I really enjoyed this book!

The dual timeline took me a bit to get used to, I've never read a book with dual timelines that are so close together. I was already into the story, but around halfway through the book when more connected I was TOTALLY hooked! There was just enough horror for me, it's nothing too gory. My favorite kind of horror is this: the fantastical horror elements in the book are not nearly as disturbing as the horrors committed by real people.

I loved how The Ghost Woods gave voice to queer women and unwed mothers of the past and called out their terrible treatment. The book isn't tagged as LGBTQIA+, but the queer rep is great and certainly a part of the plot, so I'm surprised. The reveals all surprised me and I never knew what to expect next!

Lichen Hall, a house steeped in dark folklore, hides sinister secrets within its walls. When Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965 to give birth, she uncovers a web of mysteries, ghosts, and a creeping darkness that threatens everything she holds dear.

This is a fascinating and compelling Gothic horror novel. Creepy and atmospheric, it’s beautifully written with strong characters. The mystery is full of unexpected twists.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was my 2nd book by C.J. Cooke and like the first one that I read last year *The Book of Witching*, I was not disappointed.

This was a gothic thriller steeped in fantasy. The story was told in dual timelines following both Mabel and Pearl, and eventually the timelines merged together in the present. Both Mabel and Pearl are sent Lichen House, a home for unwed, pregnant mothers to have their babies. What they found was a creepy house surrounded by fungi.

I really enjoyed this book and the author does an amazing job of weaving a thriller with fantasy that keeps you turning the pages to see what craziness happens next. I love stories that are told in dual timelines and I really connected with Pearl's character and was addicted to the story.

The Ghost Woods was definitely very atmospheric and creepy. The author has a gift for storytelling. The imagery put you right there in the action and the descriptive writing left you feeling what the characters were feeling.

I have now read two books by this author and am very interested in looking into her backlog.

Great book!

This book will be available for purchase April 29th 2025!

You can also find my reviews through GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/brandisbooks.

Thank you to both Berkley and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cooke is my go-to author for eerie gothic horror and I was thrilled that Berkley was rereleasing The Ghost Woods. I was sold at ‘crumbling gothic manor,’ a trope I can’t get enough of in the horror genre. I enjoyed the overall bones of the story, spore horror aspect, and the dual timelines that added a layer to the mystery. If definitely didn’t top The Lighthouse Witches, but I don’t think anything ever will.

Overall, totally recommend to any historical horror fans!

The horror and mystery itself ended up veering in a niche category that ultimately, I cared nothing about. I know other people will love it though. I’d probably still pass on the recommendation as it wasn’t badly done at all and I’m still very into the feminist horror motifs. I just wasn’t interested in (redacted) and found it hard to keep picking up.

Throughout this story we have flip flopping timelines with these two women with their very different backgrounds, a ghostly presence, strange occurrences, scandal, and many jaw dropping secrets to be revealed.

I was initially not sure if this book was my vibe. I loved the ghostly gothic atmosphere but beyond that I was apprehensive. As the story progressed, that quickly changed and I was fully invested.

This book was weird, unique, dark, super intriguing, took some really interesting turns, and overall really entertained me throughout.

Thank you so much @berkleypub for the free book!
#berkley #berkleypartner

This book is going to go down so far in my top 5 creepiest books I have read. Fungi is creepy y'all!! 🍄
So atmospheric! It's told from dual points of view, with dual timelines until they intersect. I always love when authors do that.

What make this so scary for me was the folklore, mixed with real life, mixed with nature, mixed with people, and what they are willing to do for love and grief. Very character driven. I don't even know how to describe, if this is at all your genre, give it a shot!!

Also thank you to @netgalley and @cjcooke_author !!!!

Rating: 4.5

Trigger warning for rape.

This was really good, even though it was predictable. If you like creepy children and mushroom horror than this is definitely for you.

Thank you Netgalley, Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley and C J Cooke for the e Arc of The Ghost Woods.

This is a hauntingly beautiful book that captivated me completely. I have read a few of C J Cooke's books and they have all got lots of elements I really like. Historical fiction ( please read authors notes ) based on historical facts. Gothic and supernatural horror, Mystery and thriller elements. It has it all and its soo creepy in places.

