Member Reviews
As much as it hurts me, this one was not really for me. It wasnt quite what I was expecting. I found it very difficult to get into the storyline and the pacing felt very drawn out. I also had a very hard time feeling invested towards the characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an opportunity to read this book.
Thank you for the opportunity to preview Wilderness Reform. I think this is more of a YA book. That said this book has the components of horror and fantasy with a good setting.
Characters are good but this was a slow build but a good ending.
3 stars
Wilderness Reform is a frustrating read with a lackluster plot and underdeveloped characters. The narrative is slow, and the writing fails to create any real tension or engagement. The themes feel shallow, and the story never quite reaches its potential. Ultimately, it’s an unsatisfying and forgettable experience.
I was pretty excited about this book despite having mixed feelings about Old Country. I was hoping that the brothers would have grown as writers and their next attempt would have more of what I wanted to see from their first installment, and less of what I disliked - the toxic masculinity, the weird obsession with weapons and hunting, the sidelining of women. Unfortunately, Wilderness Reform went rather the other way.
The premise is promising - a camp for wayward teen boys that claims to turn them into productive members of society, only there's something deeply rotten at its core. Thrown in the middle of it is 13 year-old Ben, raised by a drug addict mother and violent aunt, neglected and abused. His only objective is to survive the camp and return to his little brother so he can protect them from his aunt Nikki's rages.
Starting with the most glaring - Ben is an awful protagonist. He's deeply unlikeable, and even his tragic past makes it impossible to root for him. He's pretentious, standoffish, and a bit of a sociopath. The narrative keeps harping on how clever he is, how intelligent, how it's so easy for him to read adults and mimic and mock them, how self-congratulatory he acts when he 'fools' a grown-up - it really just reads like a wish-fulfillment stand-in from writers who were deeply uncool as teenagers and are now reinventing themselves in their protagonist. I got really tired really quickly of reading about how witty and wicked Ben was, how full of himself. And the written-out accents were not only distracting, but so stereotypical and ham-fisted it set my teeth on edge.
The pace of the book, as many other reviewers had pointed out, is sluggish. I largely skimmed through most of it because, most of the time, nothing of import was happening. The myriad hiking, camping, and hunting expeditions did do a good job of setting the scenery and showing the Querys' fondness for the natural landscape, but... this is a horror story, not a meditation on the beauty of the West. It went into far too much detail on the ins and outs of camping, hunting, archery, survival skills, the list goes on. I had the same issue with Old Country, the Querys putting too much of their own niche interests into their books which took me as the reader right out of it. Just write a survival manual and give it a rest.
Also like Old Country, the book was heavily male-dominated. At least the other story more centrally featured a female character. Here, the few women were relegated to side roles of dead addict mom, abusive aunt, and a few giggling girls on the periphery. It smacked of "we don't know how to write women so we're just not going to try". Yuck.
The actual 'horror' and villain of the story was kind of... simplistic? It was one of those 'evil for evil's sake, power for power's sake' sort of villainy which is not particularly compelling. The body horror was strong, and the climax, when it did come, was fast-paced and exciting, but at the same time felt unrealistic in how four teenage boys were able to easily best a large group of experienced, powerful beings. If it were that easy, it would have happened a long time ago.
Oh, wait, I forgot, it's because Ben is so smart and special that he was able to do what no one else was able to do before him, which was unravel the mystery (by reading a library book) and beat the bad guys that no one else ever knew were bad guys. Right-o.
Two stars only because I didn't want to throw my iPad at the wall.
Well this is a hard review for me. Old Country was my top horror read in 2023. So going into Wilderness Reform, my expectations were possibly just too high. We meet Ben as he is sent to a Wilderness retreat where he soon discovers the camp counselors are a little off to say the least. It seemed like an interesting premise but was kinda very boring. I don’t know how else to describe it. It held my interest but I wasn’t dying to pick it back up to see what happened next. It was more entertaining in the last half but still doesn’t hold a candle to Old Country. I still look forward to an anything the Query brothers write in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Atria books and the author for the ARC of this book.
Wild. This story was wild. I wasn't sure about 1/2 through, however, when some super natural elements started to occur, but the sequence of events did keep me reading until the end. I went into this book anticipating a coming of age story about the horrors of a wilderness program, as we are seeing more and more individuals coming forward like Paris Hilton, Kat Von D etc. sharing their experiences in the troubled teen industry. If this is was you are looking for, this book is not that at all and I was very wrong in my assumption. Knowing that it would be a thriller, I knew something different was bound to happen and it did.
I really loved our main characters who teamed up (based on being put in a cabin group together). The imagery was also very well done, as the readers can truly picture the setting and Montana wilderness. The cover is also gorgeous.
That being said, I did feel like the plot points of supernatural events (which ended up being a focal point of the premise of this book) seemed for lack of a better word, corny to me and I did not get particularly creepy vibes. I felt the end was predictable and almost cringy.
I'm sure that many readers will love this book and I am just not the ideal reader for a fantasy thriller.
Unfortunately I had a hard time getting into this one. I've been trying to finish it for 6 months now and just haven't been drawn to come back. I enjoyed the start of the book, we start off with a sense of dread and anticipation. However, I didn't feel connected to the characters (despite having some similar experiences) and just overall didn't enjoy the writing. I in now way think this is a bad book, I just think it wasn't for me and it's time to finish this review. I did enjoy how creepy it felt and the atmosphere was well built at times, I just didn't feel strongly enough about the story to want to finish the book.
*thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review
Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for this ARC!
