Courtney Gould is the type of writer who can tackle difficult subjuect matter and take elements of a story and plot that are completely unsettling and horrifying and write them in a way that shows the vulnerability and tenderness of womanhood and the power and resiliance of found family. "What The Woods Took" is perfect for fans of "The Wilds" and "Yellowjackets", two shows about survival and the complexity and depth of female friendships and trauma that bonds women together and embraces their anger and rage in a way that channels into productivity and comanionship.
Courtney Gould's stories are written with such depth in the prose and ghe atmospheric vibes are so rich, th reader feels absoolutely immersed in the story. I absolutely recommend this novel to anyone interested in niche queer horror.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould is a dual third person-POV YA Queer horror drawing from the wilderness programs that many teens were sent to in the 2000s. Devin, Ollie, Aidan, Sheridan, and Hannah are all sent to a program in Oregon to ‘set them on the right path’ by hiking for fifty miles with two college-aged counselors. When the counselors go missing, the teens need to find a way back to civilization. But whatever is waiting for them in the woods won't let them out so easily.

The wilderness therapy programs that Gould was inspired by seemed to be everywhere when I was a teenager and I remember people talking about them like they were the answer to a lot of parents’ prayers. Unfortunately, in recent years, it's been revealed that these programs have caused trauma, physical harm, and even death and, luckily, it is no longer a booming business. It feels like a set-up that was made for horror: teens go into the woods against their will and something is waiting for them so they have to work together to survive, and Gould handles it brilliantly.

Between our two POV characters, Ollie and Devin, I preferred Devin’s chapters. Devin has spent a good chunk of her life in the foster care system and has a problem with people who make trouble for her, which is more than understandable. Devin is not a fan of bullies and that puts her at odds with Sheridan, who treats the program like it's a joke and fights their counselors every step of the way. When Sheridan opens up to Devin, things start to make a lot more sense and we learn who Sheridan really is.

The monsters are very cool and very freaky. Each encounter with one of them peels back a layer to one of the teens’ backstory and gives us glimpses into how they ended up in wilderness therapy. Hannah's monster, in particular, was probably the most intriguing and Sheridan’s the most heartbreaking.

Content warning for mentions of CSA, drug addiction, and abuse

I would recommend this to fans of horror set in the woods, readers of horror looking for a focus on a social issue that impacted a lot of teenagers, and those who are into narratives with monsters, human and supernatural.

Wow! What the Woods Took was definitely not what I expected. I've read books by Gould before and have come to expect an element of paranormal activity in the story, so I wasn't surprised by that part. There is some romance in the story too. Essentially, the story ends up being these teens surviving in the wilderness once the counselors go missing. There are times when the story dragged and I thought wouldn't be able to finish it but I'm glad that I pushed through because the story has a good plot twist.

WHAT THE WOODS TOOK is about a group of teens that are forced into an experimental wilderness therapy program where they’ll hike through the woods for 50 days in an attempt to resolve their “behavioral issues” and become better versions of themselves. Devin is immediately trying to find a way out, especially because of Sheridan, a straight up bully who mocks and resists the program at every stage. But they aren’t the only things in the woods. When the program counselors disappear the group on their own to survive the wilderness—and something dark and sinister hiding within the trees.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters and their development were super strong and I enjoyed how they grew and changed throughout the story. Even though the whole story is the characters surviving in the woods, I was super engaged by the dynamics and relationships between all of the characters. The supernatural elements were chilling, at some times hard to visualize, but very good at giving me the creeps as I read.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙠 by Courtney Gould was not what I was expecting by any means. I tend to choose my books based on the cover and the title, but I have officially learned that I need to start reading the description in full detail.

———

Qᴜɪᴄᴋ ʀᴜɴᴅᴏᴡɴ
- Paranormal Thriller
- Queer Romance
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Grey MCs
- Read the trigger warnings!

I was not disappointed with this read, I want that to be clear.

The story follows a group of teenage delinquents who are shipped off to a behavioral program—a “Wilderness Retreat” program where nothing is as it seems. If you are someone who follows real-life crime within these types of programs, this book could be slightly triggering, so keep that in mind.

