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

This book will be released on Dec 10th, 2024

In her latest foster home, Devin has only spent a short time before being woken up in the night and taken away. Eventually, she finds out her foster parents have sent her to a program called Revive Wilderness, where troubled teens stay with two counselors for 50 days in the wilderness. Sheridan, another strong-willed female in the group, clashes with Devin right away, but she has more success with Ollie, Aiden, and Hannah. In addition to the forced kidnapping, Devin soon realizes that everything seems out of place. Counselors disappear, the woods seem especially eerie, and more follows.

This book in theory sounds really interesting and unique. Not to mention the cover, which is stunning, and is sure to catch most people's attention. Yet the book is not very good and I do not recommend it. I rated it three stars because while I can honestly say I did not enjoy it, it is not the worst thing I have ever read, and once it is published I think it will be better.

My main issues with the book is that the story did not have very good pacing and the actual book, while only being around 350 pages, dragged on. The story itself was also very repetitive, they literally said in the book that they had to split up for the third time in not even 100 pages. This is not scooby-doo, if you are lost in the middle of nowhere you always stay together, it is your best chance for survival in most cases.

The author said after reading this book we would need therapy. Honestly I would agree because you have to be mentally ill to read this lackluster of a book willingly, and pretend that this is good. I did not connect to any of the characters and the plot was predictable. The ending was unsatisfactory and the writing was average at best. All in all, this book was a complete waste of time.

I thought about DNFing this book around 50% because I felt like there was no story left. This book claims it is horror but I do not think it could scare a five year old. I know that whether it is a movie or book, being stuck in the wilderness is a hard concept to pull off, because there is not much to do or tell the readers about. However, we can not write over 300 pages of the exact same thing and call it a satisfactory story.

This story follows a group of troubled teens who have been sent to a wilderness therapy program in hopes of straightening them out, but things don't go according to plan.

I will admit to disliking almost all the characters in the beginning. The teens range from annoyingly stubborn to needlessly whiny and their wilderness guides are just maddeningly out of touch. By the end, though, I realized that this was purposeful.

In the face of a horror no one at home could ever imagine, the characters grow immensely without fundamentally changing who they are. The adversity lets them face their home troubles head-on and gives them the strength they need to improve their circumstances completely on their own.

Overall, I liked this book and will be keeping my eye out for more from this author!

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. 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.

Wow. It’s really the one true word to express this book. I went into this book with somewhat high expectations due to the reviews and it certainly did not disappoint. This novel was much more “horror” and “deeply-twisted” than I expected, but honestly I wasn’t mad about it. With every chapter I kept gasping and thinking “What else could possibly go wrong?”. The five main characters of this novel are all so unique and different in their personalities that I think it’s so easy for the reader to identify with little aspects of each. Also I kept going “whatttt the fuckkkk” and contemplating what I would do personally every time one of the monsters would come around. You know it’s a good book when it makes you immerse yourself within the story! I am so excited for this book to finally come out! This is a MUST read!!!

This was such a good book. I think the tension, characters, and plot all came together to create a great story that kept me engaghed and on the edge of my seat as I wanted to read until the end. It was a wonderful book. I saw people comparing this book to YellowJackets and I think that is a perfect title to compare it too. Horror is not a genre I am always gravitate towards but this novel was amazing and I loved it a lot, so that shows just how good it was in my eyes. I think it balances all aspects of story telling in a good way and created a well rounded story and character of characters.

This was a gripping page turning thriller like no other! Troubled teens are unwittingly signed up to participate in a wilderness program as a last resort to fix them. Some were abducted in the night because their parents knew they would not go willingly. No one wants to be there and yet here they are fixing to hike for 50 days in the woods. When they wake up and both guides are gone they realize they are going to have to trust each other and work together to survive. But the thing they figure out next is that they are not alone. Monsters lurke and watch and they need to figure that out too or no one will make it out alive! I highly recommend this book! Phenomenal!!

When I read the blurb for What the Woods took, I immediately wanted to read it. I have seen reviews of Courtney Gould’s other books in the past and was intrigued by them. I was shocked when I got the email with the widget from St. Martin’s Press. I wasn’t expecting to be chosen to review, which made my day.

The author does have an author’s note at the beginning of the book that details the content/trigger warnings. She also explains what wilderness therapy programs are and the damage they do to the people forced into them. The beginning scene with Devin is where she is taken from her bed in the middle of the night by two masked men while her foster parents watch, which is a common theme with these programs and one I never understood. I wish I could say that I have never heard of these programs, but one in my state made the local and national news earlier in the year when a teenage boy (I think he was thirteen) was killed.

The main storyline in What the Woods Took centers around Devin, Sheridan, Ollie, Aiden, and Hannah, who are forced on a fifty-day trek across the mountains with two inexperienced (and maybe unlicensed) counselors. I alternated between being terrified for the kids and angry for them being put in that situation to begin with. Add in the horror elements (which started around the middle of the book), and I almost didn’t finish the book. I was that freaked out by the book.

