Book: What the Woods Took
Author: Courtney Gould
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with an ARC. This is the second book by this author I have read. I do enjoy her style of horror a lot. I did enjoy this one a lot, but I thought it was a middle-of-the-road book for me. I don’t have strong feelings either way about it.

In this one, we follow a group of teens who have been sent to the woods for fifty days of hiking therapy. Right away, they sense that something is very wrong. The counsellors don’t appear to be certified to do what they are doing. Plus, all of the teens were kidnapped or forced into this. All of them come from troubled backgrounds and have done some not-so-great things. They are now forced into this group and must figure out how to escape. Then, strange things start to happen. Inhuman faces start to appear. People are there who shouldn’t be. The only connection is that they are ghosts of each of the teens’ pasts. It gets worse. The counsellors are missing. Now, it becomes a game of trying to get out of the forest in one piece. After all, whatever took the counsellors are still out there.

I loved this setup. It was this set-up that made me want to pick this one. I love survival stories. I love seeing people who normally would not come together and normally would not find themselves in this situation being forced to figure it out. Plus, there is this element of mistrust among the characters. Remember that all of them have been brought here for a reason. They all have demons in their closets and they all know this. The thing is trying to figure out who or what is the worst. This makes things very uneasy and difficult for the characters.

The character development in this book is top-notch. As I have already said, these characters all come from very troubled pasts. Some are worse than others, and some are not. They have ghosts. Some want to put these ghosts behind them and others do not. This is why the horror elements don’t start right away. For a good chunk of the book, I could not figure out why it is classified as horror. We spend a good part of the book getting to know our characters and getting to see them work through whatever is haunting them. We see them develop their voice and form these bonds that end up being very important later on in the story.

Despite all of this, I found myself not being as invested in the story as I should have. I enjoyed it, but this was not a book that I could get easily lost in. It wasn’t one that I wanted to read for a huge amount of time, but it also wasn’t one that I wanted to stop reading. I don’t know if that makes any sense. There is nothing wrong with the book. It’s just a solid three, almost four-star read, for me.
Overall, not a bad book. I am glad I read it.

This book comes out on December 10, 2024.

This was not what I was expecting but I honestly loved the plot! I love how intricate this book was! I never really knew where it was going next!

This was INCREDIBLE! The exploration of troubled teen camps paired with supernatural dangers was just so effective. This was also much more on the psychological than the gory side, which I personally appreciated. The mimics were so creepy though and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next!

I absolutely recommend if you like:

⛺️Unlikely friends
⛺️LGBTQIA+ rep
⛺️Uncanny Valley vibes
⛺️Books that are spine-chilling but won’t give you nightmares

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

absolutely incredible. i’m not really a horror person, but this was truly a fantastic book. when i saw what the woods took in netgalley i was pretty unsure about getting it, but i am so so SO happy i took the chance! i was so invested in the characters and the story and, so creeped out by everything going on which was actually really fun?? it’s not that i didn’t think i’d enjoy this - i hoped i would - i’m just floored by how much i ended up loving it.

what the woods took has everything you could want from a y/a survival horror;
* sapphic enemies-to-lovers
* found family
* atmospheric, spooky woods
* somewhat feral main character
* humour
* unease and paranoia about who to trust
* twists
* paranormal creatures out to get you

i loved the romance, i loved the atmosphere, i loved the found family (my favourite trope ever) and using an exclamation point at the end of this sentence doesn’t feel like enough! at all times i was dying to keep reading and i’m really sad now that it’s over. i also feel excited to read more from a whole new genre! definitely need to pick up courtney gould’s previous books after this too.


——


TWs: substance abuse, mentions of suicide, death/harm of a child, mentions of sexual assault/child sexual abuse, gore/violence.

I am going to handle this review differently than my usual! I am not going to tell you nothing about the plot or the characters because this is truly a book you should just dive into. If you want a bit of info, check out the blurb! But here are a few of my reactions and feelings as I was reading last night!

◾Noooope
◾Oh hell no
◾F*ck that
◾Absolutely not
◾Stupid idea
◾Don't make eye contact!
◾Stop talking about them 🤦🏻‍♀️
◾EXCUSE ME! 👀

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

That's all you get! If you are planning on reading spooky books for Summerween, this would be a great addition to your TBR!

Thank you so much Courtney for this ARC! You are the best! Also thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

All of these thoughts and rating are my honest reaction.

Overall, I liked this book. It was a pretty good YA thriller and definitely gave creepy vibes. The author dud a wonderful job building up the tension and characters. I do feel like it was more of a slow burn where it to awhile to get to any action but all in all I liked the story.

