As someone deeply tied to grassroots activism and healing from trauma through community care, What the Woods Took resonated on multiple levels. Courtney Gould’s YA thriller pitches five teens—led by foster teen Devin—into a wilderness therapy “program” that quickly spirals into something terrifying. What starts as institutional control becomes a visceral fight for survival, amplified by supernatural forces in the forest.

Gould nails the tension of coercive systems. The abduction and enforced therapy hit hard for anyone who’s questioned who decides what's “healing”—especially when the very frameworks meant to protect can do harm. That systemic critique underpins the horror and makes the monsters more than metaphor—they echo exploitation and erasure.

What I loved most is how the forest becomes a crucible for emotional revelations. Devin’s journey—her distrust, her fierce solidarity with lavender-haired Sheridan, the fragile alliances uniting the group—mirrors the organizing spaces I’ve seen where trust is both frail and fiercely guarded. The sapphic subplot adds emotional resonance without feeling performative: affection forged in trauma and whispered nights under the canopy.

Atmospherically, the woods are brilliantly menacing. I found myself pausing mid-chapter, haunted—not just by jump-scares, but by the promise of transformation the forest holds. It reflects so many activist journeys: the risk, the grief, the unearthing.

That said, pacing stumbles a bit around the middle. The supernatural horror and wilderness therapy critique sometimes feel like parallel tracks rather than interwoven currents. A tighter weave would have elevated the emotional stakes even more.

Still, What the Woods Took delivers a powerful combination of institutional reckoning and spectral terror, all anchored by queer joy and trauma-tested trust. It’s sharp, earnest, and will linger—like the aftertaste of a chant echoing through trees. If you're drawn to horror that understands systems of harm and centers resilient community, this one’s for you. Read under cover—and maybe keep a friend close.

What the Woods Took was a super interesting read. I loved the character study and the writing felt propulsive. I'd read more from the author.

I can’t even begin to describe the master that is Courtney Gould. She has become an instant auto buy author for me. This book was unputdownable. Truly so well crafted and beautifully written. I can’t wait to see what she does next!

I really enjoying the audio of this book. This book about a bunch of perceived troubled teens who are sent to wilderness camp, discover their time in the woods aren’t going to be as they thought. Some will make it, some won’t but what they each encounter along the way? No one predicted.

The narration was good, even as a single narrator, the storyline was good, a touch creepy, which was fun. I didn’t think I would enjoy a paranormal/shifter type book, but this one was actually enjoyable. I’m probably going to give this a 4.5 on StoryGraph, but it’s a 4.0 on here and Goodreads since there’s not partial stars. The only reason for not giving it a 5 is because I likely won’t read it again and the ending felt a little quick & short-sided. The build up & overall vibe though were great!

Thank you to NetGalley & MacMillan Audio for this advanced Listener’s Copy.

I'm a big Courtney Gould fan. Her first two books were life-changing. This one never quite hit that stride the other two did though. The mcs mostly just annoyed me.

Content warning: child endangerment, talk of drug use, sexual abuse, suicide, conversion camp setup

WHAT THE WOODS TOOK may start off with a bang (nothing like being woken up in the middle of the night because some dude is kidnapping you from your bed... literally). But I felt like the overall plot took some time to find its footing. Once Devin and Sheridan found the burnt down cabin though, I was hooked in wanting to know what was in the woods, why it was targeting them, and how it would all play out.

I think it would have been an interesting style choice if every camper got at least a couple of chapters from their POV rather than just relying on Devin and Ollie to know what was really going on. But Gould did a good job of ensuring readers felt a sense of unease the entire time while they questioned what was real and what was being altered by the mimics.

How the survivors get out of the woods was a bit anticlimactic for me given the build up, but overall this was an enjoyable thriller.

While Lindsey Dorcus does a good job with the audiobook narration, I really wish they had used a separate narrator for Ollie's POV. Having Dorcus do both made the POVs blend together.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Macmillan Young Listeners in exchange for an honest review.

