This one didn't really grab me. I thought I would really enjoy it as YA thriller is my favorite genre. But I ended up not enjoying this one as much as I thought I would.

I went into this kinda blind. I knew it was a thriller but not a YA thriller. For that I felt it was kinda flat for me. The storyline is not terrible just gets too childish for me at some points of the story.

What She Found in the Woods was a clunky book and it just wasn't for me. I felt like it had a lot of potential, but it kinda fell apart.

I apologize but I was not able to finish this book. I was in a different headspace at the time of requesting / recieving this book and the time I got it.

A decent YA thriller, but nothing truly memorable to keep me thinking about it long after it's finished.

I absolutely loved the writing, the way the author writes is so beautiful to me and that's what kept me continuing to push through even during the beginning which dragged. The pacing was inconsistent, it dragged then picked up then dragged again. Overall, it was an ok read, interesting enough premise and writing to keep me reading even when it was slow.

After her actions cause great harm (which was streamed, no less), Magda has a breakdown and is sent to a psychiatric hospital. Her parents want nothing to do with her, so she is sent to her grandparents’ very fancy vacation home, where she spent most of her summers there as a child. She reconnects with the old crowd, but also meets a new friend in the woods. Tension builds slowly, unexpectedly, as we discover what Madga did that caused great harm, as hear whispers of a killer in the woods, and as bodies of dead women are found. Magda’s cocktail of psychiatric drugs makes everything seems disembodied and flat, bringing its own eeriness to the tale. But while most of this book is a slow, tantalising burn, the last few chapters are a raging fire of horror upon horror.

I really wish I could’ve gotten into this one. I wanted to know Lena’s secret more than I cared about her friendship with Bo, but it wasn’t worth skimming the book for. I read some other reviews that made me wish I stuck with it, but alas I couldn’t hang. Maybe I’ll give it another try eventually.

My thoughts
This book is definitely a thriller! And as you can see, I rushed through in a DAY. That always means that the author did something right. I don't read that many books in a day, that are above a 100 pages long. I definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a good thriller.



Pros
Easy to read: This book was so easy to read. I was rushing through and that was also because there are short sentences in this book and the choice of words was easy. Since English is not my native language, it can sometimes take away my speed of reading if the sentences are too long or if the words in the book are to hard. But not in this book!
Thrilling: This book is definitely a mysterious thriller. It's so fast paced, I couldn't put it away! There are a lot of questions that I had while reading. Slowly and gradually you're getting more and more answers, but you also keep guessing and have a little doubt, because of the main character.
Unreliable: The main character is a bit unreliable. I always love it when you have to doubt everything that's happening, because even the main character doubts herself. This makes it an even bigger mystery; what is truth and what is not?
Ending: In the end I got all the answers I needed. I think that's very important in a book that raises a lot of questions. And since it's a standalone, you will WANT and NEED those answers. It's pretty tricky for an author to raise so many questions; gotta make sure you answer them all!


Cons
Little things: There were some little things that I was a bit sad about while reading. Some of the side characters don't appear anymore after 70% in, and I was a bit taken aback about that, since they played a part in the book as well. I also thought that some things were just too good to be true. Or explained away a bit too easy. (not gonna spoil)


Overall
You know a book is good if I've read it within 2 days. I rushed through this book and I thought it was easy to read. The book is thrilling, mysterious and at the end does give you all the answers you need. If you're a fan of unreliable main characters, which I am, this is definitely a book you want to pick up!

I was really intrigued by the synopsis, which made me want to read this book.

The book is a mix of character and plot-driven, and I think the author balances it well. Although several things happened simultaneously that confused me initially, it doesn't take long for me to manage.

I also like how the author plays Magda's character. It's so easy to get lost in her narration, and in her head, really. But the rest of the characters aren't that well-played? Especially the murderer, like we didn't get their backstory as much as we got Magda's, so I don't really understand why they did it.

You should pick this book if you love a YA thriller sets in the wilderness. It's worth to read especially during a chilly, rainy day.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

There is so much to this book that makes it so great to me! For starters, it sends a lot of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart vibes. Both stories are about a rich teen mixed up in some unknown-never-to-be-spoken accident. Both are unreliable, heavily medicated narrators, and that's where the similarities stop. Thankfully!
For some reason, the book grabbed me from the start. Maybe it was the vibes or the writing style... Either way, I was drawn into it. I wanted to keep reading. Magda is a rich b*tch. I'm not even going to bit around the bush. She is, and she knows she is. So at first, I didn't care about her at all. I was there for the story, not her. But somewhere along the way, she starts to change, becoming more aware of how her bitchery affected others around her and, I kind of, started to like her.
The character that she is, in the beginning, is not the same she is in the end. Although that doesn't erase all the messed up things she did in the past. Thanks to that change, it gives two different perspectives. And the author uses all of it to make a commentary on society. There are comments on racism, ethnicity, sexuality, and feminism - if I remember correctly - expressed with clarity and honesty. No belittlement, prejudice or judgement, just thoughts. I really enjoyed how those comments were delivered without stating "this is right" or "this is wrong". It was up to the reader to decide.
Apart from that, the book is very in 2020 how it portrays a changing world. And what I find most curious and accurate is how not every character reflects those changes. Sexuality is treated as something very normal instead of the usual surprise. Magda likes boys and girls? So? Not a big deal. I find it always refreshing to bump into these little details. Although there are some characters still living in the past and refuse to get out of that bubble.
For a YA book, I feel it's kind of dark at some point. Or maybe it's my fault to think that YA is always fairies and rainbows. The book isn't scary but is full of gore, blood, and body parts. Mixing it with nighttime, tiredness and a fertile imagination, and any sound can be a murderer on the other side of the door. Speaking of which, I could predict the killer!! This rarely happens so, I have to mention it. I managed to read between the lines and guess correctly. But I was nowhere near figuring out everything else that was going on.

