Owen Foster's life makes a U-turn when his mother comes to his elite boarding school and tells him that his father has embezzled from his company, bankrupting it, and leaving his local investors and employees broke too. His father has disappeared leaving Owen and his mother to take the blame and be the target of many of the people in town who lost their livelihoods when Owen's father disappeared.

Owen has to leave his friends behind and go back home for the rest of his senior year. Naturally, he doesn't fit in at his school and is the target of angry kids whose parents are hurting. His only possible friend is Pippa who was the girl next door and his best friend until his father moved them across town to a mansion and sent Owen away to school.

His only refuge is a pecan farm outside of town. The owner offers him an after-school job. The owner also tells him things he didn't know about his mother and her romance with a guy he had hired to work in the orchard.

The story changes viewpoint and flashes back to 1999 when Noah tells about how he wound up in this small town working for Gus and met and fell in love with the girl who would someday be Owen's mother. It also tells about Gus and his love Abby who is dying of cancer when Noah meets her and gets the job.

This was an enjoyable mystery with many twists and turns. I liked Owen who was confused but still determined to protect his mother and find out what happened to his father and his father's company. He feels guilty when he learns that all of his advantages from boarding school to fancy vacations were paid for by money his father stole. He also feels bad that his mother is being harassed and threatened for something she didn't do and that they are being forced to live with his mother's older sister.

I liked the way the story alternated between the present and the past because both stories had interesting characters and romance.

First, I’d like to thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Owen Foster has everything he could possibly want: He attends a prestige boarding school, spends holidays traveling, and has a great group of friends....until one day, everything changes. His mom shows up on campus to bring him home because his dad has run off with millions of dollars betraying basically his whole home town. Since his education was funded on stolen money, he must return home to a place where he is now a stranger and unwanted. Many people believe he and his mom know where the money is and know where his dad is hiding.

Owen finally lands a job in an orchard field working for the town recluse Gus. While there, he begins to connect with the past and learns not everything is always as it seems. Will he be able to accept what he learns?

This book kept me guessing the whole time. At the turning point of the book, I seriously gasped out loud. This was such a great read. I can’t wait for Elston’s next book.

I wasn't sure I was going to connect with a character with Owen's privileged background. But the privilege is stripped from him right at the start of the story and he's placed in one painful situation after another. Neighbors gawk and the paparazzi have their camera's ready, whispers and stares follow him through the school halls, there's an uncomfortable distance between him and his best friend from grammar school, his only potential friend. Everyone else at school is brimming with accusations. Owen turns down the chance to escape it all by returning to his old school, unwilling to leave his mother to deal with the scandal's fallout alone or abandon his search for the truth.

Elston skillfully weaves together two separate narratives with different time periods: Owen's present and the time when his mother and father met. Both narratives are compelling move the story forward. The ending is super-twisty and entirely satisfying. The Lying Woods is a great read for people who like who-dun-its done well enough that they can't see the ending coming! Highly Recommended!

This review will be posted on TheWingedPen.com on October 30th.

After reading a couple of heavy sci-fi/fantasy books, I was in the mood for an intriguing mystery. I'd never read anything else by this author, but rest assured, I plan on correcting that.

I finished this book in less than two days (while I was supposed to be working on several other projects), but just couldn't put it down. The dual narrative between Owen and Noah is done so well, and goes about revealing the layers of secrets at a perfect pace. A small town setting and and secluded pecan farm only add to the years-old secrets. With the shocking situation Owen and his mother find themselves in, being stripped of everything they own and having to endure horrible comments and treatment from both adults and teens affected by Owen's father, it's incredibly easy to relate to them. Rather than wallowing in self-pity over everything he'd lost, I admired Owen's determination to better his situation, help his mother, and find his father.

Upon reaching the end of the book, I had several theories, but the twist came as a surprise. Warning: Whatever you do, don't flip to the end of this novel and spoil it for yourself!

If you're looking for an absolutely un-put-downable mystery with deliciously surprising twists, this is your book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I enjoyed The Lying Woods. The alternating stories were interesting and the plot twists were unpredictable. While I enjoyed the male protagonist and thought Owen was believable, the amount of romance in this book makes it more appealing to female readers. I would like more books along the lines of This is Our Story which appeals to both male and female readers. I am always trying to find books that appeal to the guys in my high school.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Wow! That was a ride. I got strong The Notebook vibes, especially towards the end. The Lying Woods stands on its own two feet though - this is a passionate story, full of mystery, nostalgia, love, jealousy, and grief. I loved the way it hops back and forth between Noah in 1999 and Owen in the present. The parallel stories of the two made the unraveling of the mystery all the more intense. And the drama!