The plot line is set on a duel timeline and from several POV's We have Mabel, who after finding out she's mysteriously got pregnant in 1959 and gets sent to Litchen Hall, a 16th Century Manor in the remote boarders of Scotland. Because, being a single Mum would have you outcasted and bring shame on your family. We also have Pearl, who also goes to Litchen Hall several years later, for the same thing. Both POV are told in their own timeline until they entwine later in the book. What I liked about this was each POV was clearly marked and the date which made it easier to keep both of our FMC separate/clear with their own voices/experiences. I loved both their characters and even the lesser ones in the book were very well built and felt real and flawed. The Ghost Woods is a twisty and sometimes dark, powerful story of womanhood, supernatural and our own empowerment.

I feel that C J Cooke is becoming a favourite writer of mine where Gothic /Historical/ Supernatural Horror is concerned.
This book was narrated by Paula Masterton who's voice really suited this book.

5 stars

This was a very atmospheric and dark read!! With mushrooms 🍄‍🟫

We follow two unwed mothers sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. The pace started out slow and gradually built up, and then I was hooked! The house is super creepy as are its proprietors! Definitely recommend to lovers of gothic horror and folklore vibes! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, and C.J. Cooke for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! Looking forward to reading more from the author! ❤️

4.5 stars
Another hit by CJ Cooke! This book was so interesting and thought provoking.
We follow 2 timelines and 2 characters. The "then" follows Mable and the "now" follows Pearl. These timelines are I think about 6 years apart in the 1960's and both girls are unwed pregnant girls who go to Lichen Hall to give birth and then have their babies adopted. The girls are not treated well while at Lichen Hall and their babies adoptions are more about money for the owner Mrs Whitlock than anything. But weird things happen around Lichen Hall in both the timelines and secrets are uncovered.
After listening to the author's note, the state of these "facilities" for unwed girls to go to just seem horrific. I believe she said the last one closed in the UK in 1990. Girls who got pregnant out of wedlock were so looked down upon and lost jobs, like both Mable and Pearl. If you are reading this without that knowledge, you may think this is something that didn't happen, or wasn't as bad as this book makes it out to be, but it does seem to be accurate. The atmosphere of this book was really well done. It was creepy and sad, but ended up having such a sense of comradery.
It took me a while to like a lot of these characters. At first, in the then, the other girls were very mean to Mable and in the now, it was obvious Pearl was on the outside. No one really wanted to let her in to the Hall's secrets. But they really ended up having such a sense of comradery, like I said. I think my favorite character was Sylvan, who was Mable's son. He was adorable, smart and compassionate.
There are a lot of strange things going to around Lichen Hall. The dual timeline was effective. CJ Cooke does this so well. I don't think I have read one of her books where the timelines overlap, but these do. It was so interesting to watch Mabel's timeline get closer and closer to Pearl's and see how everything connected.
Something CJ Cooke also does really well is walking that line between is something really supernatural, or is there an explanation for it? And sometimes it feels like there really isn't an answer, or it is up to the reader to decide. I think that is just such a good fit for the types of stories she writes.
The ending was wild. It really went in a direction that I wasn't expecting at all, but there were subtle hints to it throughout the book.

The Ghost Woods, written by C. J. Cooke, is a captivating tale that immediately drew me in and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page. The story is filled with suspense, mystery, and unexpected twists that left me eagerly turning the pages to uncover the secrets hidden within the haunting woods.

I didn't realize this was the book I had already read from a year or 2 ago, the cover was different.
I liked this book the first time I read it, and I still do.
A great spooky novel that takes place in a spooky mansion back in the woods.
There are a lot of novels being written about fungi lately, and this one follows in that vein. Umwed mother's are sent to a decrepit old mansion type , covered in lichen. Not long after the protagonist arrives, she can tell something isn't quite right.
To me, this is Cooke's best and spookiest book yet. Highly recommend. Do not read if you have a fungi phobia.

Haunting gothic novel focusing on unwed pregnant young womn in the late 60's. Like many stories about this historical time, the women have personal stories where men have let them down. UNLIKE many of these stories, there is a supernatural theme that is incredibly crrepy and believable. I loved the secrets of Lichen Hall and loved the young woman as well. this is a fantastic horror and historical based novel. #berkley #theghostwoods #CJCooke

Thanks to NetGalley, PRHAudio, and Berkley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

So first and foremost, I know most people don't need trigger warnings for mushrooms, but I personally very much do. I'm not sure I actually would have picked this up had I known, despite having enjoyed Cooke's books before. So if you were traumatized by Mexican Gothic, this might not be the book for you.

HOWEVER, by the time I realized what I had gotten myself into, I had to know how everything was going to play out, I think this book veers more into horror than The Lighthouse Witches. It's very gothic with a crumbling manor, a mysterious and cruel lady of the house, and oh by the way, the house is "home'" to unwed pregnant women, and that lady isn't about to call a doctor. There's also a creepy teenager, a creepy old man, and a creepy but sweet child. If you mixed elements of Mexican Gothic with elements of the movie The Skeleton Key and added unwed mothers, this is what you would get.

