Member Reviews
This novel was such a good read. I thought it was fine in the beginning, and kind of wondered how it was going to go, and then it TOOK OFF. There were moments that were genuinely creepy and gave me chills as I was reading it – namely Devin’s first uh…experience with the woods. (I don’t want to spoil it) I think the dynamic of the characters was really well developed. And I applaud the character development for everyone – especially the way the view of Sheridan changed throughout the novel.
This was a wild ride in a forest set fever dream, that will have you suspicious of everyone.
Highly recommend.
I think at this point I've come to terms that YA truly is no longer for me. Being in this main characters head was beyond frustrating. The writing itself was great and there was definitely some eerie vibes, but I was expecting a little more of the "horror" vibes. There was some good character development, but these characters were so frustrating at times that it just really took me out of the story at atmosphere. Again, I think it was really just a me problem over all.
In European folk and fairytales, a journey through the woods represents the characters’ coming of age—their passage from the pastoral, relative security of familial and familiar hearths into a fraught, shadowy place where metaphors for social anxieties lurk around every corner. Only with wit and friendship can one come out the other side, though they do so irrevocably changed – sometimes liberated through newfound independence, but always burdened with new knowledge.
This pattern is reworked to gripping effect in Courtney Gould’s latest novel, What the Woods Took. A truly fantastic balance between the sensitive, painful humanity of Laurie Halse Anderson and real-world intertextuality of Stephen Graham Jones, Gould’s book is about five troubled teenagers who find themselves enrolled in the inaugural session of a wilderness “therapy” program. Brash butch lesbian Devin (whose experiences with the US foster system have left her counting down to her upcoming 18th birthday) and the much more reticent Ollie (who isn’t so much looking forward as hoping he’ll make it out of the program in time to say goodbye to his dying grandmother), are quickly established as the POV characters. And it’s through their young eyes that we’re introduced prickly, pugnacious Sheridan, pious, anxious Hannah and upbeat, eager Aiden—all of whom have vastly different ideas and expectations about the next fifty days of no phones and no-holds-barred hiking through the wilds of Idaho.
But what starts as an uncomfortable, risk-agreeable experience supervised by two clearly incompetent twenty-somethings slowly devolves into a nightmarish, dangerous fight for survival when their so-called counselors vanish in the middle of the night. Now, five teens from suburbia must make it through a month on the trail with food, water, and healthy coping mechanisms all in short supply. But they soon realize there are far more deadly things waiting in the shadows than starvation and teenage strife. Things that want to kill them…or worse.
The horror is two-fold, both supernatural/metaphorical and the more tangible dangers of being uncared for. The book opens by explaining that the setting and framing device are taken from true stories shared by survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry. The fact that so many of these programs are run by people with no qualifications to provide child care (because that is what the protagonists fundamentally are: scared, scarred children) or mental health care or care of any sort, really, is driven home again and again.
This is also a story about power. Who has it, who gets it, and who takes it—and the trauma that can result when violence enters the equation. Each of the teens seems to personify the fight, flight, fawn, or freeze response when the narrative opens, though we get more complexity and layers to their coping mechanisms throughout. The narrative seems to grow with the characters in that way, and I found myself just as gripped by their choices as the propulsive action and horror elements.
The term “moral ambiguity” is used widely and loosely in reviewing, but I was impressed by Gould’s similar ability to maneuver her readers’ sympathies through the character whose perspective each page was filtered through. We see each person as the hero of their story, and it is only as the story goes along that the cracks in those individual narratives open up to reveal the bigger and uglier conflicts and lack of social support or acceptance that have led them to this terrifying place. Each of the five teens makes mistakes with real consequences, and the emotional weight of those consequences is fully expressed without narrative moralizing. Readers become intimately acquainted with each of their anxieties and aggressions, and it makes what growth we do see all the more powerful.
It called to mind a brilliant Japanese film called Monster. With superficial thematic similarities, writer* and director Hirokazu Kore-da’s 2023 feature revolves around children who respond to difficult circumstances with behavior that is difficult for their caregivers to respond to. Though the film does this through the lenses of the caregivers as well, both it and Gould’s novel play with and on viewer’s sympathies and sentiments to reveal a complicated, nuanced, deeply human story—one that passes no judgment on the moral ambiguities that spring from wanting to protect what is dearest to us.
Speaking of loose film comparisons, people expecting the lurid dramatism of Girl, Interrupted will be disappointed in the best way. Gould’s writing is much more grounded, compassionate, tightly plotted and resistant to pat or reductive simplifications of mental illness and the pain that can breed it. Her teenagers can be cruel, but the cruelty never feels spiteful or self-indulgent or as a set-up for some grand, cliched moral epiphany. The characters’ barbed words are clearly reactive and/or motivated by consistent, well-plotted and well-written factors that aren’t always obvious at the moment of violence, but become apparent later on.
