Horror story meets teen angst in this very interesting novel by Courtney Gould. When 5 teens are dropped off in a wilderness camp in Idaho, bad things happen. Now, I live in Idaho and so this made the story a little more intense as I entered the woods last weekend for camping and read this creepy story. Terrible things do happen and the reader is left wondering if they ever find Ethan. Not usually my cup of tea of a story but I couldn't stop reading because I needed to see how it ended. I did enjoy the author's descriptive language. There were a couple of parts that got a little confusing and finding out more about the watchtower would have been great but overall a good story.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This book took me by surprise in the most wonderful way. The story is very character driven and the teens are so well drawn and complex. The story itself was terrifying and I loved every minute! I am looking forward to reading more from Courtney Gould in the future. Highly recommend!

(I was given an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for a review)

I loved this book, the beginning was kind of slow for me but it really picked up towards the middle and end. The characters really made this book for me and kept me reading. The monsters were super creepy, definitely don't read it at night.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an eArc of this. The tl:dr of all my feelings can be summed up I. This: Courtney Gould has done it again.

It, being created a beautifully terrifying book that kept me up at night because of the truly horrifying monsters and also made me cry into my pillow at the care she took depicting these teens who are simply looking for a place to belong and a place to be heard. In her acknowledgments, Courtney says that while working on this she felt like it was her best work yet and I am strongly inclined to agree. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

thanks to netgalley & st. martin’s press for the free earc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

i requested this totally on a whim, and am so happy it didn't disappoint.
courtney gould's characterization is on point; i absolutely loved sheridan, and her character arc was one of the best ive read in a while. the idea of the mimics was somewhat confusing, and i never felt as if i fully understood their purpose, but their part in the plot was really interesting.
i went into this book expecting more of a therapy program horror story, and that is not what this is. if you want to read this expecting it to be similar to netflix's the program, just understand that they are strung together by a very small thread. this book's horror-adjacent element isn't related to the therapy program itself, and is more of a plot device to bring some unfortunate teenagers together into this weird forest.
read this if you like: sad teenagers working through things, somewhat unexpected sapphic relationships, and creepy monsters dressed up like the people in your nightmares.

This story crept up on me! I was expecting annoying teenagers, YA dialogue, and teenage angst with maybe a splash of campy horror. These were not your typical teenagers and this was not your typical horror story. It was so much more than that without being pretentious. The horror elements were beautifully interwoven with the deeper themes of addiction, sexuality, trauma, and the struggles associated with coming of age. The character development was perfect and the monsters were creepy and unsettling. It started slow but picked up and then was hard to put down. Thanks, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Yesterday I finished What the Woods Took and this book was a 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 read! We follow a group of five troubled teens who end up in a program called REVIVE, a 50 day reform hike, and their two young coaches. (This already sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!) Not everything in the woods is what it seems and there are supernatural elements at play. The group quickly starts coming across issues (no spoilers!) and finds out they may not being alone in the woods. One scene really stuck with me because it was so creepy! 😁🌲

This is an atmospheric, YA horror, coming-of-age story with heartfelt friendships and terrifying imagery. Each of these teens is flawed I their own individual ways, but they come together and play to their strengths to try to escape the forest they’ve become trapped in.

This book releases 12/10/2024, so make sure to grab a copy! 🌲🌲🌲 If we have similar tastes, I’d definitely recommend picking this one up!

Huge thank you to @netgalley for providing a free copy of this book for an honest review!

This novel is exciting and filled with twists and turns at every corner. The romance was enjoyable to read about and it was very well written. The flow of the story is very good and it kept me constantly interested and engaged with the book. The characters were well-developed and felt like authentic teenagers. They were very accurately written for their age and this made reading about them so enjoyable. Overall, this novel was incredible.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this outstanding novel!

What the Woods Took is a unique horror story that starts off slowly but becomes intensely captivating once the action picks up. It seamlessly blends fantasy and horror elements, featuring characters with complex backgrounds. I finished reading this novel in just one day.

This had a good plot. What's not to love about a group of teens being forced to literally face their fears? The monsters were creepy and unsettling, definitely building on the feeling you often get in the woods of being watched or stalked. I felt the characters were all based on overused stereotypes, however. Rich girl whose parents love her sibling more so she turns to drugs and being an absolute bitch. Unwanted foster kid, obviously sexually abused, grows up angry and just wants to run away (and gay, of course). Good girl does one bad thing and her life is in shambles. Smart kid is Socially Awkward and turns to drugs to fit in. And last, boy without a mom and overly attached to grandmother hates his dad. The character development was all very abrupt and this had my least favorite romance tropes: enemy to lover and insta-love. Technically, the story was well written with a medium pace and the characters definitely made several idiotic decisions as one would expect of a group of teens lost in the woods. I sure do wish I knew what the monsters planned to do once they were out of the woods, though.