I've read all of Courtney's books so far, and I've loved all of them. Every one of her books starts out a bit slow, but when it picks up, it really picks up. I love that you never know what's going on in each, and they all have very unique stories. What the Woods Took is one of the weirdest of her I've read, but not in a bad way.

What the Woods Took follows a group of troubled teens during their time in a wilderness therapy program. This set-up has been popping-up quite a bit in various iterations over the past few years, but for me, this is the best I've seen it executed. I was fully-engrossed in this story.

Devin is our MC. We meet her when she is awakened one night by two strange men in her room; essentially kidnapping her into a program known as Revive. She finds herself shoved into a van and driven deep into the woods of Idaho. She meets a group of equally confused teens and it's at that point, she discovers the true depth of the unsettling situation she finds herself in.

There are two counselors/guides for the program, and the other teens include Ollie, Aidan, Hannah and Sheridan. They're told they will be hiking for 50-days. Each teen is coming from vastly different circumstances, of which we learn over the course of the story. They're each battling their own inner demons, but what they'll face in the woods will be unlike anything they've ever battled before.

I went into this one not knowing a lot about it. I've read two previous novels from Gould, and enjoyed them, but this one is definitely my favorite of her work. I was captivated from the start. It kicks off immediately and drops us into the heart of the action. I really appreciated the character work that Gould displayed here.

It wasn't just Devin that you got to know well, all of the characters were fully fleshed out. IMO, for Younger Readers, or Teens, picking this up, everyone should be able to find an aspect to this story that will resonate with them. There was a real cathartic feel about these teens experiences in the program initially. As mentioned above, they were all struggling with some serious issues, and had been acting out in their home life as a way to deal to it.

The more time they spent together, under the uncomfortable conditions, the more they began to open up to one another. There was some serious growth. Then the crazy stuff starts to happen. There's something strange in the woods and the pace really picks up after all of that starts to be exposed. I thought Gould paced this perfectly. I enjoyed how the strangeness unfolded. It felt hypnotic and darkly-enticing. I needed to know what the heck was going to happen here. How were these teens actually going to survive this?

It was eerie and intense. I was rooting for these characters, even the ones that drove me batty at first. The growth they displayed and the horrifying situation they were in, made me root for them all by the end. I would recommend this to YA Horror, or YA Survival Thriller, Readers. I feel like the character work and atmosphere are reason enough to pick it up, but if you need more, add in a convincing sapphic romance. Additionally, I would recommend the audiobook for the engaging narration.

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm looking forward to whatever Gould releases next!

This book surprised me, in a good way. It's perfect for YA readers that are maybe too old for the Goosebumps series but too young for Stephen King (am I dating myself by mentioning those books?). The horror bits don't happen until almost the halfway mark but the first half is still fast-paced and attention grabbing. Even if you aren't a young adult, this book is worth reading. We're starting to hear a lot about the wilderness camps that parents would send their teens to as more survivors are coming forward to tell their stories. This book gives an insider view to what they might have endured.

What the Woods Took is a suspenseful young adult novel about survival, apathy vs. empathy, past traumas, trust, self discovery, transformation, and found family. A group of strangers, who have been labeled as “troubled teens” whose families have pretty much given up on them, have each been kidnapped and taken to a wilderness therapy program where they are left to fend for themselves in order to survive unknown woods and everything that lives inside it. The deeper they go into the woods the more secrets revealed and the more their past traumas haunt them.

It's hard to write this review without giving too much away. I really enjoyed the first part of the story, and was hooked from the very first page. But the deeper they got into the woods the crazier the story became. However, I felt it was a good representation of their lives. The transformation from trying to run from the monsters of their past, to battling and facing those traumas head on, to winning the battle which allowed them to leave the past behind in order to make a better life for themselves.