Though it is not as darkly intense as Sadie, fans of that gritty mystery may find this to be their next good read.

I can't think of any complaints for this one. It was just amazing. And that ending.

THE LYING WOODS has a lot of checkmarks for me. New Orleans. Boarding School. Mysterious disappearance.
All that said, this book was an average read for me. I read through it pretty quickly, but I'm not sure how long it will stick with me. I appreciate the work Ashley Elston put into crafting the reveal, but I didn't feel connected enough to Owen and the rest of the characters to be pushed and pulled by the narrative.
I received this book from NetGalley - courtesy of Disney-Hyperion - in exchange for an honest review. taylorhavenholt.com/thhbooks.html

What a compelling book The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston turned out to be! The unusual approach of alternating back and forth between the young man and the youth of the man who was potentially his father was something I hadn't come across in literature before. Throughout the book there always lingered a mystery of what happened to the father and what did he really do. The answer to the question of "why" was almost too much to hope for. For the young man's sake and the sake of his mother, we wanted the accusations to be false and hoped for a redemption of some sort. What we got though, was something entirely different.... and worth the read.

This was an advanced proof sent to me in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book was slow to start and I wasn't sure I was going to like the main character Owen. He came across as a privileged, rich boy. But then he has to move away from his fancy boarding school and back to his humbler beginnings and things to start to pick up. Who is threatening his mother? Has his dad really ran off with all the money? Is there anyone left in the town who will have sympathy for what Owen and his mum are going through?

Owen finds a refuge in a pecan farm on the edge of town and a loner farmer who knew his parents when they were young. Here the book jumps back in time to a summer of freedom and hope, when his parents first met. I liked the switch in timelines, although I did find myself skipping over many of the parts where Noah and Maggie grow to care for each other. But, I am not the target audience for this book so maybe that's for the best!

I enjoyed how the characters evolved into better people and the twist at the end was a surprise to me. This was a wonderfully written small town tale, with a helping of suspense and a sweet ending.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2489380028

Owen Foster has lost everything. His dad has disappeared and taken the company money with him, and all their possessions have been seized by the investigators leaving Owen and his mom homeless and penniless. When they are forced to move in with his aunt in a town devastated by the closure of his fathers company Owen seeks refuge in work on an isolated orchard. Hoping to learn more about his dad he seeks the companionship of the orchard owner...but can he handle the truth?

I was expecting a sort of horror-ish style book when I selected to read this. I made the mistake of choosing a book by the cover (oops!) and when combining the title with the cover photo it just seemed spooky. It's not horror, though the story is suspenseful, but is more the coming of age stories of two men done through a current telling (younger) and flashback style (older). Each set of stories follows the men through the summer when they are 18 and details the troubles they must trial through as they both work on the same orchard years apart.

I loved the character development - everyone seems so real. I want to meet most of these characters, especially the orchard owner, Gus. I could put faces to the characters because their personalities were so well written I could be like "Oh, I know someone just like that".

I didn't feel there was much detail about the places that things took place, but it didn't hinder the story at all. What was happening was more important than where it was happening. Everyone has an idea of Small Town America so each reader can kind of create their own mental image of where things take place. The orchard gets more description than anywhere else, particularly the Preacher Woods, as it has a significant meaning to some of the characters.

I don't have a lot to say about the Lying Woods other than it's just a good read. I just finished reading it a few minutes ago and am still kind of processing it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend reading it if you get a chance. This book started off slow, but it really picked up and started throwing curve balls! By the end I was hoping it would slow down and give some more detail again.

I had read Elston’s previous book and could not wait to get my hands on this new one. I was not disappointed. This story was full of intrigue, led by a great cast of characters, and ended with a great twist.
This story was very time appropriate and dealt with scandals, bullying, and major life lessons. It was portrayed in a believable manner and flowed with the story rather than sticking out as life lessons. Elston does a great job creating the story around her world, with great details about places and people. These people are a small town community with past knowledge and grudges to hold on to. I found the story did lag a bit at times, but I was often swept back into it quickly.
Owen’s character was done very well. With such a push for female leads nowadays, it was nice to see a male’s perspective again. O had a great personality that was easy to relate to and understand. His mother and Pippa were also well defined. Noah’s character was a great parallel storyline and gave a nice break from the hardships that were beating down on Owen. It was a nice switch towards the end as well. Owen’s voice could become a little exhausting at times and I was pushing O get through to Noah’s section. I would have like to have had a snippet or two from Pippa’s eyes as well.
I can never dis a book that has me thinking I have it all figured out, only to be proven wrong. Elston’s twist was slowly revealed over a couple of chapters with the big “wow” moment at the end. It made it a little less impactful if you caught on to the clues, yet the reaction after the reveal was done well.
I enjoyed this story on the whole and will continue to look forward to Elston’s writing. Her first book is on my recommendation list for young adults at my library and has been a hit. This book will join that list.