Horror books are not normally my thing, but I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book. I ended up finding a lot of the book very slow, until I got towards the end of the book. The pace picked up and I really did enjoy the ending. There were lots of creepy parts as I read that I did enjoy, but for the most part I wish this book was a quicker pace.
3 stars
I just didn't connect with the writing style, at all. Despite the dark content, I wasn't feeling the emotions.
I was more annoyed than intrigued.
DNF
I didn't enjoy this book. It was just too dark for me. I could not connect with anyone or anything.
I was hoping for something but not quite sure what.
Thank you NetGalley for this arc.
I love the cover of this book and was super intrigued by the synopsis. This ended up being a middle of the road book for me. A majority of the book is a slow burn leading up to the very fast-paced and thrilling ending. I liked going through the storyline with Ben while he tried to figure out what was happening, but do wish it was a little faster. As for the ending, it was a lot of fun to read and definitely filled with a lot of gore. If you like slow burns, you might give this one a try.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an eARC of Wilderness Reform in exchange for my honest review!
As much as I was hoping this could be an eerie and claustrophobic ride, it ends up leaving me quite disconnected from it. It tries so hard to maintain a slow-burn pace that it ends up simply coming across as sluggish, making it a challenge for me to become fully invested in Ben and the boys he runs into at their juvenile reform camp. There isn't even all that much of a creepy atmosphere for me to latch onto, which is strange. Towards the second half of the plot, this does get a little more engaging, but still, it isn't really until the suspenseful conclusion that I'm finally hooked. Too bad it takes such a lengthy time for me to reach that point.
Overall, I'm officially rating Wilderness Reform 2.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to two stars. Oh well, at least this was able to be more enjoyable for some other readers, according to their reviews.
What a creepy story! I love the idea of horror novels that take place in the woods and this one absolutely delivered.
I will say, it moved slowly at times, but I still really enjoyed it despite feeling like it dragged at times.
Wilderness reform is a character driven novel in an idyllic mountain setting. The first part of the book is a slow burn, more like a drama. The setting and characters are described in good detail and by the time you finish the novel, you know exactly who they are. Ben, the main character, is extremely brilliant with an eidetic memory, has seen his share of trouble and it finally catches up to him. He is whisked away by a man named Reid who he finds mesmerizing and scary at the same time. He is happy to leave his rundown Louisiana shack that houses his mean abusive aunt. But, he is disparaged by the fact he is forced to leave his 8 year old brother behind.
Once at the camp for troubled boys, they fall into routine camping, trapping, fishing and taking long hikes and overnight. As much as Ben is beginning to enjoy this, he feels a strong sense of something not quite right. There is a hidden doom behind the smiling faces of the camp counselors. And his distrust of Reid the head of the camp becomes more and more apparent as boys that get into big trouble come back as overly happy cooperative campers.
Ben knows something nefarious is going on behind the scenes and he and his other 3 cabin mates are fighting to find out.
A gripping and eerie tale. The story takes the reader on a suspenseful journey into the heart of a wilderness camp for troubled teens. The novel excels in creating an atmosphere of dread and unease. This novel is slow burn horror.
Many thanks to Atria and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.
Wilderness Reform is a slower-paced horror story centered around a wilderness camp for troubled teens that turns out to be far more sinister than it seems.
I was very interested in reading this book. The premise sounded so intriguing. However, the story moved too slowly, with most of the action packed into the final chapters.
I didn’t find the plot particularly scary, although there were a few creepy moments. That being said, I did enjoy the writing. Despite being co-authored, the writing felt seamless. I’d be interested in reading more from these authors in the future.
3.5⭐️
Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley, and authors Matt Query and Harrison Query for the opportunity to read this coming of age/summer camp horror story. I genuinely enjoy reading a good summer camp story, especially if it involves a good dose of horror. This book delivers it with the right amount of feeling. The story concerns Ben, who gets sent to a special wilderness camp for the summer after getting in trouble with the law. He quickly finds out that something is very wrong with the camp. The counselors are not quite what they seem to be. And when he first arrives, what really happened to the previous group of campers? As Ben starts to poke around he finds there are more questions than answers and when the campers visit the nearby town, he finds even the townspeople are nervous about the camp.
This book kept me up late into the night and I loved every moment of it. Highly recommend it if you love a great summer camp horror story and instead of a final girl we have a Final Guy! 😊
I was beyond thrilled to pick up Wilderness Reform after loving the Query bros debut. The premise of a camp in the wilderness sparked my enthusiasm and I dove in only to find the pace agonizingly slow. I found this heavy on the character development and personal relationships of the main character, which is not what I was looking for from a horror novel with such an enticing setting. I will say the setting was immersive with plenty of woodsy-ness. The ending redeemed this one a bit as I found it picked up the pace and was pretty scary. All in all, not for me but I will look forward to another Query bros book since I loved Old Country.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with a review copy.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a reader’s copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
Ben, a 13 year old who has gotten into legal trouble is sent to a wilderness reform camp for the summer. Along with a group of other troubled youths he begins to sense something is not quite right about the camp and its counselors. I loved the character of Ben, he is brilliant but doesn’t know it, as his low class upbringing never afforded him the opportunity for anyone to see his potential. He is an underdog that you can’t help but root for.
Do not hesitate to grab this one.
I wanted to love this one. The cover immediately drew me in and the synopsis sounded fantastic, but the execution of it was a real let down for me. It was so slow. I just didn't care enough to slog through it and I found myself not wanting to pick it back up so sadly I decided to DNF.