The narrator did a fantastic job giving each character their own voice and making it easy to distinguish between them. The pacing, inflection, and dialect were spot on giving a suspenseful atmospheric vibe. It was easy to follow and listen to, giving a full immersive experience with the ARC. I was thankful to have both since this story got a little wild and became more sci-fi, which I don’t normally read, so I was able to easily reference the ARC when things got a little chaotic.

Overall, it was an interesting read that I enjoyed even though it was a little out of my typical genre comfort zone. I can see this being a very impactful read for some young adults.

Thank you @stmartinspress, @macmillan.audio, and @netgalley for the #gifted ARC/ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Even though this took me longer than anticipated to finish, it was still a really good read. I enjoyed it. (It took a while thanks to mood reading and buddy reads).
This book is definitely creepy. Sending a bunch of ‘troubled’ teens into the woods for a summer long retreat to help them become ‘better’ with people barely older than them?! What could go wrong, right? It already sounds like a bad idea. Then you throw in potential supernatural aspects. There were parts when it was so tense and suspenseful that I had to make myself slow down and not skip paragraphs. I just really wanted to know what happened! And when it started to reveal the truths, some were very surprising! I didn’t really see any of it coming. When I got to 50%, I just did not want to put it down! So good. Definitely recommend this others.
I both listened to the audiobook and read the ebook. The audiobook kept me engaged and interested. The narrator did a great job. I never had a question on who was talking.

Wilderness therapy with creatures that mimic loved ones. This is a YA Queer Horror with enemies to lovers. This book will keep you questioning everyone! Deep buried secrets come to light and who do you trust while trying to survive?! Growth and self discovery in the worst circumstances. Excellent read!!!

Thank you Net Galley, Macmillian Audio, and Courtney Gould

Oh, so that’s what happens in the woods! A creepy, coming-of-age story following troubled teens on a retreat designed to “fix” them. What the group did not expect were monsters to stalk them and cause havoc! At times eery and others emotional, this book serves up characters that you want to love, hate, and root for.

The audiobook read by Lindsey Dorcus has the ability to bring youthful life to each character. I was able to listen at faster speeds, but not as fast as I would have liked.

Thank you NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and author Courtney Gould for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. “What the Woods Took” was published December 10, 2024!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me a copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

I was absolutely NOT ready for this book. In so many ways.

This is an emotional, suspense-filled book full of creatures from your nightmares that will make you stop and think. This book made me uncomfortable in ways both good and not so (I am a scared little baby).

I absolutely adored everything about this book, but I don't want to give away too much because going in blind is the best option here. This is a book that will make an impression in your life in one way or another.

Wilderness therapy, perilous journeys, and supernatural creatures, oh my!

What the Woods Took is a horror coming of age story where we follow two troubled teens, Devin who is an almost 18 foster care child and Ollie a teenager with a strained relationship with his father. The book starts with Devin being abducted from her foster home in the middle of the night and put in a van with Ollie to be taken to the woods and dropped off with three other teens Aidan, Hannah and Sheridan. Things go from bad to worse when the adults go missing and the teens have to figure out how to get out of the woods by themselves. Devin soon learns that the woods isn’t what It seems and getting out is only the beginning of their problems.

This book was a tense ride, I was concerned for the main cast of characters the entire was through. The character development show by the whole man cast was impressive and really compelling along. The romance between Devin and Sheridan was also a bright spot for me. I don’t want to get much more into it because of spoilers but the horror elements where truly unnerving and disturbing.

Lindsey Dorcus does a great job bringing the creepy setting of the forest and giving life to the cast of troubled teens.