Devin Green has gone from foster home to foster home, never quite fitting in, until she is swept away in the dark of night. She, along with a boy who is brought in with her, are taken to the camp and left with two camp counselors and two other teens. Off they all go on a trek to be reborn as rehabilitated kids.

But they aren’t the only ones in the woods. Or should I say, the only things in the woods?

Cue the major plot twist that had me blindsided. My heavy heart, full of sympathy for these kids, quickly turned into gasps of surprise at just how imaginative Courtney Gould was with this book.

This read went from a possible DNF to something I couldn’t put down. My only reason for a three-star rating is due to feeling like the book was really two books meshed into one. Again, this isn’t a bad thing because it was beautifully written, but I felt a disconnect in parts of it.

This review is based on an ARC copy I received from NetGalley. These opinions are my own and were given freely.

I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met.

A wilderness teen reform camp takes a deadly turn when they cross into the territory of something sinister. Gould does a great job of portraying the different backgrounds of the troubled teens, including the different degrees of bad behavior that resulted in their enrollment in this therapy camp. Their reluctance to participate and their interactions among each other ring of authentic emotional tension. Once the group crosses the river, the adventure becomes a high-stakes survival trek where the teens face danger in the woods and among each other. This story hooks you tighter with each new danger the teens face, and the action picks up as their little group is torn apart. This is a tense but exciting read with a paranormal danger thrown in. Honestly, it would have been just as nail-biting if the kids were up against a demented band of hillbillies, but the creatures they faced were a wild card that ramped up the fear factor. Well written, though I felt that the end wrapped things up a little too tidy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to.

A decent YA horror (I didn't know it was a supernatural book; I thought it was only tackling the questionable nature of wilderness therapy so I got more than I bargained for). The main characters are all likeable (and honestly not so bad that their parents resort to wilderness therapy, I mean really?).

I was not expecting a horror novel…. After just finishing two before this, I was hoping for a dramatic novel to make me sob. Apparently I didn’t read the second part of the description that talks about the monsters 😂. Does this mean that it was a bad book? Absolutely not. It’s probably one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year.

You have two narrators: Devin and Ollie. Devin is hard as nails and Ollie seems resigned to his fate as he tries to keep the peace. Then you have three other characters: Hannah, Aiden, and Sheridan. This makes up our group of lost campers. What is trying to kill them, you ask? Weird monsters. I can’t say more without spoiling it but they are CREEPY. The whole story (after the counselors get lost) is this group of teens trying to survive. It’s an awesome horror novel that will definitely keep you reading until you hit that last page.

A lot goes on in this novel when it comes to deeper meanings, so keep an eye out for that when you’re reading. For example, they’re “lost” more than one way. They’re also lost in their life. Finding a way out of the woods is a pretty cool metaphor for them finding themselves. So even though I didn’t get this dramatic story about wilderness therapy, I still got a lot of hard hits emotionally in this novel.

Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars. This was a great, thrilling novel that gives you more than just scares. You get a lot in character-wise and their growth is shown beautifully in the pages of this book. Definitely worth a read! A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Super interesting premise and unique story! Well-written, well-developed characters and balanced suspenseful plot that kept the pages turning!

While the premise was enjoyable and the suspense left me on edge.
The therapy camp left me befuddled and confused, the impression I received was it gave off conversion therapy vibes but it wasn't? Also the sudden relation between Sheridan and Devin was confusing and suddenly happened.

A solid YA horror novel with a legitimately creepy ambience.

I went into the book somewhat blind after seeing something about its upcoming release, as I'm always wanting a good horror read. I'm so glad I went into it without context as the synopsis spoils what was imo a slow burning, excellent slide into the terror of the woods. The basic premise is a group of troubled teens heads into the woods for a month+ wilderness retreat, but soon, unsettling things start to happen, and it progressively gets scarier from there. Not going to go into any more details as if you haven't read the synop yet, consider going in blind like I did.

Having read some of the other reviews so far, I don't really agree with most of them. Yes, it's YA, so as expected the prose isn't Sanderson-tier, but from my dusty memory of being a fellow troubled teen, they seemed reasonable to me (albeit playing up their tropes a bit).

