What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould
This is a beautiful, horrifying story about teens lost in a forest full of monsters.
The teens all had issues with their parents or trauma/abuse in their past and were there to undergo some intensive wilderness therapy. The monsters use this to their advantage. Yet, in-between attacks, the teens begin to heal. I love how they learned to trust each other as they banded together to fight a common enemy. It reminded me of the Dakota Fanning movie Watchers.
The forest monsters were unique, shapeshifting, and horrifying. Some seemed to be smarter than others. They all had the same weakness that the teens learned to use against them. There were some twists and not everyone survived, but overall, I was satisfied with the ending. The book was a lot of fun to read.
Thank you Netgalley, Wednesday Books / St. Martin’s Press for letting me read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having learned about rehab centers like this, I was prepared to be truly horrified and found that I was for completely different reasons. This book follows troubled teens who each have had their own sordid pasts and upbringings. As a last ditch effort to rehab them away from their problematic ways, they are entered into REVIVE a 50 day program that includes, hiking, counseling, camping, and it all goes horribly wrong the moment they cross a river threshold where mimics exist wanting a human body to take over in order to leave the woods. This was stunning, heartbreaking, and often times very scary in the way that it intermingled with growth, accountability, and so much more. I highly recommend this read.

This was such an interesting book that kept my attention all throughout the story. The mimic creature feature was such a good twist. Hannah being a mimic was something I had actually thought early on, so that particular twist didn't pack as much of a punch. But overall, this was such a good YA horror, and I ate up that sapphic romance.

This book went in a very different direction than I was expecting it to, but honestly I kind of loved that it did. What the Woods Took was such a beautiful and heartbreaking look at trauma, perseverance and friendship with a bit of horror thrown in. It was so incredibly atmospheric that often times while reading, I felt like I was right in the woods with those characters! The horror aspect of this book was done so well. It was very unsettling and unnerving, especially when I read at night. The characters though were my absolute favorite part. I loved Devin, Ollie and the rest of their group so much. Seeing them go from angry, distrustful kids to a team that will do anything for each other was so beautiful. I think this is a great addition to any YA horror reader’s TBR and I can’t wait to read what Gould writes next!
CW: mentions of suicide, mental illness, death, violence, drug addiction, sexual abuse

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was just what I needed when I was looking for a palatte cleanser of a book. What the Woods Took is a YA Thriller that had me hooked from the very beginning. I had never read a book by Courtney Gould but it was easy to get through and very entertaining. The book begins with the main character getting kidnapped out of her bed from one of those teen wilderness programs. I didn't find this book particularly creepy but I could see how a younger audience would get those creepy vibes. Because the majority of the book takes place in the woods, somewhere in the middle it did start to feel repetitive. The ending felt a little abrupt but wrapped up nicely. I recommend for those dipping a toe into the thriller genre.

Thank you to Netgalley, Courtney Gould, and St Martin's Press for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #netgalley #WhatTheWoodsTook #CourtneyGould #StMartinsPress

I was honestly amazed at this book and the leaps and bounds the characters were made. In the very beginning, I could not stand the character of Sheridan (by design, I'm sure), and I was sort of indifferent to Hannah and Aidan. I was very much interested in what Devin had been through and Ollie was a character that I felt like had potential but there wasn't a ton pulling me in right away. But that's not to say I didn't care about any of the characters or where the story was going - I was interested in what the overall story was going to be but I wasn't necessarily attached to the characters yet. And I didn't expect to get attached to all of them, but I did.

The level of growth seen among all of the characters is honestly one of the greatest things about this book. To take characters that aren't immediately lovable and make the reader so attached by the end is a huge feat and Gould absolutely nailed it. Aside from that, the atmosphere of the book was so chilling. I'm definitely one of those people that might not be super outdoorsy but I don't mind being outside and in the beginning, it sounded almost nice - not the wilderness therapy aspect, that was always going to be brutal to me - but the idea of just hiking and making camp in woods that should have been safe sounded like an ideal way to spend a weekend disconnected. When they hit the milestone and things flipped, everything got so much scarier. Walking in daylight, in the woods, where theoretically you're separated from the dangers of the everyday world, only to have something quite clearly watching and stalking you? It's a whole other type of chilling.