I loved the whole setup and general idea of this novel. I also enjoyed the cast of characters and how in depth I really got to know them. But honestly I found it extremely slow and repetitive. Being stuck in the woods is just hard to pull off, whether it be a novel or a movie. Part of my reaction could be because the last two books I read had similar vibes - A.M. Shines The Watchers and the sequel Stay in the Light (thanks Net Galley!). To me, there’s just several stories that have had similar ideas. This one is not bash written or anything, it just didn’t hit the mark for me. I would check out other books by the same author though!

4.5 ⭐️
This book falls into one of my all time favourite media genres which is angsty teen wilderness survival. I think the best way to describe this book would be a mix of the Wilds, Yellowjackets, Lord of the Flies and the Blair Witch Project. So much happens that shouldn’t make sense (but somehow it does), but I still had fun even when I had so many questions.
I also really liked how intense of a read this was! The action and the tension (especially in the later chapters) genuinely had me stressed out for these kids!
And even though I usually don’t love when a novel follows multiple main characters, the switching perspectives really added to the overall ambiance of confusion here.
Thank you to NetGalley for access to this arc!

“You’re not too broken to keep going,”

Devin is taken from her foster home and thrown into a wilderness therapy program with 4 other “troubled” teens. Once they’re alone in the wilderness they realize they’re in more danger than they thought, and they might not be alone.

Insanely addictive and unputdownable. I finished this in one sitting. Courtney Gould is single handedly convincing me to like horror books. Her monsters and other creepy things are so imaginative. One of those books that you know would be so good as a movie because you can picture it so well.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat and the added element of not knowing who to trust had my anxiety through the roof. The way the author plays with reader’s sanity and emotions is almost criminal.

The character development is unmatched. It really gives perspective on not knowing what could be happening in someone else’s life. There was the perfect amount and blend of characters, each with their own relatable backstory. The dialogue is great and always felt natural.
Finally a bully romance that I can actually get on board with!

I loved the survival aspect of this book and how the characters handled it in a realistic way. The timeline was also great so the pacing flowed really well.

Overall a well rounded story that I really enjoyed.

Perfect for fans of horror and survival books.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC! You have created a forever fan.

4.5 Stars

This book. THIS! BOOK! I am beyond obsessed with the story Courtney Gould has crafted, which is so important, thrilling, and smart. I love it so much!!

“It isn't perfect, but it's enough.”

Revive is a fifty day wilderness teen rehabilitation program that takes troubled teens on a journey of self discovery. It promises to help your troubled youth find their footing in life,get back to their baser instinct and learn new skills for their fresh start after the program ends.

“Counting on someone else to help is like waiting to pay your bills until you’ve won the lottery.”

If living in foster care has taught Devin Green anything it’s how to protect yourself and stay alert. So it comes as a shock to her when she’s awoken in the middle of night by two men standing by her bed. She just got to this new home so she hasn’t had time to plan her usual escape routes, so when the men tell her to get up she does what she knows, fight back.

She quickly realizes this isn’t an ordinary kidnapping,her foster parents signed off on this. She’s forced into a van where there’s another teenager waiting. They’re driven deep into the Idaho woods, where more teens are already there just as confused and scared. Two “camp counselors” emerge and tell them they’re a part of a program to help them change their ways,immediately Devin is planning her escape.

Unfortunately for Devin the woods aren’t as determined to let her or any of the other members of the group leave.


First off can we talk about how pretty the cover for this book is?! As soon as I saw it I wanted to read it!

I sort of went into this book blind,all I read was teenagers being lost in the woods and immediately said “LETS GOOOO!” I’m so happy I was approved for this ARC! (thank you NetGalley and to the Publsihers).

Without giving too much away I will say that the first moment we find out what’s in the woods,I felt absolute dread in the pit of my stomach. Just the imagery of that was enough to keep me interested in finding out more.

I did enjoy the characters and their development throughout the book,minus one character whom I just couldn’t connect to.

❗️❗️❗️
This book does deal with heavy situations so I would check trigger warnings!!

There’s also LGBTQ+ representation🏳️‍🌈

“Are you trying to ask if I’m gay?”
“Your haircut already told me.”

The author does use certain phrases a couple times that started getting on my nerves as the book went on,it just felt repetitive but overall I did enjoy this book!

** spoiler alert ** **I received this book as an ARC**

As someone who loved "Where Echoes Die" I was really excited to get to read another Gould book and WTWT did not disappoint. I didn't read the preview before starting the book and was thrilled that it was taking on wilderness therapy. I loved getting to know the characters and seeing them acknowledge their traumas slowly throughout the story. I do wish there was a bit more as far as wrapping up the story in terms of the mimics. It really bummed me out that overall their traumatic experience was seen as them just getting lost and being gaslit about the mimics. But in fairness that is definitely how it would happen in real life so I can't blame Gould. Overall this was a great read that got me out of a reading slump and was hard to put down! Gould has a reader for life in me.

