I completely forgot what this book was about before I went into it and it was honestly a great surprise! I really enjoyed the last book I read from Courtney Gould and I was expecting the same for this one. I really love how she writes queer stories that are about more than the character just being queer. This one just happened to be about a queer girl in a troubled youth program! After watching Paris Hilton's documentary when it came out, I've gone head first into a massive deep dive about troubled youth programs so the idea of this book taking place during one was super interesting to me. I do feel like you don't need to know much about them to understand why they're so bad because this book does a great job of showing how much trauma they cause (even though this is kinda one of the worst case scenarios for this and did go in a paranormal direction). This wasn't quite a 5 star for me and I think it's mainly because it's YA. Understandably, the author didn't go super far with the horror but the horror still worked really well in this! I feel like I will always enjoy this author's writing!

I will truly read anything this author writes. The premise of this story is amazing and the plot moves at a perfect pace, I really have zero notes on that.

THE CHARACTERS!!!!! They felt so real, and so grounded, I felt like I really knew them🩷

I really have no notes, this was so perfect. Such a well done horror novel with such complex and beautiful characters. COURTNEY GOULD I LOVE YOU

The woods held a violent silence as they walked along the overgrown path. Everything was closing in around them and the quiet grew, making the sounds of their breaths louder than explosives. Each step was aching torture, each thought of the end nearing was getting more dire. The woods were going to eat them alive and they’d never see the other side.

What The Woods Took is a YA Horror following a group of teenagers who have been sent to a wilderness camp to hopefully right them after each of them has done something wrong.

First let me say that the found family in this book was so well done. I fell for each of these characters and never wanted to leave their side. The growth of each character, the way they fought to survive… it was so heartwarming to read. This story was eerie, adrenaline inducing, fierce, hopeful, and I didn’t want to stop reading.

If you love survival stories, horror, found family, and excellent character development… definitely pick up this book.

Courtney Gould's novel WHAT THE WOODS TOOK is an excellent novel. I enjoyed it from page one, but did set it aside a few times because I had too many books I was considering for classes. However, I found myself going back to What the Woods Took every chance I could and I thought about the characters and wanted to know what was going to happen next. That this book stuck with me so much, especially when there were so many character, a big sign that my students will enjoy and learn from this novel. The one issue I did continue having with the novel was keeping track of all of the teen characters. This may have been because I was very confused in the early pages when it shifted from one character to another and I didn't realize it. Regardless of that small hiccup, I have recommended it to friends and family and will be using it in my winter-spring creative writing classes.

This book is very disturbing, It is like the wilderness programs that they used to send "troubled teens" to in hopes of them getting help. However, this wilderness program turns into the teens fighting for their lives against monsters who look like people they knew but are nothing but evil.
If you like books that are a bit out of the ordinary and have you guessing what will happen next, check this one out.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up. This was a really solid YA thriller. It was very entertaining and suspenseful and featured a complex cast of characters. The story moved a long quickly and definitely held my attention. The romance was a slow burn that didn't consume the plot. The ending sort of felt like it was missing something for me, but the story as a whole was solid and the ending really wasn't bad at all. I appreciated that it tied things up and didn't end on a cliffhanger.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

An exciting and captivating story, perfect for the YA audience. Courtney Gould's writing is incredibly atmospheric but this might be my favourite of hers to date. Interesting and complex characters fit into the world perfectly and keep you captivated from start to finish.

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould has five children brought out into the middle of nowhere and in at least a couple incidences, essentially kidnapped in the middle of the night to do so. While spending weeks in the woods, they will learn survival skills and talk through their issues to make them productive members of society. When the teens are left to fend for themselves, and they learn there are monsters lurking behind the trees, it becomes a desperate rush for survival.

I loved the different reasons each teen was sent there, and how at the root of it they were all just scared, sad, angry kids lashing out at circumstances beyond their control. The way the monsters tried to get to the teens was both awful and captivating, and made for truly riveting horror. It was the type of reading where you just breathlessly flip through pages to see what happens next while you’re perched on the edge of your seat.

I enjoyed all the characters as well, from Ollie just wanting to have his father connect with him in a genuine, emotional way, to Aidan desperately seeking a friendship that lasts and is unbreakable, to poor Hannah who only wanted her father’s approval and was shipped off after a single mistake. And then, of course, Sheridan and Devin being so similar to each other even with different traumas, and the friction between them that morphed during their journey as they came to understand one another. It all felt very real, and each character had time to shine.

I’ve read a book from Courtney Gould before, and I feel like she’s a special author to watch.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was wonderful! I loved the writing style, the characters, the world-building…everything about it was top-notch. I will definitely be recommending this book!

great book and I loved the action and the romance . I loved seeing the friends and family. I loved that they were able to figure things out. Overall a great book .

