I went into this story having never read anything from the author before but found myself immediately captured by their words. The imagery was so encapsulating and I could feel myself being pulled more and more into the book, Would recommend!

Very slow build up of a character driven thriller. College aged students escape the world and create a commune that quickly becomes dystopian. I wanted to like it based on the premise, but it was too slow moving to really grab me.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy.

This book wasn't really for me. I thought it would be something that it wasn't. I was looking for a drama, but this is more a of a prepper's diary. It's pretty slow.

This one dragged on for me. Although it gives a unique view on a utopian society, it was too slow with little action.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book. I think in the end I'll say it just wasn't for me. It's not a terrible book, but a subject matter I personally didn't find interesting. There were some moments of intrigue and suspense that fell flat, leaving me trying to figure out the point. If you're interested in communal living and romanticize living off-grid, this may be for you. Thank you to the publisher Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

Modern-day commune story that goes horribly wrong. Five millennials try to live off the grid as they believe that it's the best possible solution that the world is in right now. Each story has choppy dialogue but the plot was interesting enough to keep me turning the pages. Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for my advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

While reading lots of reviews and articles about this title, it was unfortunately not for me.

Caite Dolan-Leach’s novel “We Went to the Woods” could be a contemporary retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” if the book’s 20-something-year-old unreliable narrator, Mack Johnston, were both the documentarian Nick Carraway and the tragic hero Jay Gatsby, remaking her entire being in the name of love — or at least attraction.

Beau, Louisa, Chloe and Jack are Mack’s “Daisy Buchanan,” her green lights guiding her to radically give up the excess and modern comforts of reliable internet, television, electricity, flushable toilets, supermarkets and money — luring her into the woods of Hector, N.Y., where the five of them start their own utopian commune, a “Homestead” where they try to live by their romantic ideals, growing their own non-genetically modified food, quoting Henry David Thoreau and living off the land.
The goal of the experiment is to plant enough food in the spring that they’d make it through the winter; to survive in their cabins in the wilderness; to live off the grid; to lower their carbon footprint; to not fall back into the safety nets provided by their parents (although their parents would welcome them back in a heartbeat); to do the impossible (if not improbable); and to prove that they could.

Mack, of course, has another reason for running away from her previous life in New York City; her hometown in Lansing, N.Y.; and her doctorate degree in anthropology. This reason is also why she shortened her name from Mackenzie to Mack; and why she enlisted to grow tomatoes and to drink unlabeled wine in the Homestead with her fellow white, educated and privileged 20-something-year-old companions.

She’s running away to her “Hakuna Matata,” a place without hate mail — where she could endless debate whether slimy or crunchy bugs are better; or how civilization will eventually end. In the meantime, she researches (she’s an anthropologist): Why did past utopian societies fail and how can they make sure their Homestead succeeds.

“We Went to the Woods” is a fascinating look into the promise and pitfalls of utopian societies. Their Homestead combusts. Gatsby was killed. But what endures was great.

Disclaimer: I received a free eARC of “We Went to the Woods” by Caite Dolan-Leach from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

This book wasn’t for me. It was very character driven bass slow moving. It may be for some people but it’s more of a character study and I like my books a little more fast paced

This was my second from this author. If I am being honest, the first wasn’t my favorite - so this was an attempt at a redemption for me. It left me with mixed feelings.

There were times that it felt like it was dragging on and on. Those moments were followed by sections that sucked me in. Towards the end, I finally got hooked because it felt like it was building into something... only to fizzle.

It was okay.. not my favorite, but certainly not my least favorite.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. The excerpt had me intrigued about this making of a modern day commune. A group of young twenty-somethings escape the real-world to live off the grid, grow their own food and to find their purpose in life.

Unfortunately, I found the story to be too long and drawn out and the characters were difficult to understand. I found there was way too much existential discussion between all the characters but with no movement at all. There were times when I felt like the story was beginning to go somewhere only to have it retreat back into stagnancy. While I can appreciate the odd dynamic of characters, there just never seemed an end to the constant unease and tension. I would have liked to see them grow internally or come to some conclusions but what I was left with was a ton of unanswered questions by the end and it never felt resolved.

Beautifully written, however maybe just not my cup of tea.

Five twenty-somethings decide to live off the grid. While this is something I would never do, I enjoy reading about people who do. I spent the entire book waiting for character and plot development. There were hints of horrible secrets, but their reveal even fell flat. This was not for me, but I knower that have loved it.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. A full review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads

I was so excited about this book because it has such a good concept and premise. Unfortunately, it missed the mark. As much as I hate to be this blunt, I was bored to tears reading this book. I felt like nothing happened for most of it. I actually had to just put it down and start something else. If I find myself thinking about other books I want to read while I'm reading something completely different, I know the current read isn't for me and I need to take the loss.