The book alternates timelines and POVs between Mabel and Pearl, 2 women who find themselves at Lichen Manor at different times. The tension is high throughout, with a growing sense of dread with each chapter. I wasn't entirely surprised by the reveals at the climax, but it was still a heart-pounding sequence. If you're a gothic horror fan, I think this would be an excellent read. Also, the narrator for the audio did a fantastic job, so I would recommend that format.

Please pay attention to triggers for this one. There's historical SA, miscarriage, stillbirth, pregnancy and birthing, and some animal death.

Thank you so much for the free book @Berkleypub🫶🏻🫶🏻. #Berkley #BerkleyPartner

The Ghost Woods was everything I hoped it would be and then some! It’s definitely one of my top reads of the year so far.

If Mexican Gothic and The Midnight Feast had a book baby, it would be this one! The setting really was EVERYTHING here. Lichen Hall was super secluded, surrounded by a creepy forest, and rotting from the inside out. If that’s not a recipe for disaster, but also a crazy good book, I don’t know what is!

The characters were also so well done. My heart was shattered for those poor girls who went to Lichen Hall to have their babies in secret and give them up for adoption. Reading about the heartbreak and sorrow they felt watching their babies being taken away by their adoptive parents had me in tears.

A dual timeline was the perfect choice for this book. The FMC’s resided at Lichen Hall during different time periods, and it was really interesting to see some of the same characters featured within both timelines.

Read if you like:

✨ Secluded settings
✨ Creepy forests
✨ Local legends
✨ Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
✨ The Midnight Feast - Lucy Foley

This is my second time reading a CJ Cooke novel, The Lighthouse Witches was the first and quite enjoyable.

The Ghost Woods is a dual time period story, 1959 and then in 1965. The setting for both is the same place, a manor for unwed pregnant women, mostly in their teens. Yes it gave off YA vibes.

I was in the mood for a spooky ghost story and unfortunately, it felt flat for me. But please take that with a grain of salt so many raved about this book. I felt the two timelines were to similar, especially when the first started to catch up to the second and the characters overlapped . Though the chapter heading note a change in time period, all of those chapters have chapters within them. If you stop reading in the middle of a section it took me a minute or so to figure out where and when I was. Which was jarring, losing some of the momentum.

This had a unique plot with a great setting, atmospheric with the gardens, woods and house along with a mystery and characters that I really struggled to connect with. All in all and OK read.

My thanks to Berkley for a digital arc (via Netgalley) in exchange for a honest review.

There is a little bit of everything in this book and it made for SUCH an entertaining read/listen.

I read most of this by just the physical book, but I did listen to quite a bit of the audiobook, as well. Both formats are splendid, with the narrator having a very clear voice for both of our narrators. Told in dual pov, we learn about all the strange inner workings of Lichen Hall, a home for unwed mothers, taking place in the 1950s and 60s.

Mabel arrives at Lichen Hall in the 1950s, young, pregnant, and terrified. With no idea how her young life came to this, she finds herself in a new place away from her family, where she will need to contribute to the household and stay until the baby can be delivered and adopted.

Pearl arrives at Lichen Hall in the 1960s, in much the same way… and we see not only the differences between their experiences there, and the horrifying similarities. There is something off at Lichen Hall. Shrouded in mystery and lore, we see as both girls take great care in finding out the truth. It is when their paths intersect that we really see things start to amp up.

There are so many layers to the story here. We see the turmoil of these young, soon to be mothers. They are dealing with the very real love and fear they have when it comes to both growing a human being inside themselves, giving birth, and the baby being taken from them. It was very raw and heartbreaking. When you add the bigger, scarier elements of the story, like what is really going on in Lichen Hall, this was just such a great read.

Read this if you like very mysterious, winding plots, historical fiction, nature horror or horror that hops around the intersection between fantasy, paranormal, and supernatural.

I loved the Scotland location and atmosphere of the story. It is told in alternating timelines and has a slow burn mystery element. It was a bit too slow for me and I found myself being bored.

This book was so much more than I was expecting it to be, and it was so good! The horror parts of it were spooky, the mystery of what was happening and dual timelines leading up to each other had me pulled in, and it surprised me by pulling on my heart more than I thought it would. C. J. Cooke is another new author to me, and I will be buying more of her books ASAP, starting with The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches.