This was so good. Family secrets and drama, a brother and a sister go missing 14 years apart. You cannot put this down.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore was an excellent mystery/ thriller and beautifully plotted connections to what happened in the past. A teenage girl suddenly goes missing from an elite summer camp, just like the other girl. The young detective is assigned to be the lead on the case and has good instinct and excellent skills. The missing girl is the troubled daughter of the family who owns the camp and lives on the property. Counselors at camping are keeping their own secrets and the director is manic about teaching survival skills. I was led astray many times and enjoyed the ending which I didn’t solve. Take a chance and be delightfully surprised like I was.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Riverhead Books for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.
5 stars – Pub.Date: 07-2-24
#NetGalley, #RiverHeadBooks, #LizMoore, #Suspense, #Mystery, #Thriller, #SummerCamp

This mystery is the 2024 selection of the Jimmy Fallon Summer Book Club. The story takes place in a summer camp located on land owned by a very rich family who sponsors the camp and also lives on the property. The story covers two timeframes: the past, when a little boy disappears, and the present day, when his teenage sister is now missing. Lots of characters tell both stories, which I found very confusing. The author tries to make the timeframes clear, but for me, she failed. I struggled to keep things clear in my head. Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Riverhead Books for providing an ARC.

I love Liz Moore. This book has sealed the deal. I loved her first book, Long Bright River, and there was something equally memorable and special about this one. She writes with a detachment that somehow makes the reader MORE invested in each of these characters, and she manages to draw out a conclusion over hundreds of pages, but it never gets slow or boring or predictable. You could call it a thriller, but I would call it more of a literary thriller because there is so much character and plot development included.

This book was absolutely fantastic. The setting, the story, the characters. One of my favorite reads this year.

Though slow to start, with multiple characters & timelines, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore really pleasantly surprised me. I was impressed with the author’s original story and engaging writing. It is 1975 and Barbara Van Laar, is at her family’s summer camp and it should be the start of a freeing summer. Her family is plagued with secrets and loss and Barbara needs to get out of their main house, at the top of the hill. The house itself is so heavy with grief that, the summer away would help ease her own despair. One morning though, a camp counselor wakes up and finds Barbara’s bunk bed, empty. The search for Barbara, brings up all the secrets of the past, including the fact that this is not the first Van Laar to disappear in the property. As we meet all the characters involved, we also learn of all the their faults and mistakes. Each character is unique in their relationship to Barbara and the investigators find one clue after another that seemingly has them going in circles. But one in particular investigator Judy, has a lot to process. She is a young woman on the force during a time when women were new to the profession. She has many things to prove to others but she also has to prove to herself. Her tenacity just may solve this disappearance before any of her male counterparts. Liz Moore has away of layering pieces of a the story in such a way that as a reader, you don’t realize the depths you’ve traveled until the end. I really enjoyed this story, the characters and the ending. I can tell you, I was completely surprised by the ending but it made such perfect sense. Just how I love an ending to be. I want to thank Netgalley, Penguin Group Riverhead and the author for my copy of this book for an honest review. It was an absolute pleasure to read and review it. I did have to take my time reading it, to keep some things straight but it was so worth it.

I was drawn to read The God of the Woods by Liz Moore due to its description of taking place at a family's summer camp in the 1970's where a camper, who happens to be part of the owner's family, disappears in the middle of the night. It sounded like a great summer read, and I was not disappointed.

The disappearance of any camper is a huge tragedy, and one whose parents own the camp is unthinkable. Everyone is desperate to find out what happened to Barbara. To complicate matters, we learn that the family's son disappeared fourteen years ago and was never found. The mystery of what happened is explored through many perspectives - from the local police state trooper to Barbara's mother to a fellow camper and counselor. That may sound like a lot, but the style worked because we readers were privy to all the juice details of what may have happened. The clues and twists were revealed at a satisfying pace as the story led us to a surprising conclusion. I had a hard time putting this one down. I am eager to read more by this author.

I will recommend this to readers who like family dramas with suspense.

Thank you to Penguin Group Riverhead and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. Got my attention from the start and kept it throughout! Have already recommended to numerous customers and coworkers.

Although I've never been to a sleepaway camp, my kids go, and books set at a summer camp always interest me.

This one is a decidedly dark take on the summer camp setting, with the teenage daughter of the camp owners going missing...fourteen years after her brother disappeared.

A lot is going on in the book, with multiple timelines, lots of family drama, and lots of tension between the wealthy camp owners and the local blue-collar workers who make the camp possible.

It's an interesting story with some great twists and turns throughout.

Thank you to #Netgalley for this ARC of #thegodofthewoods

I found this book to be a slow read. I finished it but was disappointed at the ending. The characters weren’t always credible . Due to there other reviews I was expecting a better story .

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I grew up going to summer camp in the Adirondacks, so I was particularly drawn to this story, and that nostalgia kept me going at times in the beginning where the story felt slow. That said, I am very glad I stuck with it. This was a beautifully sad tale of family and tragedy and many strong characters.

Despite a rocky start reading this one (I do not recommend starting it at night when you are staying in a cabin in the woods 😂), I ended up loving it! I'm not a huge mystery reader, but this fell into the literary mystery genre I love. It's a story about two children from the same family who go missing from their family's summer camp 15 years apart. But really, it's the story of the wealthy family that owns this summer camp and the history and impact they've had on their community. I loved Moore's writing and thought she handled the multiple-timeline storytelling really well. And the ending! It's one of the buzziest books of the summer, and it lived up to the hype for me!