However, Dolan-Leach's writing style is superb. Her sentence structures, turn-of-phrases, and dialogue was well-written. It was just the story stuff, the content, the plot that dragged the story down for me.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the early copy.

I could not connect with the writing style and decided to put it down.

When Mack moves back home to upstate New York after an embarrassing reality TV stint, she meets Louisa, Jack, Beau, and Chloe. The five of them decide to move out to Louisa's family's farm to live off the land and protest capitalism.

While there are some interesting aspects of this story, I didn't think a lot actually happened. This was a slow read without any reward.

This is one of those books that I wonder why I thought I would enjoy it, and why did I request it? I am clearly not the intended target market, disliked Thoreau and transcendentalists when I read them in high school and don't understand the appeal of a commune. I couldn't slog through the writing, didn't connect with the characters and found the plot tedious. Having said all of that, I go back to the first part of my comments - I am clearly not from the intended market and all the rest probably follows from that. I am sure there are a lot of people for whom this would be a great read. Just not me.

Thanks to Net Gallery, the author and publisher for providing me a copy of the book to read and review.

We Went to the Woods is a story about 5 people who believe they can change the world by living mostly off the grid on a homestead. Peace, being free to be who they want, and living off the land harmoniously are their ultimate goals in this idealistic utopia. As always, things go awry and the homestead experiment may not last forever.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I wish the characters were fleshed out more so we could understand their motives but overall, it was an interesting read. I’d absolutely recommend.

There's an ominous feel to We Went to the Woods at the beginning. Our narrator (lead gal) is telling us the story after it's happened and so we know that whatever the scenario was it didn't go exactly well for her; although she did survive. The first few chapters give us a basic set-up of our lead gal and her current circumstances; as well as introduce us to the other four people who make up the core of the characters that live on the 'homestead' with our lead gal eventually. And of course we get the rhetoric about sustainability and climate change. Let's talk about that first:

Moral Message
You can't go into a book like Caite Dolan-Leach has written and not expect to be lectured about how the Earth is dying and we are the cause. There is a very, very strong message here that our current way of life in first world countries is going to end badly (as we all know already) and that we should look to alternatives to resolve the issue. In the case of We Went to the Woods the 'solution' is to live on a homestead where they only eat locally sourced items or ones they grew themselves. There is talk of the planning that is involved in preparing for winter and other logistical items that would come up. I liked that the specifics of the homestead were addressed and that the novel is set in a place where there is a true winter.

Overall Plot
I'd like to say there is more plot here than there is. There is an attempt at plot that includes a weird nearby cult-like group, some environmental protests, sexual relations amoungst our homestead characters and other random things; but at no time is there ever anything driving the story forward except that existence is perceived as linear. So time just moves forward. It's not enough for me and felt more like I was reading a very boring diary than a story that I was invested in.

Boring
The reality is that We Went to the Woods is just boring after about 100 pages. No one really cares enough to read about cutting wood, growing vegetables, or other basic rustic living tasks. And while random things happen like a bear trap is found, some relations between characters, a storm or two; nothing really 'happens' in a way that feels like it matters. The sub-plot of the local 'cult' that lives nearby was not enough for me, and was so cliche that I felt like it was stolen right from a hundred books before it. I just never felt like there was anything interesting enough to really latch onto. So I forced myself to finish this one because it was needed for a challenge. Sad but true.

Overall
The best part of We Went to the Woods is that Dolan-Leach has clearly lived in a cold place or researched it really well. The snowy, cold winter months are handled superbly. As a Canadian this is a big pet peeve of mine with survival based books and it was nice for things like frostbite to be handled appropriately. Otherwise I struggle to come up with anything that I felt was worthwhile in this story. The way cults lure in members is not new, the idea of survival on local aspects only is not new, and the weird relationships people cultivate in small quarters is just not enough either. Especially knowing that at any time these characters can drive out to town and be a part of 'regular society' again takes away most danger that presents itself.
There might be a story to be told here but it would need to be re-worked and handled in a different way to really be worthy of telling.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I have to say it...Caite Dolan-Leach has a gift. I don't know how great this review will be because, I just loved the book so much. The story, the pace, the plot, and the characters were perfection. What more can I say, but give me more books by this author!