I did have doubts at one point in the book where I was very afraid the story was going to turn out to be a disappointing "it was part of the program" twist, but thankfully that did not happen. With Liv returning, it was obvious that something wasn't right. But with Hannah, that was a gut punch, even if I expected one of the group to end up being one of the mimics. I kept hoping it wouldn't be her, I just wanted Ollie and her to be happy. I even felt like at the end Ollie had lost more - his grandmother was gone by the time they were rescued and he lost Hannah too, and his father was never worth anything - but I realized Devin didn't have even that much to go back to and she and Ollie have each other. She also has Sheridan and they all still have a friend in Aidan, and it's not a happily ever after, but I also didn't expect that from this book.

I was intrigued by this book for the horror elements, and it ended up being so much more than that - it was such a lovely tale of people bonding and helping each other survive and the found family trope, which I love anyway. This book made me more emotional than I expected from a horror novel, but it's an amazing story and I can't wait to read more by the author.

I loved this creepy, suspenseful and intense read! The description of the woods was really visceral and unnerving. Definitely not for the faint of heart. This is the type of book which keeps your eyes glued to the page.

This gripping YA thriller/horror takes place deep in the wilderness in a program that rehabilitates difficult teens. It's creepy, suspenseful, and mysterious, which is how I like books. The characters were also wonderful and distinctive. Sheridan and Devin were my favorites, and I enjoyed their struggle to coexist while also trying to survive the terrifying horrors in the forest. The audiobook was great. I enjoyed the narration by Lindsey Dorcus. I think fans of Stephen Graham Jones would enjoy this book.

Short and Sweet Review

Devin wakes up in the middle of the night to find two men trying to abduct her, the only thing is this abduction was planned by her foster parents. Devin is being taken away to one of those wilderness therapy programs. Devin isn’t the only one she finds herself with Ollie who was also taken in the night. Soon they find themselves taken deep into the Idaho Woods where they meet three other teens and two camp counselors. The group of teens are informed that this therapy is supposed to help them overcome their destructive ways over the course of a fifty day hike. Devin is trying to escape but hasn’t found the opportunity and she also finds she has a big problem with Sheridan, one of the other campers who just says cruel things to everyone and doesn’t take anything seriously. After waking up one night the group of teens find that both of their counselors are missing and that theres something strange in the woods. Now the group of five has to make it out before they become stuck in the woods.

I feel like most of us have heard about these therapy programs, and if you know Paris Hilton you know how detrimental some of them can be. The book starts off with Devin being abducted in the middle of the night and if that’s not traumatic I don’t know what is. In this case Devin wasn’t the only one who experienced this so did Ollie, Aidan, Sheridan, and Hannah. Each kid is sent to this camp because their parents think they have something they need to work on. We get both Devin and Ollie’s POVs which is beneficial especially when we see the group have to split up. Devin has a hard exterior but she’s actually a softie. I think with her growing up in foster care and having to take care of herself she’s made it seem like she has a lot to work on but through out the course of the book we can see she’s already quite reflective. Ollie is the actual softie and we can see that being on this journey he has to gain the hard exterior to survive. We see that Devin has the biggest problem in this book is with Sheridan and how she blows off the group activities and makes the others feel bad about themselves, and Devin always stands up to the bullies and that’s why she won’t back down when it comes to Sheridan. When the counselors go missing is when we have our characters go into survival mode. There’s something strange in the woods and it just happens to be something called mimics, they can take on different shapes and their goal is to make the characters get to a place so low that they want to give up. When the group learns this they begin to have a hard time knowing whether they can trust each other but one thing is for sure they need to make it out of the woods alive.

Overall, this was a gripping book and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I did like that the author brought attention to these therapy camps, it has been talked about more recently but I do think there could be more discussion. I enjoyed every character and learning about their lives outside of this camp got pretty deep and each character and story felt real. I would recommend this book not only for the eerie feeling you get when reading about their race against time to get out of the woods but also just to survive and make it through life when you’ve been given a bad hand.

Devin Green is one of several teens who are summarily dropped into the woods with two counselors for an experimental therapy program. The woods are strange, and the teens are all told that if they are able to change their self-destructive ways, they'll come out of the fifty-day hike as better people. But both counselors disappear, and the woods seem to be hiding something dangerous. The teens themselves are hiding things from each other but must trust in one another if they want to survive.

Devin is one of five teens with two coaches as part of the first REVIVE class for wilderness therapy. She gets angry and violent, and the others have various problems within their families, mostly due to alcohol or drugs. The coaches lead them on a hike, which none of them are used to. After the first checkpoint ten days into the planned fifty, the sense of creepiness is magnified after the two coaches disappear. The teens split up, one team to complete the trail and the other to try to find help. Nothing goes as expected for either team, increasing their sense of wrongness and dread.