What The Woods Took is a 3rd person, dual POV, YA horror book. Devin, the fmc, is a 17 year old in the foster care system, who’s jumped from house to house, causing a lot of trouble at school. At her most recent foster placement, she is taken in the middle of the night by a wilderness therapy program for troubled teens. There she meets the mmc Ollie, who has a strained relationship with his father and a dying grandmother.

Devin, Ollie, and the rest of the teens must survive 50 days in the wilderness with the help of 2 guides, trekking miles everyday in unknown territory. However, when both guides disappear, the teens are left to their own devices and must find a way to escape the eerily quiet woods.

My favorite things about this book were the sense of found family and character growth. I would say the teens and their psychology were primarily the focus of the story with a horror subplot, which I personally really enjoyed! There’s also 2 romances within the novel, one is a hate to lovers lesbian relationship, and one is a friends to lovers straight relationship.

If you’re a fan of the wilds (me), are intrigued the by the inner workings of wilderness therapy programs (me), and interested in trauma and teen psychology (me), then this is a book that would be up your alley!

(Why did I feel sad for a demon? 😪)

Devin is a teenager who has been with her newest foster home just a short time when all of a sudden she is woken up in the middle of the night with two men standing over her. Devin has been signed up and handed over to a program for troubled youth, The Revive Wilderness program. Devin now has to spend the next 50 days in the wilderness with two counsellors. Every teen is there against their will, but surely that doesn’t matter, right?

I have noticed in the past year that there is a trend with YA books taking place in wilderness camps or conversion camps- and I’m glad. These are things that I think need to be explored and talked about. And this book did a wonderful job making a queer teen story about a wilderness camp that is digestible by a YA audience.

While the horror was a bit lacking- it definitely is a YA horror, and fits very well into that category. The horror very much is for the YA audience. It was a bit of a slow burn- but I like that stuff in my books. It was creepy and it felt off and just amped and hyped until the climax, and then the action just took off.

I liked Gould’s focus on the queer perspective of her characters and the relationships and friendships and rivalries that make this group so fleshed out.

Courtney Gould's book, What the Woods Took, is a deeply harrowing, and mentally trying, story that takes readers from one end of the spectrum to the other and back again before spitting them out and saying "you've come this far, see if you have the audacity to try and stand up now".

What the Woods Took focuses on five teens with different life challenges, and takes them to a wilderness therapy group. As the group starts to make it's way on it's 51 day trek, the two people who are supposed to be coaches, you learn very early on are not qualified to be dealing with the issues surrounding the teens, and more than once in the first few days has multiple HIPPA violations as well as a fight between two teens. When the group embarks toward the second "milestone" both of the coaches disappear during the night leaving the teens to survive the wilderness on their own, and figure out how to put their differences aside so that they can work together as a team. Only the teens aren't alone in the forest. Someone or something is trying to kill them off one by one.

Each teen is full of doubt and insecurity. Whatever is trying to kill them is forcing them make a deep self-reflection, regardless of whether or not they want to, to understand where they can best help the rest of the group if they want to survive.

Anger, self-doubt, frustration, and being unsure who to trust fill the readers as they follow along with each of the characters. The readers also experience feel of the rage and hunger just as much, and the teens determination to survive and create new lives for themselves as soon as they escape the forest.

What makes the book even more frightening, is that while the book and killers are fictional, wilderness therapy groups are real, and the horror some of these groups inflicted on some of their "children" is all to real, and still being dealt with today, and Ms. Gould does an amazing job bringing this subject to light.

This was a great book that kept my interest from the first page. I wish I’d known it focused on a gay relationship before I started - I just think it’s something readers might want to be aware of. It was really good though! I’d say it’s almost more sci-fi than horror but I might have those categories confused in my brain. It wasn’t gory or scary - more like I was trying to figure out what was going on - what was real, what was not. Who could I trust. I love books that make me think one thing and then… the twist. Very well-written novel!

🌲ARC Review🌲

What The Woods Took by @gayowyn
YA Supernatural Horror

Releases 12-10-2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Thoughts:
This was such an amazing mix of horror and emotions. There are TW/CW that should be taken very seriously.

I was immediately hooked on the first few pages. There weren't any dull moments, from learning why the teens were sent to wilderness therapy, their own personal trauma/issues, character dynamics, and especially once the book shifted after they crossed the river.

I tried to figure out what was stalking them through the woods and who was an imposter from the beginning, and it still blew me away towards the end when everything starts to unravel.

What The Woods Took is such an emotional yet horrifying read and I absolutely love it!

