This book was not a thriller but had thrilling elements. The changing POV and timeline made the mystery come together in an unexpected way. I did not like the Alice character because she felt one dimensional. I did not figure out the ending until it was revealed. Moore writes characters and their inner thoughts with a developed tenderness. I would read more about Judy!!

It is no surprise that I loved this book, given that many are calling it one of the best books of the year! But, it also hit me more primally, in those parts of the brain and body that instinctively remember and react to familiar places and situations from long ago.

The primary storyline is extremely compelling (two missing children from the same family years apart?!) and there are so many elements that add texture and richness to the plot...family dynamics/expectations, class differences, emotional/physical abuse, police investigations, small town life, the beauty and danger of nature and more. I was also particularly drawn to the upstate NY setting because I grew up in the area. Mentions of Schenectady, Union College, Albany, the Adirondack Park, Storytown in Lake George, North Creek, specific county road #s, etc. brought me viscerally back to my childhood days.

This novel felt authentic and real and it held my interest throughout. Kudos to the author not only for her stellar writing skills, but also for the amount of research I know went into it. Fabulous read!

Please note: I received a digital copy from Netgalley & Riverhead Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.

Having loved Liz Moore’s earlier book, “The Unseen World,” I was eager to read her latest, and it did not disappoint. Mostly set in 1975 at an Adirondack’s camp and summer estate – with flash backs to earlier years – the novel concerns the disappearance of Barbara, a 14-year-old camper and daughter of the wealthy owner. In 1961, the missing teen’s brother had disappeared from the same property and his body was never found.

Ironically, the estate is called Self-Reliance and the summer youth program is Camp Emerson. While the campers are taught survival skills, the rich elites could not light a BBQ grill without assistance. In Greek mythology, Pan is the god of the woods, who delights in tricking and confusing people until they lose their minds and panic. Similarly, the characters in this book weave a complex web of betrayals, cover-ups, and powerplays. Nevertheless, there are some sympathetic characters: Judyta Luptack, a young female detective assigned to the case, and Louise Donnadieu, the struggling, low-income counselor from whose cabin Barbara disappeared.

This novel is many things: a mystery; a police procedural; a messy, complex family. Most of all, it is a well-written and thoroughly engrossing read.

When a teenager disappears from summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains in 1975, there is widespread panic and a search. She is Barbara Van Laar the family who owns the camp’s daughter. And she’s not the first of their children to disappear. 14 years earlier her brother Bear goes missing. With a cast of interesting characters and potential suspects, the author weaves a page-turning mystery.

I can't believe I forgot to leave feedback for this one! The God of the Woods has been my favorite book all year. It is the perfect literary thriller. My full review is on my instagram: reeder_reads. I appreciated the opportunity to read this e-ARC!!

I liked this book. Part slow-burn mystery, part historical fiction, part women’s fiction with a dose of explored class dynamics, this book mostly lives up to the hype. You just have to get to the end and all the revelations to feel that way.

I received an eARC for this book and as pretty as the cover is and as interesting as the synopsis was, it took me a while before I started it. When I finally did, I struggled to keep picking this one back up after I put it down. It didn’t grab me right away, didn’t attach me to the characters very quickly probably because we jumped around so much from one perspective to another and from one timeline to another. This structure also requires the reader to really pay attention to know what’s happening and when. I almost DNFd it. The only reason I didn't is because of all the hype this book has gotten since its release.

A friend gifted me a copy of the audio after the book came out, because I still hadn’t gotten very far in the eBook. That helped me a lot. Saskia Maarleveld did a great job on the audio and made it much easier to get into the book.

While parts of the book were unsurprising, there were some twists and I really enjoyed how everything came together once everything was revealed. The blending of individual motivations with various relationship dynamics was fascinating for its plausibility.

What I really loved were the variety of women’s stories told in this one book and how each of them represented differed aspects of the challenges women face across generations and class. This is women’s fiction at its finest, as each of these women are relatable in one way or another to female readers.

It would make for an interesting book club discussion, I think. I couldn’t quite give it 4 stars because it was just so dang slow to get into, but it was worth it in the end. But if you struggle with the eyeball version, I definitely recommend the audiobook.

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing my review copy.

This was my first time reading something from Liz Moore and it did not disappoint. The God of the Woods was a heavy character driven story revolving around land owned by the wealthy Van Laar family. Throughout the book we meet a wide array of characters of varying backgrounds as we learn and try to figure out what happened to Bear and Barbara Van Laar.

This was a slow burn mystery that really took its time unfolding and relied heavily on its characters to tell a tale that took place over many years. Exquisite writing and excellent storytelling. Pick this one up if you’ve got the time!

A missing person mystery set in the summer camp we can all picture. Wealthy, dysfunctional family drama (that is not overly dramatic!) that makes your own seem tame. Enigmatic but interesting characters with just the right amounts of backstory revealed at just the right moments. And a rookie, highly intelligent investigator trying to piece it all together. Well-written and transportive this book gives you all the feels, while letting you continue to do your own thinking. I admit I didn’t see the ending coming, it was a bit abrupt for my taste, and I’m still trying to decide if I agree with it. I do keep thinking about how it could have ended in more satisfying ways. Either way, I’m heading straight to my next Liz Moore book. This one lived up to the hype.

This book is so popular right now, I kept hearing things about it and I find the cover so intriguing, I had to pick it up. It is my first book by this author and I loooved her writing style! This book was juicy, with short chapters. Every single chapter sucked me in. The time alternates from 1950’s to the present day (1970’s). There are many different perspectives throughout the book in such a unique way that sucked you into the story and then left you wanting more when they switched perspectives. I felt immersed in this story.

