this book.
On sale July 02,2024.

I loved this book! I'm a fan of Liz Moore's work, but I think this one is her best. I was impressed with how the plot is constructed and the variety of information that is revealed slowly through the multiple POV. Overall, I think the book does a great job balancing the multiple timelines, although I did appreciate the time stamps. Terrific family drama and history melded into this twisty mystery. Highly recommend this one!

When Barbara Van Laar is discovered missing from her cabin bunk, the entire staff is in a frenzy and accusations involving inappropriate relations and drugs are running rampant. Not only is Barbara the daughter of the owners, but she is the sole surviving child of her family after her older brother Bear went missing sixteen years prior. Is there a connection between the two disappearances? Liz Moore takes readers through several years and several characters to help uncover the many mysteries within The God of the Woods.

This novel was an excellent read. It is one that I would classify as a slow burn and didn't become a complete page-turner for me until about 60% through the end. The characters are very well-written and well-developed throughout the course of the novel. The ending was satisfying and brought this very emotional journey to an end that was easily digested by readers. I have never read Moore's works before, but this mastery in story-telling makes me quite interested to read her other novels.