What a great, intensely atmospheric read from Courtney Gould! I have enjoyed all of her books thus far and would recommend them to anyone who wants a slightly spooky mystery story with perhaps some magical elements to it and sapphic representation. Her writing flows so well and she really gets you invested in all of the characters by the end. This book actually got a little too creepy for me to read at night, and I love how well she nailed the environment. It would also make for a great movie. I'll be looking forward to everything else she comes out with.

I love Courtney Gould's work and What the Woods Took is a story I feel like will stay with me. Already these teens are swept up into a horrific situation - one their parents or guardians approved of - and have to fight for their survival with a backdrop of their past traumas taunting them in the woods.
I wanted to read this book as a queer horror reader. Those were definitely components of the book, don't get me wrong, but it also just was an excellent spotlight for processing trauma. My heart ached for these kids so much throughout reading. I just adored this book so much for the relationships they grew to have with each other.

Loved the premise of this book, and for a YA it was pretty well written and held my attention. I was not a big fan of the characters, but it worked in this situation. Would recommend.

Absolutely adore this author and will read anything they have written or will write. New favorite! Will purchase for libraries.

This book is a must read! The FMC is taken from her foster home in the middle of the night, put into a van, and taken to a wilderness therapy program. At this program, we meet a cast of characters with a diverse range of personalities and backgrounds. I was immediately drawn into this book and I could not put it down. There is adventure, there is horror, there is found family.... and there is a monster lurking in the woods.

2.75/5

So I am not a horror girly. I have realized that but I need to get through some horror arcs. With that being said, this is not the worst horror book I have read. It reminded me of an adult goosebumps. The difference is that goosebumps are fast paced, and this book dragged on and on. It was so slow, and then exactly what you thought was going to happen, happened. I hated the characters. Either that were too aggressive, annoy, or whiney. BUT I think the author did that on purpose. So congrats to them for accomplishing that. I think if you like horror books, you might really enjoy this one. But as for myself, I'm glad it is over.

I love a horror/mystery/thriller... but make it queer! Throw in navigating trauma and self-discovery, and survival in those creepy woods. It's excellent!
This one landed just right for me, and I'm recommending it to everyone.

Thank you to @netgalley, Courtney Gould, and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Devin has been in the foster system for years now, but she just wants people to let her take care of herself. So she is doubly pissed when her newest set of fosters, let some man into the house at the middle of the night to take her to wilderness therapy. In the woods, Devin is introduced to four other teenagers and two counselors who explain that they are going to hike fifty miles through the woods and talk about their feelings along the way.

Devin is annoyed at the whole situation, but largely willing to push her way through it. What is getting on her nerves is fellow "camper" Sheridan, who resists everything as much as possible, only making it harder on the others. But everything comes to a head when their counselors go missing overnight, and they begin seeing strange things in the woods. They are going to have to work together and learn to face their demons together if they want to get out of the woods alive.

What the Woods Took works pretty well as a fast-paced YA thriller/horror novel. The monsters they face in the woods are genuinely pretty creepy, and there are many twists and turns to keep you guessing along the way. Over the course of the book, the alliances and friendships between the five teenagers are constantly shifting and morphing as they learn new information and the monsters make them question everything around them.

My main complaint is that I felt there was a disconnect between the first quarter of the book, before anything paranormal happens, and the remaining portion. The first part of the book is scary in its own right: sanctioned kidnapping of teenagers is something that should be illegal. It becomes obvious that the counselors are not that experienced themselves, neither in terms of therapy nor in terms of navigating the wilderness. It feels like tat in and of itself makes it a dangerous situation to be in, even before the monsters appear.

I would have appreciated if the horror aspects of the monsters was more connected to this real-life horror that is wilderness therapy programs. I wish they had been thematically intertwined with one another, rather than sitting so separately. I feel it would have been an even stronger critique of wilderness therapy programs, and made the monsters even scarier.

And although the way the book keeps you questioning which characters you can trust works well for the horror aspect of the book, it means that we can't feel secure in the character development or the relationships they develop with one another. Since characters and their relationships are an important aspect of a book for me, I found that to be a bit disappointing. Even though we ended with a found family storyline, I felt like I didn't get enough development of that found family in order to find it completely satisfying.

What the Woods Took is a fun and easy read, especially if you are looking for a queer horror book. And while I wasn't as fond of it as Gould's previous work that I've read, I definitely think it was worth the read.

This book was well written. Had aspects of horror, which i love, and a smidge of romance.
It makes you think of your past traumas and how you deal with them as well.
I'll definitely look for other books by this author.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

What the Woods Took was gripping from the very beginning. This may be Devan’s story, but Gould fleshes out all of the supporting characters in a way that really makes you feel for them. I hate that these “troubled teens” camps still exist, but it made the horrors feel truly real. Setting this in the woods was a great choice and really added a scary element to the story. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for a review copy.