Thank you so much @netgalley & the author for the ARC!🖤

Themes:
•Lesbian Hate to Love
•Eldritch Woods Horror
•Creatures
•Supernatural Horror
•Found Family
•Teens Healing From Trauma


🌲Favorite Quotes🌲
If this is wilderness therapy, Ollie really is out of chances.

These woods are different. They may have crossed their first milestone, but for the first time since they arrived, Devin is sure they’re in real danger.

Devin touches the crown and bites back a smile. “What happened to not being nice?”
“I’m very inconsistent,” Sheridan teases. “Never let them know your next move.”

Swipe for vibes & TW →

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#netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyarc #courtneygould #whatthewoodstook #hatetolove #queerreads #foundfamily #foundfamilytrope #horror #horrorbooks #yahorror #ya #supernatural #supernaturalreads #eldritchhorror #arcread #bookreview #bookreveiwer #bookaesthetic #bookishaesthetic #bookvibes #bookishvibes #bookishthoughts #obsessed #bookobsession

I received a free copy of, What the Woods Took, by Courtney Gould, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Devin Green has been sent to an experimental therapy experience. Awoken in the middle of the night and taken against her will, she meets other teens in the Idaho woods, where they are told they have to survive for over a month. I would not like to be Devin, woken up in the middle of the night and being taken to the woods to survive by yourself with strangers, not my idea of fun at all, but it makes for an incredible read.

Courtney Gould writes such spooky, and eerie books!

What The Woods Took is set at a wilderness camp and told between two POVs. Some mysterious things start happening and no one knows who to trust anymore..

It did take me a bit to finish this book. It felt like things dragged on a bit and things just kind of felt a little repetitive to me. I also wished for the supernatural elements to start a little sooner in the book. The eerie feeling definitely continues to grow and grow though, which made the atmosphere of this book just so good.

I'd recommend this one if you're looking for an atmospheric book set in the middle of the woods.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. There are some triggers to be aware of - check the author's content warning.

Eerie and atmospheric, a slowburn thriller that sheds light on the real-world horrors of the 'troubled teen' industry that disenfranchises thousands of vulnerable youths each year as much as it creeps towards any supernatural twists.

ARC REVIEW - What the Woods Took

Thank you to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martins Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Wow wow wow. This book was incredible. This book follows the story of five teens sent to wilderness behavioral therapy, where the forest abruptly turns against them. A worthwhile addition to the shelves of anyone who loves YA horror- especially as it relates to the forest.

This book tackles topics ranging from the failures of the foster care system, drug abuse, familial relationships, and other serious topics. Gould handled these topics with grace and beautiful prose while simultaneously creating a vivid horror story.

The prose and characters of this book were so well done. The characters have complex motivations and attitudes to the world, but they mold together well despite this. It really was a treat to read this book.

Also little side note- if you love Vi from Arcane I think you’ll love Devin. To me, she feels like what Vi would have been like as a teenager in this world.

I was initially intrigued by this story due to its unique wilderness kidnap camp setting. However, the slow pacing made it less engaging than I had hoped. Additionally, the third-person POV with two main characters felt disjointed and hindered my connection with the narrative. Overall, it just wasn't for me.

4 stars

Creepy and enthralling. Had me hooked. Even as a ya book I think most ages will enjoy this spooky read.

Plucked from the bed of her latest foster home, in the darkness of night, 17-year old Devin’s instinct to fight kicks in to high gear. Quickly, she discovers that the intruders were invited in by her foster parents, and they are taking her away from what she thought was her last placement before she turned 18. Instead, she is shoved in the back of a van where another teen is already seated. Driving through the night, they are unceremoniously dropped at a clearing deep in a forested area, where a few other young people sit waiting in the dirt. When the van door closes and it quickly drives away, Devin realizes she’s stuck in a teen wilderness therapy program. For fifty days.

Even though cracks in the facade of each participant are expected to emerge, Devin senses there is something more foreboding working against them. And that maybe not all of them will make it out of the woods alive.

This story had me hooked from the very beginning, and I did not anticipate the twists and turns it would take. My only criticism was the ending — it was oddly paced, and a side plot seemed to drag on after the main climax and resolution of the story seems settled. Is it meant to leave the door open for a sequel?

2.5 rounded up.
It’s an interesting idea for a story, and had a lot of potential.
I’ve been slowly realizing that maybe YA thriller isn’t for me anymore. Being in Devin’s teenager head was very frustrating, personally!
Writing is very accessible and flows well. It just wasn’t scary/creepy enough for me… but again, that could be because this is YA!

Thank you for the ARC!

welcome to my 4783826th reason why I’m never going into the woods. Nope. Never ever.

Thank you to Courtney for literally having these creatures haunt my nightmares