It’s August 1975, and Barbara Van Laars has gone missing from the summer camp she’s attending that borders her wealthy family’s estate. 14 years earlier, her 8 year old brother went missing in the same woods. Coincidence? This book was extremely character driven, and from multiple points of view. Lots of detail, and quite a long book at 496 pages. But don’t let the length scare you, this book is worth reading. The mystery pulls you in, but the characters keep you there. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have spent the four years since Liz Moore published Long, Bright River anxiously anticipating her next novel. it's finally here, and it's spectacular. A twisty literary thriller, The God of the Woods focuses on a summer camp in 1975, where a camper has gone missing. The camper in question, barbara Van Laar, is the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the camp. And she's the second child in her family to go missing—he older brother, Bear, disappeared during a hike more than a decade and was never seen from again. Moore unravels the mysteries of the disappearances skillfully and with precision. Like in Long, Bright, River, the novel also looks at class divisions, like the one between the hoi polloi running and attending the camp, and the well-to-do but miserable Van Laars who overlook it from their mansion, the ironically named Self-Reliance. I enjoyed this book tremendously—it reminded me of Tana French, my favorite mystery writer, but Moore has charms all her own. She's a force, and I can't wait for her next book.

It has been a while since I have stayed up until the middle of the night with the desperate need to finish a book, even though I know the alarm will be going off in just a few short hours. But this is exactly what happened as I devoured The God of the Woods, the latest suspense novel by the brilliant Liz Moore. It might only be early February, but I am already predicting that this book will make my favorites list for 2024, it is that good.
For one thing, Moore knows how to write truly compelling female characters who can be equally intelligent and flawed, as she did so brilliantly in her 2020 crime novel, Long Bright River. There are several female protagonists in The God of the Woods, and the author manages to flesh out their personalities while also spinning not one, but two, mysteries across two different timelines. There is a lot going on in this novel, but Moore builds the infrastructure from section to section (with a handy timeline at the beginning of each chapter) which keeps the weight of all this narrative from collapsing in on itself.
The story opens in August of 1975, as a counselor at Camp Emerson, an exclusive sleep away camp for children of wealthy East Coasters in the Adirondacks, discovers that one of her charges is missing from the cabin. Louise, the only "townie” counselor at the camp, knows that this particular missing camper is going to spell very big trouble for all of them, as she is none other than Barbara Van Laar, the rebellious thirteen year old daughter of the camp’s owners. I will stop here, as I really don’t want to give away any more of the riveting plotlines.
But this novel is much more than a thriller. It is also a sensitive coming of age story for more than one of the characters, and it explores that awkward sense of not belonging, which is all the more heartbreaking as a young teen. There are bigger themes at play here as well, including
misogyny, class, substance and domestic abuse.
Now I am sorry that I did finish this book last night, because I wish there was still more of it to read. Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.

God of the Woods gets everything right for me. It's got not one, but two missing children, from the same family. WHAT?

It's got rich people behaving badly and karma fast on their trail. it's got a creepy AF camp setting that also includes more than one super scary people roaming the woods around the camp. It's got young love and ostracized teenagers and found family and, oh, did I mention the serial killer on the loose, too? It does all that without ever, even once, feeling like it's doing too much.

The construction is also super interesting. We weave in and out of a few timelines but, again, Moore never lets us feel confused. She has such a deft hand with her story and each of her characters just seems to rise up fully formed under her pen. The rich father who, with one gesture, lets us know what a cruel person he is. The maid who, with a single glance, let's us know exactly what she thinks of the groundskeeper. It's dang good.

And the pacing. I know you're sick of hearing me saw on about it, but this book sings. It sings! I actually found myself saying several times "I don't want this book to end!" and that's my favorite reading experience. We never stay too long in any one scene and yet each place we find ourselves seems to be exactly right.

This book would play happily with the works of Tim Johnston and Chris Whittaker, but also with the works of Lisa Jewell and Catherine Ryan Howard.

My first book of 2024, and it's going to be hard to top. I loved it. 1975 - a young girl disappears from summer camp, years after her brother also goes missing. Two mysteries involving the same family. While it seems like multiple timelines and many people to keep track of, it isn't difficult. The writing is so good that it's easy to follow. I did not want this one to end. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ecopy of The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

Outstanding. Liz Moore is an incredibly talented author, and she has wowed me again. I could've kept reading for 500 more pages simply because she tells a story so well. The God of the Woods features a beautiful setting, complex characters, going back and forth in time (which I love), and superb suspense.

This was a well written book that just was not really for me. It was a bit too slow for my liking. I felt as though everything could have been said in about 100 less pages.