I really enjoyed this book and plowed through the ~300 pages in a single evening. It’ll certainly get your blood pumping on a sluggishly cold winter evening! If I had to have a quibble, it would be the way the story echoes certain Native American folklore without so much as mentioning the history and cultural context behind them, though I am aware that it wouldn’t be fair to expect that level of cultural knowledge from these POV characters. I will add that interested readers can check out the Never Whistle in The Dark anthology for similar, shorter stories from indigenous American perspectives. It’s another great read for cold, dreary winter days.
Who Will Enjoy This: People looking for a good folk horror, wilderness survival thriller, or a moving story about difficult people learning to love and that they can be loved in turn. Fans of messy teenage coming-of-age stories where flawed choices have sometimes dire consequences but it does not feel like the teens are being punished by the narrative for them. Reader who appreciate well-written, well-rounded characters.
Who Might Think Twice: People who would rather not read about trauma around bodily autonomy and detailed descriptions of physical injury. People who encountered a few of Junji Ito’s panels or Clive Barker’s short stories and decided creepy distortions of the human form wasn’t for them in either visual or textual form, no thank you. There are no illustrations here, only text, but the descriptions are more than enough for more imaginative readers…
*Despite his many screenwriting credits, he was editor and director, but not a writer on Monster.
That feeling that "someone is watching you" in book form. Throw a bunch of troubled teens into the woods and watch as their situation goes from bad to much, much worse. Loved the concept and will have me looking over my shoulder every time I take a walk in the woods.
3.5* finally got around to reading this book and I enjoyed it! This is a very slow burn horror, when I first started reading I had to go back to the summary, because I thought this was just around a wilderness therapy camp. The beginning could’ve been cut in half, the real “horror” aspects don’t start until about 40/50% which made the first half drag. The second half and the things they discover in the woods were TERRIFYING! I wish we could have explored the mimics more and learned more about them!
What the woods took follows a group of troubled teens being lead into the wilderness for behavior therapy.
I absolutely loved this book. It had so many different aspects of things that I love merged together in such a perfect way. The horror and creepy aspects were done SO well. The emotional aspects were hard hitting. The characters were all so unique and had so much depth to them. The romance, which I was not expecting, was absolutely adorable and I was rooting for it the entire time. It was actually so beautiful and so much more than I expected.
Huge thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to give an honest review in exchange for this ARC.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have read all of Courtney Gould's book, and this was the best one yet! Very suspenseful, interesting multi-faceted characters, and a creepy setting. I really appreciate that the story centers around the horrible, abusive "wilderness therapy" some teens are forced to go through. It was eye-opening to read about.
I really liked Devin as a main character. She was abrasive, but she had her reasons, and I loved reading a character like her and watching her grow throughout the book.
WOW it’s been a long time since I read a YA mystery that truly kept me on my toes. This was the right balance of thriller and magical realism that had me hooked on trying to figure out what was real and what was an unreliable narrator speaking. I loved it!
When Devin Green wakes up to two kidnappers in her room, she thinks for sure that her foster parents will come to her rescue. Until she realizes that her foster parents PAID these men to take her. Off she goes to wilderness therapy, a form of behavioral therapy focused on troubled teenagers. The group is dropped into the woods on a multi-week journey of trauma recovery and overcoming addiction, but when their guides disappear, it’s up to the teens to make their way out of the woods without getting caught by the same creatures first.
If I see a book about wilderness therapy, I will be reading it. It’s crazy that this is a thing that happens in real life, not just in fiction, and I’ve always found it fascinating in the most horrific way. This book is definitely no different. I know YA isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if this piques your interest, I definitely recommend a read!
3.5 stars
What The Woods Took went into the unexpected.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my eARC for review!
Teenagers Devin, Ollie, Sheridan, Hannah, and Aiden have been labelled as "troubled". They have been forceably sent to the Revive Teen Rehabilitation Program to hike, camp and survive their way to better life choices.
I was expecting a straightforward plot with an inside look at the TTI and wildnerness programs for struggling youth.
What The Woods Took started out that way, but went in a whole other direction.
The Idaho forests have an eerie, unnatural quality to them - void even of animal sounds. Sights from the teen's past traumas emerge from the shadows. I was constantly second-guessing as to who - or what - could be trusted.
This was my first read from author Courtney Gould, and I easily fell into her writing style and the elements incorporated.
Released Dec. 10.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for early access to this title in exchange for my honest thoughts!!
This is one of those stories that will haunt your thoughts after you finish it. The challenges these characters go through are intense and gnarly; they endure it because they have to and your heart just aches for all of them.
4.5 ⭐️
Thank you Wednesday Books and SMP for the gifted digital copy!
What the Woods Took
Courtney Gould
Publishing Date: December 10, 2024
🎧 Narrator: Lindsey Dorcus 🎧
This was a creepy and perfectly atmospheric YA thriller/Horror novel. Gripping from the very start, I flew through this one in two days.
Set in the woods of Idaho, where five troubled teens are swept away for a 50 day wilderness therapy program with two counselors and minimal supplies. With little to no trust in others and just as little desire to be there, our FMC is determined to ditch the program. Things quickly take a turn into dark and scary territory when the counselors vanish overnight. The teens have no choice but to break down their walls and trust each other as they try to make their way back home.