Devin is kidnapped from her room by men taking her to a wilderness therapy program. The kidnap is obviously an extreme measure, but it’s also an intense program. There are other troubled teens there as well, and together with their counselors, they have 50 days to make it through the woods. All seems typical, even with some annoyances and personality clashes, until the counselors go missing, and the teens realize they’re not alone in the wilderness. This story, even without the paranormal elements, had so much potential. The overall plot was good, but the book’s tropes and anticlimactic ending detracted from what could have been great. The forced proximity romance between Devin and the most annoying character that everyone hated at the beginning, Sheridan, was predictable and infuriating; sometimes characters should just be irredeemable. Readers were granted more than one perspective though, Devin and fellow teen Ollie, because of course the group splits up, and readers need to know what is happening in both storylines. The multiple perspectives offered nice breaks between the aforementioned annoying trope. The audiobook narrator did a great job bringing the cast of characters to life. In fact, the narrator may have made Sheridan even more insufferable because of the whiny accent she was given. Ultimately, readers should try this one out if they’re interested in the overall plot, but they should be aware of unlikeable characters and a just okay ending.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced audiobook copy of this title from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

An eerie and emotionally impactful read, as we've come to expect from Courtney Gould. I think this was the most well-constructed of her novels yet, and the POV shifts were perfect for added tension. Lindsey Dorcus absolutely killed the narration.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Young Listeners for this ARC Audio Copy!

If you enjoyed the show Yellowjackets then you will enjoy this book. I love how the author was able to cover so many different and sensitive topics with such care and honestly. The Narrator did a great job with this story and really helped you feel immersed in the world, which could be quite uncomfortable at times.
The pace that the author used to introduce us to each of the characters and their backstory really did a great job of creating connections that really had you feeling things right alongside them.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this audiobook for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a slow-burning and eerie addition to the YA horror genre. The atmosphere and tension that Gould was able to build was incredible. I will admit, the beginning was a little too slow for my taste, with it taking around 25% to get to creepy stuff going down in the woods.

The first 25% of the novel was spent setting up the relationship between the five teens, especially the conflict between Devin and Sheridan. It felt a bit repetitive on occasion, but I imagine that repetition is similar to what these programs would actually feel like, so it felt quite purposeful.

The rest of the novel was an excellent build up of tension and suspense as the five teens have to work together to survive in the wild with some terrifying monsters. I think the last quarter of the novel is what really shone. The twists and reveals in that portion of the book were so well-thought out, and by that point I really cared about the characters. The resolution was satisfying as well!

The narration of this audiobook was fine, not my favorite, but also not the worst I have heard.

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould is a breathtakingly atmospheric and emotionally charged novel that will captivate readers from start to finish. A stunning blend of mystery, horror, and coming-of-age storytelling, Gould crafts a deeply immersive experience that explores grief, family secrets, and the power of the past. Set in the hauntingly eerie town of Sallow Ridge, where the woods seem to have a life of their own, the story follows the two sisters, Ivy and Nora, as they confront their tangled family history and the darkness that lurks in the forest.

Gould's writing is lush and vivid, perfectly capturing the eerie beauty of the setting while also delving into the emotional depth of the characters. The bond between Ivy and Nora is complex and full of heart, and their individual journeys of self-discovery are compelling and layered. Ivy’s internal struggles with guilt, loss, and the weight of family expectations create a character who is both relatable and unforgettable. The tension in the book builds steadily as Ivy unravels the town’s dark secrets, and the eerie presence of the woods adds a constant, palpable sense of dread.

The plot is full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat, with each revelation more chilling than the last. Gould expertly weaves elements of horror and suspense into a story that is also deeply emotional and rich in character development. The themes of grief, trauma, and the things we carry with us are explored beautifully, making this more than just a typical thriller—it’s a poignant exploration of family, love, and the things that haunt us, both literally and metaphorically.

What truly makes What the Woods Took stand out is its ability to balance the eerie with the emotional, creating a narrative that feels both unnervingly tense and profoundly moving. The atmospheric tension, combined with the rich character arcs, makes for a truly compelling read.

What the Woods Took is a five-star triumph. It’s dark, haunting, and beautifully written—perfect for readers who love atmospheric thrillers that blend mystery with emotional depth. Courtney Gould has delivered a novel that will linger in your mind long after the final page. Highly recommended! I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.