After loving Long Bright River, I had high hopes for Liz Moore’s latest release. With rave reviews and the book being everywhere this month, I was eager to dive in.

At first, I was overwhelmed by the numerous character introductions and frequent timeline jumps, which left me feeling confused and unsure if I’d love it as much as I had anticipated. I decided to take my time, read slowly, and without distractions, finishing it in a single day.

As I got used to the shifting perspectives and timelines, I began to appreciate how the story unfolded. The shorter chapters became easier to follow, and the small-town setting created a compelling sense of suspense around the "camp" and "Self Reliance." The timelines added depth and clarity to the story, though I found the twists a bit disappointing. This book leans more towards a quiet mystery than a thriller. Still, I enjoyed the exploration of themes like power, privilege, and family dynamics. Overall, it was an engaging read, earning 4 stars.

“When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide.”

This literary mystery/suspense novel was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and it did not disappoint! I’m a big fan of this author and love immersing myself in her gorgeous writing. The only thing I’m sad about is the fact that I have to wait years for another book by her!

Liz Moore blew me away with her masterful ability to weave an incredibly intricate structure within a very nuanced story that focused on power and identity. The overall mystery took a backseat to the rich character developmental, but I didn’t mind at all.

If you go in knowing this is a slow burn, and don’t expect a fast-paced thriller, I think most people will be able to appreciate the brilliance of this novel!
Thank you SO much to Netgalley and Riverhead for an advanced copy!

With this being a summer camp missing child story, I was concerned that the horror would be ramped up in this book. It was not. This was a well-told story wrapped around family. I enjoyed the way it was written, with chapters centered around particular characters. It also kept you wondering throughout how things were going to be wrapped up. I recommend to those who enjoy a good mystery.

This book was definitely riveting - my favorite kind. BUT for some reason it seemed so long, I just couldn't find an actual reason for that feeling - it wasn't too wordy, and didn't go on tangents - but I found myself constantly looking at the percentage progress on my Kindle.

I loved the mystery - I was definitely shocked at the resolution to Bear's death - a little confused on the the timeline of Slitter - when he got out, how long he was on the run, etc. But I was able to suspend my disbelief on that.

My heart broke for Alice, what a mess and what a long string of betrayals..... what a waste of a life. LOVED the investigator Judy - can't imagine in that timeframe what it must have been like to be a woman in a room full of policemen.

Overall, a great book - looking forward to future ones by this author.

This superb novel is one of my favorite books of the summer. Moore had me immersed in this page turning story of a summer camp in the Adirondacks, the wealthy who run it, and the townies who work for them. Throw in a serial killer, a new female investigator out to prove herself, and some campers who are about to find out what they are made of and you have a winner. Will enjoy putting this in my customers’ hands.

Two children from a wealthy New York family go missing in the Adirondacks 15 summers apart.

I have quite a few complaints with this one. This book did NOT need to be 500 pages. So much could have been trimmed out and honestly several POVs could have been completely done away with altogether (Jacob's, Carl's, probably at least half of Alice's chapters). Which leads to my next complaint-8? (I think the grand total was 8, I may need to re-count) points of view spanning 25 years and jumping from one timeframe to the next-sometimes within a POV chapter all 25 years were lumped together-was just far too much to keep up with. I found myself bored of the vast majority of these characters and skimming entire pages.

The conclusion of this book is probably the only reason I'd give it 3 stars rather than 2. Everything was wrapped up rather nicely and there were no questions left unanswered. Also, the way in which everything was discovered to have transpired made sense and nothing was absurdly out of left field. But the pacing on this was just so slow and there definitely weren't many thrills or suspenseful moments to be found.

4.5 ⭐️ - rounding up to five!

This novel is beautifully written, very atmospheric, and it makes for excellent summer reading even if the vibe is a little more melancholic than upbeat. Its summer camp setting pulled me in, as well as the year (it's set in 1975 - my birth year!), and I immediately connected with several of the characters that are introduced early on. The story moved a little more slowly than I'd expected, based on experience with the author's previous novel - Long Bright River - and it was a little longer than I felt it needed to be, but it held my attention and I was very curious to find out how the mystery would unfold.

There were times when I felt like there was just a little too much going on for one novel, but I didn't have trouble following along; readers should be aware that this story takes place over multiple timelines and has multiple, alternating narrators, so you'd better be ready to pay attention! I wasn't as thrilled as I'd hoped with the resolution to the mystery, but I thoroughly enjoyed these characters and Moore's writing, as always. She is definitely an auto-buy author for me and I highly recommend this one!

The God of the Woods will most likely be my favorite book this summer. It was immediately captivating and hard to put down.

Camp Emerson is a nature survivalist camp for kids set in the Adirondacks. In the summer of 1975, camp counselor Louise wakes up to find one of her campers missing. Barbara Van Laar, the missing camper, is the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the land on which Camp Emerson sits. This case becomes an immediate emergency and also opens up a lot of unanswered questions from a previous missing person case, Barbara's younger Bear, who went missing in 1961 and whose body was never found. Through a dual timeline, the reader learns of the search for both Bear and Barbara and the many secrets of all those involved.

I was instantly drawn into this story. The writing is exquisite and the short chapters made me want to keep reading. While this is a longer book, it certainly never felt long. If anything, I could have kept reading about these characters and their secrets.

It took some time for me to learn all the characters as there are many and, at times, the timeline felt choppy but once I settled into this story, this was no longer an issue. I do wonder if reading the physical book would have made that easier. It's hard to flip back a few pages on a Kindle.

Overall, I loved this book.

Thanks Netgalley and Riverhead Books for the advanced digital copy.