A girl is kidnapped and held in the cellar of a remote cottage in the Memory Wood. Elijah visits her.

A very clever psychological thriller. Dark, creepy and intense. A compelling page turner, I couldn't stop reading until I reached the ending.

I thought I was going to hate the reveal in this book because I thought it was using mental illness as a cheap thrill. However, it was actually pretty clever and most definitely heartbreaking. The ending was almost tear inducing.

The Memory Wood is suitably creepy and the story is full of twists and turns. I lost my way a bit near the middle, got a bit bored and wasn’t sure I wanted to finish it. I am so glad I did though. Told from Elijah, Elissa and the detectives POVs you really get an all rounded view as the story unfolds.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Brilliantly written and plotted crime thriller. I hadn’t been sure what to expect when I started the book, but it picked up right in the first chapter and kept going. I won’t say much more, other than the fact that it was impossible not to root for the plucky young protagonist (one of them; there are three).
I found it intriguing that the author decided to leave a few things up in the air. There are some hints, but no spelling out. It bothered me at first, until I realised knowing the details would make no difference.
(Review copy from NetGalley)

This book was one of the best examples of a page-turner that I've read in a long time. It kept me glued to it from the start and I couldn't put it down - only finishing it in the early hours of the morning as I had to know what happened. a very,very clever twist and an extremely dramatic ending. Throughly enjoyed it.

Oh my goodness, what a ride! I loved loved loved The Memory Wood; it wove it’s way into my life, my nightmares, the lot. Definitely my read of the year....

It’s a novel centred around a kidnapping. Creepy and twisty, with a good balance of police involvement - which I don’t usually especially enjoy if it’s too interlaced within a novel. It’s written from several perspectives, the kidnapped 13 year old girl, her kidnapper, a 12 year old boy who is apparently trying to help her, and the lead female police officer. Well paced and unravels largely in chronological order. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of a nearby hamlet to where I live, which really brought the ending crashing down around my ears as I know the place very well.

Definitely, absolutely a must read of 2020, and I’ll be recommending it to all my book loving buddies.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It is a well written dark and creepy thriller. It has lots of twists and certainly kept me guessing, I would love to read more by this author.

A really good dark thriller. It took me a while to work out what was happening in this book. I thought it was really well thought out and cleverly written. The plot is brilliant and is dark and creepy and full of suspense. The story is better than I imagined it to be after reading the synopsis.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A fantastic book!
Deliciously dark and very creepy! The plot was brilliantly thought out, well written, fresh and imaginative. This one had me gripped from the start and refused to let go.
The characters were superbly drawn and extremely unexpected. The heroine of the story was engaging and interesting.
A psychological thriller that went way beyond expectations and drew me in with ease. I absolutely loved it!

Turn up the creep factor with this one! I wanted to read something set in the woods as woods are often the creepiest place you can go - at least in a crime novel - and this is no exception. The Memory wood luckily is not a real place - well, it's several places although it's loosely set in Wales.

A cat and mouse game between an abductor and their victim. Characterisation and mind games are what drive this novel and it's a head twist to read.

Weirdly compelling but also a bit weird in the normal sense of the word. There's twists and turns later on and that 13 year old victim has to try and outwit whoever took her.

Contrary to its relatively tame title, "The Memory Wood" is an addictive kidnap-survival thriller that develops at breakneck speed. The characters’ give a hugely convincing performances as they cling to their depleting spirits by their fingernails.

Truly, the way things play out is very, very clever. Not only does it open brilliantly, it escalates to a sinister crescendo – just when you think things couldn’t possibly get any worse for those affected… WHAM! The author’s next move proves you completely wrong.

It’s a story of different perspectives: the good, the bad and the survivors. Their fates are entwined like the roots of the trees in the wood, but the only way to untangle the overlapping truth is with patience . Trust me. You will be amply rewarded.

*** ACTUAL RATING: 4.5 /5 ***

I liked the description of this book, hadn’t heard of the author but wow I’m glad I gave it a go!

This is brilliantly written, there isn’t a boring bit in the whole book. Here’s my quick description: a 13 year old girl is kidnapped on a really important day for her. She is very smart and savvy, but can she outwit her kidnapper in time?

This is so tense and weird! I love weird by the way! It’s going to be one of those books that I remember for a long time.

Elissa a thirteen year old girl has been abducted from a car park. There is a witness who sees her being bungled into a white van. The police are called and it's a race against time to find the girl alive.
When Elissa wakes up she is in some sort of dungeon. There is no light and she remembers that she has been drugged and taken against her will.
She is visited by two people, a man that she finds very frightening and a person who says he is trying to help her.
All she can think of is escaping.
I enjoyed the first part of this book but then I found the second half of the story to be confusing and repetitive in some parts.
Lots of twists and turns and a constant uneasy feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.