I liked how the characters grew throughout the book. These were kids that society (and their parents) had deemed too damaged. They all had their problems:

Devin had severe anger and social issues.
Sheridan used drugs to self-medicate after her sister died.
Ollie sold drugs.
Aiden (who was the youngest) carried drugs and was affiliated with a gang.
Hannah was ultra-religious and desperate to gain her father’s favor.
The group dynamics did start rocky. It was mostly Sheridan versus the rest of the group (mainly Devin). But once the counselors disappeared, the dynamic changed. They had to split up to find help, and when they couldn’t do that and Aiden became injured, they had to backtrack. All while avoiding the person or thing that was stalking them.

The horror angle of the book was well written. But I will warn you that there is a lot of gore and violence against children featured. The violence is upfront. The gore didn’t come into play until almost the middle of the book. Because of the author’s writing, I had issues sleeping after reading the book.

The book’s paranormal angle was interesting. It took me a while to understand exactly what was stalking the group. I won’t get into it much more, but I will say that the author drew on a Native American myth to create it.

I didn’t think the romance angle was needed. I understand why the author included it, but I could have done without it. There was so much going on that I felt the romance was overshadowed.

The end of What the Woods Took was good. I liked how the author wrapped up the storylines. I also liked the HEA that Sheridan and Devin got, but I felt awful for Ollie. A scene at the very end made me go, “Why?” But, looking back, I understand why the author did what she did.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, NetGalley, and Courtney Gould for allowing me to read and review this ARC of What the Woods Took. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

First off, THAT COVER! I thought this would be more 'horror' going in, but it's definitely creepy. I thought the author did an amazing job building the tension throughout, and honestly, the setting of wilderness camp was a really cool choice. I haven't seen that done in a book before , and I think it really added to the dark vibes.

I’ve heard great things about Gould’s work in the past, but never got around to picking any of her books up until now, and it did not disappoint!

What the Woods Took follows five troubled teens that are sent on a wilderness therapy program under the supervision of two camp counselors. While the situation isn’t ideal, main protagonists Devin and Ollie are sure they can push through the next fifty days of the program to get back home. That is, until their camp counselors go missing without a trace, and they realize there’s something strange and unexplainable about the woods they’re in.

I really loved this book! The first chapter does well to hook you into the story and get you to emphasize and care for our main characters. I thought the novel was well-paced. We have enough time to get to know these characters and their relationships with one another, and there’s a lot of thrilling action, too. I thought there was a nice mix between the two. Whenever I started to get bored, the pace would pick up a lot and get me on the edge of my seat again, which was great!

I think what makes this book, though, is definitely the characters. I adored all of these characters, which is hard to do when you’re juggling so many! These characters felt very fleshed out and real, so you can tell Gould put a lot of work and precision into creating them for the page. I also really appreciated that these characters have their own respective troubles and traumas, which influence the way they interact with the world and each other. A lot of these characters have tragic and heavy backstories, but Gould handled each of them with great care and empathy. I also think there was a lot of fantastic character development throughout the progression of the story that felt realistic, considering the situation these teens find themselves in.

There’s also some incredible queer representation in this and a breathtaking rivals-to-lovers sapphic romance that caught me completely by surprise in the best way! This novel was perfectly eerie and creepy with its depiction of the woods (which is already unsettling enough!) and the monsters within it, but it’s also a poignant and powerful story of transformation and the courage that is necessary to confront your past. I’ll definitely be thinking about these wonderful characters and their relationships with one another for months to come.

4.5/5 stars
To start, I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was such a dark and unsettling read. I was hooked start to finish.

This book follows a group of teens who are forced into wilderness therapy but shortly after their "journey" starts the counselors go missing and the teens are forced to fend for themselves in the middle of forest. Not to mention the weird things each of the teens start seeing in the woods.

This was such a terrifying premise to begin with. Wilderness therapy is awful in most cases so it is awesome to see it being brought into more of a mainstream platform. Raising awareness for these horrible institutions that teens get sent to is SO important. So wilderness therapy and having to figure out how to survive in the woods with a bunch of other teenagers already sounds nightmarish. Then to bring in the horror elements. This created such an eerie premise and it did not disappoint. For most of this book I felt so on edge and just had an uneasy feeling that NOTHING was right.

Additionally, the character arcs were great, Each one of the characters changed throughout the novel in different ways. This book did a wonderful job balancing plot and character development. I loved the unique characters in this book as well as the fact that they were facing problems that weren't so mainstream.

I cannot wait for this book to release. What a gripping story start to finish.

Traditional format 📕 (digital). December 2024 release.

A group of troubled teens are kidnapped in the dark of night from their homes and taken to a wilderness therapy program. The mission to survive a 50 day hike though the deep woods and hopefully come out recovered. After crossing a dangerous river it all starts to go wrong……the counsellors disappear and strange shape shifters chase the teens making it a whole new game of survival.

In typing out the summary it sounds like.a great book but it just did not deliver for me. It was super draggy and the pacing was off. Some action would happen and then back to more drag. I think the book could have been better if it was 100 pages shorter and pick up the pace of the plot.

I wanted to love this book more it just didn’t deliver for me. It was below average and for that I give it a 2.5/5.

Thank you St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review

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!