A dark and twisty novel that takes a look at trauma and its impact using a paranormal horror lens. Inhuman faces and people who shouldn’t be there begin appearing. Creatures called Mimics roam the woods capitalizing on nightmares, fears, and trauma as they look to take over human bodies right when they are on the verge of giving up.
This book is told from two POV and both were equally compelling. It was refreshing how the author made sure the teens actually acted like teens, as this is so often not the case in YA novels. There are two romance subplots, one being sapphic, that both added just enough lightness and heart into this dark tale. At its core this is a novel about growth, healing, and transformation. The way the author was able to mix horror with heart was so perfect. Chilling one moment and touching the next, this one is a rollercoaster of emotions that you won’t want to get off. Highly recommend.
🎧 The narration by Lindsey Dorcus was fantastic. I flew through this audio so so fast. You can’t go wrong reading this one with your eyes or your ears.
The story follows a group of troubled teenagers in a wilderness therapy program who find themselves stranded in a forest that harbors dark secrets. When seventeen-year-old Devin is awakened in the middle of the night by two men, she's thrust into a situation that will test not only her survival skills but her ability to trust. The forest itself becomes a character, with inhuman faces appearing between trees and mysterious visions flickering through the leaves, creating an atmosphere thick with tension and uncertainty.
This was such a fast book to read! The pacing was so good and not seeing the creatures right away was such a smart call. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and I liked the pretty big mix of different personalities represented. My biggest problem was not really KNOWING the characters.I feel like we kind of got to know Sheridan and Devin, but even Ollie, one of the narrators, was kind of a big mystery in terms of his past. I just wanted a lot more backstory for our characters and how we ended up in this situation. I think the reveal would have had more impact because I just didn't feel much connection to the characters. Overall it was a fun book, but lacked emotional depth to really bring it home.
Rounding out my 2024 reads, Courtney Gould hits yet ANOTHER home run with this terrifying sapphic tale. The flawed characters are probably some of my favorites, and the horror element was SO perfect, reminiscent of Pennywise. Highly recommend!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this title! Opinions are my own.
This gave all the #yellowjackets vibes and I was all in! Set in the wilderness as stranded campers are trying to survive and the only threat isn’t the wilderness. This was a page turner !
Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review! Truly no notes on this one— I loved every second and could hardly put it down. If you like Andrew Joseph White and Ryan La Sala you will love “What the Woods Took.”
This book is so much more than a survival or horror story,it’s a haunting, emotional journey about trauma, trust, and finding family in the unlikeliest places.
Devin is forced into a wilderness therapy program that quickly spirals into chaos when their counselors vanish, and something unnatural begins stalking the group. The teens must learn to rely on each other to survive, even as secrets and dangers threaten to tear them apart.
Gould’s writing is gripping and atmospheric, with layers of emotion and suspense. The characters are flawed, raw, and so easy to root for, especially as they grow and connect in unexpected ways.
4.5 stars
This is a rather spine-chilling YA novel about a group of misfit teenagers who are brought together under the less-than-ideal circumstances of a wilderness therapy retreat as a last-ditch effort for rehabilitation. However, as the days progress things get bad in the woods quickly because soon the the camp leaders vanish in the night and the campers are left fending for themselves while something very creepy seems to be stalking them. Is that why their adults disappeared? Can these world-weary teens stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to save each other from whatever's hiding in the deep woods?
It was an engrossing read; I read it quickly between family holiday events. Narrative and pacing were simple enough to follow and seemed well thought out. A solid plot and good amount of character development meant that it was very easy to put myself in the kids' places and feel the mounting terror as it built through the story. Definitely a spooky read - nevertheless they persisted!
Thanks to NetGalley, author Courtney Gould, and Wednesday Books for giving me access to a digital ARC of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided here voluntarily.
This book was such a fun ride! I had a little trouble getting into the story at first. It almost read like general fiction and I was wondering when the horror element would start up. Once I got to the true horror and eerie creepy part of the book, it was so good. I found myself on the edge of my seat and desperate to keep pushing forward in the book, I loved the characters and the way they interact with one another while trying to survive. I felt like the ending was a little too tidy of a wrap up. I did enjoy getting to see the kids move past the events of the book and start a new chapter of their lives.
Thank you to St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this novel. Here are my thoughts!
What’s the best thing to do with teens who are acting out? Why, send them to a wilderness therapy program of course! This is where we find our 5 main characters. They are unhappy but as things proceed it gets much worse, because something is lurking in those woods. Once the guides disappear, the teens need to fend for themselves, but they have no idea what they are up against.
This book has a bit of everything that I enjoy. We’ve got some horror, some found family, and a whole lot of angst. Each character was unique, but their backstories were realistic. I enjoyed how Gould took her time to unravel why some of the teens were there, rather than everyone opening up about their story right off the hop. I was creating scenarios in my head for why they could be there and trying to find hints! Very engaging to read.
The monsters are creepy as heck, but I wish I heard a little more of their backstory. Why are they in the forest, for example. I think some more lore would have really fleshed out their existence and make them even creepier!
This is a great read if you’re looking for some teens who conquer their demons literally and figuratively.