Still, that didn't bother me, because the horror elements are legit scary and unnerving. I don't agree with reviews that say this is more like horror lite due to it being YA, as horror doesn't have to be gory and shocking (re: one of my fav horrors, The Child Thief, which is decidedly <i>not</i> YA) for it to be effective. I tend to skew towards horror films that are more psychological and slow burning (It Follows, Hereditary, etc) and this fit perfectly into that mold. The teens are unsettled by things they <i>think</i> are happening, and imo the overall "reveal" for those things was satisfying and still quite scary. I burned through the book in 2 days because I couldn't put it down, as I really wanted to know what would happen next. And since I read before bed, this led to some unpleasant dreams (haha). That's the sign of a good horror, though.

I also appreciated the backstories of the characters, and choked up when we learned Devin's plight especially. The characters do grow and change together due to the shared trauma they're dealing with in the woods.

The elements that I felt neutral about are the secondary aspects to the horror, specifically:

- The sapphic romance between two of the MCs. I can see why inclusion like this is a positive thing and I'm all for it, even though I'm not the target audience. Still, these themes don't impact my score or enjoyment at all

- The romance itself definitely felt textbook YA, which is by design for a YA book, but thus also didn't speak to me as an adult :)

- I think the epilogue could have been condensed a bit and focused more on how the horror elements wrapped up rather than a stronger focus on the book's secondary focus of the budding romance, but the characters got their screen time and we got closure.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to review this book.

A middling take on the troubled-teen-horror subgenre. Our heros have all been sent to a "wilderness excursion" camp with minimal support and inexperienced counselors, allegedly to help them deal with serious behavioural issues. Once on the journey, shapeshifting horrors attack and stalk the teens. I found it underwhelming and felt like it missed the point. Cuckoo, released earlier this year, did a better job of evoking the horrific and also had a clearer idea of what makes the troubled teen industry so terriying - parents who are willing to condo0ne torture to get the version of their children that they want. What The Woods Took makes all its horror external - it would work just as well (if not better) with an actual summer camp setting, rather than the "juvie in the woods" vibe. It's not bad, it's just not the best, not even the best released this year.

This was a really great story. I think it’s an interesting book and I love that angsty feel and of course the sapphic rep is amazing. Character development was so well developed!

* Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

What the Woods Took is a survivalist story about 5 teenagers forced on a wilderness therapy program who are chased by more than their own personal demons once they enter the forest. These kids are messed up and confused 90% of the time, and being chased by something creepy hiding between the trees doesn't help their personal conflicts. I

I have liked all of Courtney Gould's books, and this one is no different. She writes uncomfortably real and nuanced characters that are hard to like, and hard to not like. As a horror-lover, I immensely enjoyed how creepy the story was.

This was quite a good read. The suspense and unknown were well thought out. It just felt like it was missing something. I would totally read more from this author, though.

This book was CRAZY (good). I am not a thriller/horror girl but the cover sucked me in and lemme tell you… it was scary. Now I have to try to sleep tonight. Wish me luck! 😂

Book:
WHAT THE WOODS TOOK by

Review
3.5⭐
WHAT THE WOODS TOOK follows Devin, Ollie, Adrian, Hannah, and Sheridan as they are shipped off to the wilderness for therapy. All seems well at first, but then things start happening that lead the group running toward the hills---and me wondering what's actually happening, is this some sort of supernatural stuff or something else? 
WHAT THE WOODS TOOK was a suspenseful read that took me on a journey, though it was one that was hard for me to really grasp and get into. Once I did, which was about the one-third mark, I found a creepy, on the verge of horror book wanting to be devoured.
Though it took me a bit to really enjoy this book, I did end up enjoying this book. Some may find it a tad predictable, but edge of suspense, terror, and mystery is just enough to really drag the book home. It's great for supernatural, mystery lovers who need a bit of realism(mental health aspect) and fantasy (the weird creatures.)

You can always count on Courtney Gould to write the perfect creepy survival novel. It's a quick read, with some twists (kind of predictable, but students will still enjoy the suspense).

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.