I love Courtney's stories. For some reason this book didn't do it for me. The romance felt extremely unnecessary. The twist/suspense aspect took so long to get to.

I'm petrified of camping and the woods and the dark and camping in the woods in the dark. This book realized all of my fears (thank you) and gave me sapphics with a happy ending (thank you x2).

At first I thought that one of the five teenagers in this wilderness therapy program would be harboring a dark murderous past, but that's not the case. All five are empathetic. All five are trapped in the woods with their pasts and the supernatural manifestations of them, and all five are forced to depend on each other to survive. This had elements of The Thing with shape-shifting monsters and the classic "is the monster one of us?" identity scare.

My favorite aspect of this book, however, was unexpected: mental health. I used to be obsessed with unsolved disappearances in national parks (gradual degradation of a true crime fixation that I've since overcome) and learned that these are common places people choose to end their lives. The teens' battle against the mimics in the woods and its parallel with suicide ideation was particularly powerful. Devin's "I want to live" moment in the climactic scene had me choked up. We may have trauma and we may never fully leave that trauma behind us, but we still deserve to live and to try and find happiness.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I recently finished this authors other book, The Dead and the Dark, and thought there’s no way she could match that, but somehow this did.

I can’t even begin to find some type of criticism on this because I genuinely would not change a thing, it was perfect from beginning to end. The plot definitely is a slow build, but this just goes to show how much slower pacing can pay off when it’s done right. Even though the horror aspect of the book took a minute to kick in, I’m glad we spent the beginning of the book getting to know the characters. I feel like a lot of things in the horror genre are often weakened by one-dimensional characters but each one of the main characters felt realistic, fleshed out, and flawed (even the ones who I thought might not be at the beginning). And since I had grown to care about the characters, I was much more invested in what would happen to them once the action started.

In terms of the writing, I can’t explain exactly what it is about it, but something just the story flow so seamlessly in a way that made this impossible to put down. Not only that, but each scene was also written in a way that was so easy to imagine and the way everything unfolded felt like a movie.

Another thing I like about this authors writing is how she writes dialogue between her characters. A lot of books wind up with characters having conversations that feel contrived but with this everything felt authentic. Another thing I like is that the characters felt and talked like realistic teenagers without going into a cringe territory, as that’s something that’s being seen in a lot of books I’ve read lately; if that’s not the case then they come off as too mature and I thought the author found the right balance that made them feel like real people.

Overall, I seriously could sit here and write a whole in depth analysis of everything I thought went right in this book. The pacing, characters, shapeshifting monsters, every bit of it was perfect from start to finish. This has definitely been my favorite new release so far this year, and I would 100% recommend everyone who is even semi-interested to pick this up and give it a try!

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Courtney Gould mixes horror with reality that makes it feel a bit like your nightmares are real. It's like she gives plot to the moments when your brain says "well maybe that WAS a creature behind the tree over there." It's crazy how easily I'm pulled in to her writing!

In What the Woods Took we see a wilderness therapy journey gone wrong. I expected it to get dark, but dark based on the history of these so-called therapy retreats, not the turn it took. Gould starts you off with the two main characters getting kidnapped in the middle of the night. Abducted and manhandled and their respective caretakers have arranged it. They're helping them. Devin's foster parents think the fighting is unmanageable, Devin needs a complete turn around. Ollie's dad thinks he's stealing his dying grandmother's drugs. And he is but not to use them, he's trying to sell them and get away from his dad for good.

After an infuriating van ride, Devin and Ollie are pulled from their captor's vehicle and thrust into the woods. They're met by two guides: Ethan and Liv, and 3 other... campers for lack of a better word. Perhaps its better to say 3 other prisoners? Regardless, they start off on their trek. A 50 day hike through the wilds purportedly to reflect, grow, and change.

Devin is tough, she hikes and pushes through the obstacles. She doesn't want to do the therapy work, but she'll sort of do even that. She just knows that by 50 days, she'll be 18. She'll be out of the system and she'll be on her way. This isn't the way she would have picked to have freedom, but it is what it is. She's even able to form a friendship and an ally in Ollie. They look out for each other out here. It would all go a lot easier if they didn't have Sheridan to contend with.

Sheridan is the most unwilling of the participants. She's mean and whiny. She grates at Devin's nerves more than anyone or anything else out here. When they come to a river they must all cross together and Ollie almost dies thanks to Sheridan's lack of interest, Devin is through with her. That is until they wake the next morning to smothered fire and two missing counselors.

In a lord-of-the-flies-esque situation the group must vote on what to do. What follows is sinister sojourn through a world they could never have imagined was real.

Instead of giving away too much about the way this book twists and turns, I'll leave it here.

I was pulled in, hypnotized if you will, by Gould's story. Her characters were relatable and believable and that made it all the more terrifying to read. I will likely think about this book long after I've put it down. It's ideas will haunt me in the best way possible.