Wilderness therapy actually exists, and many programs are not accredited or run by people with training in therapy at all. This has led to many abusive tactics, which are pointed out in the warning before the book opens.

The program in this book is not exactly on the up and up either; Devin and Ollie were both kidnapped out of their homes with their guardian's permission in the middle of the night. Sheridan is dismissive and antagonistic, with glimmers of her past once revealed explaining why she can't connect with others. Hannah is too fearful of her father's censure and Aiden needs to feel important. Within the forest, hallucinations, dread, and creatures that stalked the teenagers heightened the tensions.

We don't get the horror of the creatures until the second half of the book, at which point we have the question of who is human and what will it take to stay alive. The psychological horror and aspects of body horror are very well done and kept me enthralled until the very end.

☆ARC REVIEW☆
Publication date: December 10, 2024


This book had such potential but just fell short for me.

The storyline was such an interesting concept but I felt the writing was just a bit all over the place and due to the many characters it was a bit hard to follow.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and St Martin's Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did not mind this read, was a bit confused for who was talking but also some of the storyline, I loved the atmosphere of the forest and learning about each character. with the life issues they were dealing with before going to this "camp" and Courtney can indeed write good LGBT characters always love them.

3.5

I'd like to thank Courtney Gould, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Five unfortunate teens are removed from their life and placed in a wilderness came in the middle of the forest in a wilderness retreat called REVIVE. The story follows two characters; Devin, a violent, but tenderhearted girl who grew up in the foster system and has residual trauma from past homes, and Ollie a kindhearted and loyal boy who grew up with a father who never treated him with the love he needed. What The Woods Took follows both of them on their journey with becoming someone knew in the process of bonding over survival and saving each others lives after the strange disappearance of their counselors.

I loved so much about this book I absolutely need to own it when it comes out in a few days. I absolutely love the tender way the characters were written, the in depth fighting scenes and the downright creepy things in the woods that made me sing "hell nah" to myself while reading it. I live in the woods, and getting to those parts felt like I was constantly being watched. I really think this is a fresh take on monster horror and creature feature and I'd love to read anything else Gould comes out with after this.

Do you ever pick up a book thinking, oh, this looks kinda cool, and then it blows your damn mind?

I loved this book so, so much.  I was completely obsessed and stayed up until 2am reading.

What the Woods Took is about five “problem” teenagers sent to a wilderness reform program.

They learn quickly that the program’s leaders are out of their depth against creatures stalking them in the woods…

This one is so creepy. At one point i read it peeking through my fingers, so scared of what was coming next.  

What the Woods Took is a must-read for fans of young adult horror.

Five troubled teens in a behavioral therapy program in the woods with two counselors that really have no business running it; what could possibly go wrong? Throughout the experience, each character’s lives come to light and is used against them in one way or another. As the woods grow more and more sinister, survival is the only name of the game.
Gould delivers a well written, mysteriously disturbing tale of what could go wrong in this situation. The characters and plot work together seamlessly and the test of inner strength is realized to create a full circle. A touch of the paranormal in this one, but it works!

Teenager Devin has plenty of problems. She’s fighting, she’s argumentative, she’s been kicked out of several schools … Her foster family is at their wits end, and so they do the unthinkable: they sign her up for some very special therapy, which kicks off when a pair of thugs arrive in the middle of the night to drag her out of her bed and carry her to a van. There, she is transported hours away in the company of another victim. Try as she might, she cannot escape. The van ride ends at woodlands in the middle of nowhere where she discovers she’s been entered into the REVIVE program. For the next fifty days, she will have to survive in untamed lands with a pair of guides and a gaggle of equally troubled teens.

Ollie was picked up before Devin. He too has a troubled homelife, though a far less violent one than Devin has. His Dad does not want to see eye-to-eye with him and ultimately sees Ollie as nothing better than an argumentative, lazy disappointment. Perhaps this therapy will make his homelife better … If he survives.