#TheLyingWoods #Edelweiss
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the E-arc copy of this novel. First off, I am a sucker for any mystery! Ashley Elston does not disappoint in this novel. The setting of the small town full of secrets is a wonderful backdrop for this mystery to play out in. Owen is a wonderful and genuine character that we want to root for no matter what! I love that sometimes secrets surprise even our main characters. Elston does an excellent job pulling you into the story and making you care about the people. She creates a town where people matter, and you don’t want all the secrets to be so bad that the characters can’t move forward. Yep, I referred to them like real people. You just can’t help it with this one.

Young adults will enjoy reading this book of corruption, intrigue, and romance that crosses generations.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Great plot twist at the end--my heart broke for Noah. Gus is my hero throughout the novel. I will recommend this novel to struggling students--it shows that difficulties in life spare no one, but also highlights the fact that most people are good and strive to help others.

I have read every one of Ashley Elston’s books, and I am constantly impressed by how she weaves her mysteries together...this one is no exception! The intertwining stories are both compelling and sophisticated. I love the slower southern feel and the love stories.

Ashley Elston is one of my favorite YA authors and the Lying Woods is an excellent example as to why. The Lying Woods is a mystery with twists and turns that keep the reader awake long into the night. Her characters are real and relatable. Owen's relationship with his mom is beautiful and poignant. His struggles with his peers are painful to read with their accurate portrayal of the cruelty of teens. This is a must read.

My high school students enjoyed Ashley Elston's first book, This Is Our Story and so I was pleased to see Elston had another book coming down the pipe. I was excited by the premise of the novel - a young man at a ritzy private school finds out his family's lavish life has been funded illicitly by his fathers' shady business dealings. All of a sudden the life he and his mother are used to is pulled out from under. What's more is they have to face all of the people who were essentially screwed by the fathers' business "ventures". That narrative is reminiscent of Gossip Girl's Nate Archibald's Season 1 story line - and so I was, of course, totally sold.
The novel itself - I found some scenes to be painfully underdeveloped and frankly there were some missed opportunities. There's a scene on the first day at his new school, where the protagonist is dealing with passive (and not so passive) aggressive threats from his classmates and it ends in fisticuffs in the hallway. This scene had so much potential but the whole thing basically was comprised of two and a half paragraphs with no dialogue - start to finish.
At any rate - it was an enjoyable read, if a little underdeveloped... but I believe my students will read it and enjoy it. Thank you NetGalley & Disney Book Group for the advanced copy.

Such a wonderful book. Elston has penned a tale of deceit, love, back-stabbing, self-reliance and truth-finding In The Lying Woods. Readers won't want to put this one down.

I've been a fan of Ashley's since her debut novel - her books were some of the earliest books I reviewed on the blog - so you can bet I was stoked when I realized she had another book coming out in the fall. Luckily for me, Disney-Hyperion heard my polite pleas to read it, and gave me access to an ARC!

In true Elston form, Ashley sets up a mystery involving Owen Foster, a wealthy boarding school teen. Foster's living his life at school until his mom shows up one day, and tells him:

1. His father has been embezzling from his employees - one of few major employers in their small town, and has now disappeared, and
2. They now have nothing, and Owen has to leave school and come home.

If you think it's awkward going home to a town where everyone hates your father, and suspects your family is involved with his crimes, you're correct. Elston does a great job of showing the palpable anger felt by the town, as well as Owen's own sense of confusion and betrayal, as he tries to work out just how it has all led to this. There's a definite question of whether we truly know everyone in our lives - even those closest to us - if they're corrupted by something like money.

But at the same time, Elston cleverly unfolds a dual narrative, involving the past of one of the characters. Without giving too much away, Elston expertly weaves a tale of conflict, self-recrimination and doubt for this secondary character, before dropping a bombshell that had me going: "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" It's brilliantly misleading, but not in a cheap, gotcha! sort of way. Elston has clearly put a lot of thought into how this secondary character's life has unfolded, before leading it to its inevitable conclusion.

Again, without too many spoilers, the story ends in a way that feels satisfying for all involved. There are real stakes and not every problem is fixed, but you definitely feel like the journey was worth it, and the characters have progressed and survived.

Highly recommend.