Barbara Van Laar is the daughter of a prominent, rich family. They divide their time between Albany and a vacation home in the Adirondacks called Self Reliant. The home and a summer camp, Camp Emerson, has been in their family for many generations. Barbara attends the camp and ends up missing one day. Additionally before she was born, her brother, Bear went missing from their home and has never been found. While searching for her, we hear from many strong women characters involved in her life. Each one has their own personal struggles that weave into the story. Louise, her camp counselor, Tracy her bff and cabin mate, Alice her mother and Judyta, one of the detectives working the case. Each of them have an important part of the story to tell. This is a narrative that touches on so many important things, family drama, addiction, naïveté, abuse, lies, and so much more! I highly recommend you pick this book up! It was a great read and I will definitely be checking out some of this authors other books!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Riverhead, and the author for the opportunity to read this book. My opinions are honest and my own!

When 13 year old Barbara disappears overnight at a summer camp, everyone starts investigating what may have happened to her, especially since her brother disappeared fourteen years earlier. As they start to investigate her fellow campers and the people involved in running the camp, it's clear there was something going on with Barbara's family and it will take some things coming to light to figure out. Overall, a gripping mystery that's also part family saga with all of the different characters involved.

Absolutely wonderful! Enthralling character development and the description of the environment was just spot on. Insightful writing that was full of heart. It was a little confusing going back and forth between characters and years, but the stories wove together with complete satisfaction.

Not my usual genre, but I read this author’s previous book and glad I read this one too. A slow unveiling of a double mystery, the Adirondacks setting is perfect as 13 year old Barbara disappears from sleepaway camp. The time period is the 1970’s but alternates chapters with the 1950’s disappearance of Barbara’s younger brother, Bear. Their parents are the wealthy Van Laars, owners of a large preserve including a main house and the camp. The police involved are Danny Hayes, a local, and Judy, a young woman trying to make her mark as an inspector. Her insights are invaluable to solving the mysteries. There are many possible perpetrators, and I was not able to figure out what happened at all. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was phenomenal! I read it in just 3 days and really wish there was more. Characters were fully realized and the plot was complex without being cumbersome.

Once again. Moore has hooked me with an utterly unputdownable book. I loved the time period of this story and the camp setting was perfect for the mystery that takes place. There were so many times when I was frustrated with the men and how they acted but going back to the time period, it fit. Doesn't excuse it but illustrates what women dealt with back in the day.

The mystery of Bear's disappearance seemed to trump the disappearance of Barbara for me, even though they were siblings and both disappeared from the same place for the most part. There was definitely more mystery around Bear. and I was actually really shocked by the twist in this relating to that so that was fantastic! I do wish there was more closure with Barbara's side of the mystery, I felt even though there was "closure", it seemed slightly farfetched.

What to say about this brilliantly crafted novel without giving away any of the story... it is layer upon layer of mystery. But it is more than a mystery... so much more. It is about family. It is about friendship. It is about coming of age and breaking away. It is about privilege and wealth and status. It is about survival.

To say I loved this book is an understatement... I did and I do! The more I think about it post-finishing, the more I love how brilliantly Liz Moore crafted this novel.

If you are looking for your next perfect read... look no further. The God of the Woods is exactly what you need to read next... and it is perfection!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Penguin Group, Riverhead Books for the digital copy of this book. It was published July 2, 2024.

Van Laar Preserve has been developed into a camp for the privileged class. Years ago eight year old Bear Van Laar disappeared from the family home within the Preserve and has never been found. Now his thirteen year old sister Barbara is missing from camp. Liz Moore has written a masterpiece which incorporates multiple points of view as well as many timelines. The characters include the Van Laars, camp staff, local residents, and campers. The story is mesmerizing with several subplots. Moore lays everything out like quilt blocks and carefully pieces them together. This will be among the best books that I read this year. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The God of the woods is an excellent mystery with characters that you will fall in love with and be rooting for! I loved the seventies setting and I could not put this book down! 5 stars!!

The God of the Woods is the latest literary mystery from Liz Moore, and it delivers! People have been calling this the book of the summer for a reason, and I liked it a lot.

Bonus, for me: It’s set in the Adirondack Mountains, which is one of my favorite places on the planet. They’re not far from me, and every time I go, I’m itching to go back before I’ve even left. Moore nails the setting.

I call this a “literary” mystery for a reason: It’s fast-paced enough to hook your attention but also long enough to feel rich and rewarding (possibly a TOUCH too long, but not enough to elicit any major complaints from me). Moore spends more time with the characters and their relationships than a genre mystery novel would in order to widen the lens beyond the whodunnit, and I think she’s successful. In particular, I was a big fan of the focus on the women of this story — from the awkwardness of adolescence, to relationship abuse, to misogyny in traditionally male career fields, to the trappings of (men’s) generational wealth.

Also, the audiobook was great — just pay close attention to the time stamps at the start of each chapter, because it bounces around in time a lot.

If you like character-driven mysteries and atmospheric writing, pick this one up for sure!



Content and Trigger Warnings:
Death of one’s child; Grief; Mental illness; Domestic abuse (severe); Pregnancy; Drug use

Mystery set at a summer camp attended by wealthy kids. When Barbara goes missing, everyone is convinced it is somehow connected to her missing brother from a decade ago. Are the two disappearances connected? Told in multiple timelines, the book discusses loyalty, what makes a family, grief, and how greed can corrupt. I feel like it lived up to its hype. Recommended.

This is the book of the summer. It is so rare to find a character-driven book with mystery, tension, and a feeling of unsettledness. Will read everything Liz Moore writes.