The next fifty days will not be a walk in the park. The kids will have guides helping them along and keeping an eye on them, but they will ultimately be responsible for working together, preparing foodstuffs, and following the trail to the extraction point. According to the two guides/coaches Ethan and Liz, the trip will build their young charges esteem, help them learn survival skills, and help them reconsider their life choices to this point …

However, none of the kids volunteered to participate … and they have no vested interest in working together. So, while Hannah from Sacramento can yearn for approval, Aiden from Bozeman Montana can briefly self-isolate, Sheridan from Seattle can choose to drag her feet without reprisal. If that was the only issue they faced, then Devin or Ollie might be able to just wait out the fifty days … but these woods are strange. Animal sounds are few and far between and something strange stalks the land. It can wear familiar faces, it can whisper hideous truths and uglier though convincing lies, and it can lure the unknowing away from the protective herd.

And when Ethan and Liz vanish, leaving the youths alone, how will they hope to survive in a wilderness none of them is particularly prepared for and against a weird adversary that knows more about them than they do about it? Courtney Gould blends survival horror and creature features in the suspenseful YA thriller, What the Woods Took.

The woods have an established place in terror tales. There’s no easier way to isolate a group of characters than to launch them into a wild place, perhaps idyllic in daylight hours but nevertheless harboring all manner of challenges and dangers. Slashers, demonic horrors, and the walking dead have all appeared in such locations, tormenting a dwindling cast until the inevitable showdown between the desperate forces of normality and intrusive monstrosity.

Courtney Gould takes a whack at this locale and horror concept, adding on a whole other layer of unease, plumbing the depths of questionable therapies and programs that parents have subjected their trouble kids to in years past. Specifically, Gould targets a mode of “adventure therapy” knowns as wilderness therapy. That model is held up as useful by its champions for building confidence and self-reliance, teambuilding, and other positive behaviors. It’s a kind of one stop rehab for mental health, addiction, and behavioral disorders. However, it has come under fire over the years by those teens who were subjected to the therapy as being far more negative than the self-generated press suggests through allegations of abuse and neglect. Gould certainly sides with the victims who have told their stories and presented their cases. The treatment here is executed by non-licensed therapists, well meaning folks who don’t know how to really do the work of licensed professionals, who volunteer confidential information in unwelcome company, and who ultimately lead their charges into troubles.

Added to these mundane challenges are a very real weird menace lurking in the woods.

At first, we are uncertain if they are merely psychological projections. The characters are each unreliable in their own ways, products of disfunction and societal letdowns. But as Devin, Ollie and the others continue facing their external challenges and internal demons, we soon discover the evil is a very real threat after all. Like a weird mix of the tulpa myth and the shape changing alien from The Thing (1982), the mimic draws a lot from the people it encounters. Like Pennywise from Stephen King’s It, the menace knows what scares or disturbs its prey, and it has no compunctions about exploiting that information for its own ends. Make no mistake: This is not a mindless horror. It has an agenda and rules that it must operate by. Readers learning those rules and agenda while the characters do is a large part of the fun of Gould’s book. It’s an unsettling story, sure, and the stalking presence is memorably eerie, but What the Woods Took is also a neat puzzle story as we wonder about the monster in the dark and then wonder how many other strange things might be out there …

The writing style is compelling, inviting readers to continue turning pages long after the bedtime cut off. While the narrative is far from subtle in its disgust with REVIVE and similar companies offering wilderness therapy opportunities, the attentiveness to making all the characters interesting individuals is there, too. Ethan and Liz are not straw man arguments, they mean well but are clearly out of their depth. The teens are each worthy of empathy and sympathy, even though they might not seem that way initially. Many characters have journeys here and arcs to fulfill. While the point of view is restricted to Devin or Ollie throughout, the others do not feel like mere helper NPCs. They all have some growing and developing to do, though some of that development reaches a premature conclusion thanks to character death.

As we might expect from a YA novel, Gould’s book has its biggest sympathies with its teen characters. None of these characters is perfect. They all have some real, personal obstacles to overcome (and a few they have not yet even recognized) and the narrative gives the characters room to do so. While Devin and Sheridan might butt heads, leaping to judgments about each other and sometimes coming to blows, the narrative itself does not choose sides or demonize one or the other character. Gould’s book is unflinching in appreciating how nobody is perfect and we are all products of bad choices and sometimes untrustworthy and inexplicable psychologies. This breadth makes the victories the characters win all the more enjoyable to read about.

What the Woods Took is a wild, dark-themed adventure. While Gould includes some measured and welcome attacks on the wilderness therapy process, this is couched in a survival horror yarn about a group of kids facing the unknown and relying upon their own strengths to get through the experience. Along the way, they develop empathy for one another, a better understanding of themselves, and an appreciation for mortality. Opportunities for love and loss, hope and despair, as well as learning not only how to trust but the difficult balance of give and take await them. Gould’s book is a terrific and thoughtful exploration of young adults stuck in a rotten situation surviving (or not) based on their own skills, strengths, and weaknesses.

This was my second favorite queer wilderness therapy horror book I read in 2024 (which is saying something, considering how many came out this year). The unique creature design was refreshing and did a great job mirroring the characters' various arcs while also being genuinely terrifying. Also, I would die for Sheridan and I see way too much of myself in Devin.

My thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martins Publishing for the ARC of "What the Woods Took" in exchange for an honest review.
Scary. Heartbreaking. Breathless. Gasp-inducing. And an incisive examination of five troubled, broken young souls, thrown into unimaginable horror.
"What the Woods Took' manages to pack all of this into one page-turning package. After a relatively slow start, author Courtney Gould pits her five distressed teen characters against a terrifying mixture of every sci-fi-horror movie trope you've ever shivered through.
Devin, Sheridan, Ollie, Aiden and Hannah, all given up on by exasperated parents and guardians, find themselves forcibly dragged into a wilderness survival program in the backwoods of Idaho. The guide-counselors in charge, barely older than their unhappy campers, are tasked with taking the group through a 50 day hike,.......presumably to instill self-reliance, self-worth and lose their bad attitudes.
But things go, as we all knew they would.....horribly awry.
Something's slightly 'off' about this neck of the woods and when their two guides disappear, the group's left to fend for themselves. Even as they squabble and wrestle with their long held inner demons, they become more aware that they're not alone in these woods. And it isn't just their lives at risk. Whatever lurks behind the trees can feed off their identities and darkest, most tortuous memories.
Author Courtney Gould creates perceptive, emotional portraits of her five characters, particularly, the two leads - angry free-with-her-fists Devin and sarcastic, bullying (but terribly vulnerable) Sheridan. The girls at first despise each other on sight and your heart aches for them as their own troubled pasts and current dangers, serve to slowly but surely lowertheir guards with each other.
One of those rare books that takes you on a frightening thrill ride but never forgets that its best special effects don't come from its monsters, but from the humans you come to care about and fear for. I'd recommend buckling up and take the ride.

Finally finished read of What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould!

ARC received from @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks

Release date: 12/10/24 (so close!!)

Seventeen year old me would have LOVED this book so much and I’m lowkey sad 35 year old me is the one who experienced it. I still loved it, don’t get me wrong, I just know my younger self would have devoured it.

Synopsis:
A group of troubled teens are sent to a wilderness therapy program in hopes that they will come out on the other end reformed and healed. For fifty days they will survive in the woods with two counselors barely older than them, a backpack, and a tarp as their shelter. Less than halfway through the trip, the teens wake up alone, their counselors nowhere to be found. Alone without their guides, the teens can’t help but feel the woods are not as empty as they first believed.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It was dark and atmospheric, emotional and gritty. The characters’ experiences felt real and heartbreaking. It’s a perfect winter read for claustrophobic and eerie vibes.

@gayowyn nailed it in my humble opinion.

The quick cut: A group of teens in a new wilderness therapy program find their lives in danger when the adult counselors disappear and a danger emerges.

A real review:
Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing the arc for an honest review.

Untreated trauma has a way of destabilizing an individual. Rather than being able to live up to their potential, the tragedies of the past keep them from living well. For this group of teens, that's not their only issue when a wilderness therapy program goes off the rails.

Devin is a foster kid whose never felt wanted. So when her most recent foster family has her picked up in the middle of the night, she's worried what that means. In this case, it's a 50 day wilderness therapy program called THRIVE. Will the woods help her deal with her troubled past? Or will it create new traumas to tackle?

This book finds a really clever way to take the traumas that each teen is silently dealing with and forced them to come face to face with them. It's a really smart writing device that the author used and was the perfect way to push the plot forward. I'm too many of these books, the mental health component becomes a secondary focus and that doesn't happen here.

Devin and Ollie take turns providing perspective, which is important since the group gets split up a few times. Between the two though, you get to know Devin as a character much better.

Devin is consistently itching for a fight, especially when she can justify it as standing up to a bully. The truth is that it's a symptom of a much deeper issue though and until she's addressed what happened in the past to make her that way, it will only continue occurring. She's a likeable character as you get to know her. It also makes you realize that pretty much anyone is capable of more than they know.

A fun wilderness based book with trauma at the focus.

My rating: 5 out of 5