I am almost fearful to write a review of this excellently written novel for fear of spoiling anything. I was surprised with every twist and turn. I loved every second of it.

Magda is spending some summertime with her grandparents in their home near the woods. The setting of the Pacific Northwest was perfect. Magda needs to get away from a scandal at her private school in New York and has come for some respite. Magda made a big mistake, and it got bigger and bigger until something truly tragic happened. And then, her world collapsed.

Magda has a way of both magnetizing and repulsing people (both in her world and as you read more about her.) I haven't ever come across a character quite like her. She tries to fit in with the kids she used to love when she was younger, but she knows she doesn't truly fit in anywhere, until she meets Bo.

Bo lives with his family in the woods outside her grandparent's home. After a chance meeting, Magda can't get Bo out of her head, and the pair of them fall hard and fast for one another. Meanwhile, some of the girls in town have gone missing, and have been found in the woods, dead and dismembered. As Magda begins to uncover the truth, she, and the reader, become more horrified with every passing paragraph. I couldn't put it down, and I loved this book.

Content: There is sex, animal death (hunting), gore, human death, drug addiction, suicide, and human dismemberment. Recommended for an older teen audience.

I think more emphasis needs to be placed on the mental health aspects of this book, along with the darker themes that one encounters while reading it. I read the synopsis and feel like the book I read fit it, it just didn’t even begin to cover what this book would really be like. I wasn’t fond of any of the characters, and it took a very long time to get to the “thrilling” portion of the book. Just not for me.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was interesting and kept me engaged through the whole story.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Magda’s summer at her grandparents’ house in a small town in the middle of woods should be a time for her to recover and move on from an unsettling past. No, a boy she meets in the woods, makes it a little easier, but he is not the only thing in woods.

Killers and drug dealers are in the woods. The bodies of women are being found and the one thing that is certain is that the wildlife did not kill them.

This book is suspenseful. It lulls you into a safe rhythm and then tugs the rug out from under you. It is one of the best thrillers I have read in a while.

Magdalena has had a rough time. She’s spending the summer at her grandparents’ house in the Pacific Northwest while she tries to get her head back on straight. She’s still on a lot of meds, strong psychiatric meds, because of what happened in New York. But she’s trying to take care of herself and stay faithful to her medication, to keep her hallucinations at bay.

Although she’d spent the last few years with friends in the Hamptons, she’d spent summers with her grandparents before that. So this summer give her a chance to reunite with old friends. And to meet new ones, like Bo, a wild teenaged boy who showed up one day when she was trying to read. He chased a deer over her blanket, stumbling over her with an apology and an introduction. Magda was intrigued by his wildness, and his kindness, and they agree to meet again.

Magda falls into a routine at her grandmother’s, volunteering at a local women’s shelter and hiking in the woods. At the shelter, doing food prep and cleaning in the kitchen, she meets cook and former addict Gina who keeps her moving in the right direction. And in the woods, she spends time with Bo. He’s smart and well read, and he teaches her about survival in the woods.

The days go by, with her falling in love with Bo and enjoying her work at the shelter. She feels so good, she decides to stop taking her medications. She is happy in the woods. But she also hears rumors about a drug dealer with a meth lab in the woods, and three women go missing.

But when she has a bad episode and has to rescued by a friend, she no longer knows for sure what’s real. She thought she’d been in the woods when her friend had found her but he tells her that’s not true. And even though she doesn’t remember writing in her journal, the pages are filled with her handwriting. And in her closet is three outfits with blood on them.

Is it possible that her mental illness caused Magda more hallucinations? Could she have imagined Bo that whole time? And what happened to those three women? Is it possible that Magda had done something bad?

What She Found in the Woods is a tense thriller about the thin line between the truth and lies, between mental health and a break with reality. Author Josephine Angelini has drafted a nail-biter of a story with memorable characters, an unreliable narrator, psychological struggles, secrets, lies, gaslighting, and forgiveness.

I loved this book and devoured it quickly. It’s a fascinating story of a young woman with an intelligent mind, who has trouble knowing what is real. I highly recommend What She Found in the Woods for anyone who loves a good thriller and for those wanting to get a better understanding of mental illness. Magda may not be the most likeable character, but she is honest, as much as she can be. Loved it, recommend it, can’t wait to read more from Angelini!

Egalleys for What She Found in the Woods were provided by Sourcebooks Fire through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I was sort of okay with the notching that his girl, in the midst of a psychotic break and having dropped her meds could have committed these crimes, especially given the weird scenes of blood and butchering that she'd been a part of. I could accept that, even with the thin evidence. The alternate scenarios were harder for me to accept. Ultimately, I found this plot too far afield.

I have really enjoyed Josephine angelini's previous books in the past and the synopsis of this book intrigued me. Our main character Magda is shipped off to her grandparents in the pacific Northwest after a huge scandal in New York City, where she previously lived. She is sent there for the summer to get off the radar and find herself again.

From the beginning I really wasn't able to connect to Magda as a character, so that made it a little harder to continue reading the story. There is a lot of mystery surrounding her scandal, and flashbacks as we go through the story, explaining what happened in the past to bring her to where she is now. She meets Bo while she's there for the summer, and again I didn't really connect with his character either.

Even though there is the mystery aspect, this story was really slow going for me. I just couldn't connect with the story or the main character at all. This book took me quite awhile to finish. While the interest and the story was there, the way it all played out just did not hook me the way that I expected it to.

I very much wanted to love this story, but I just did not connect with it.

**Thank you SourceBooks Fire for the review copy.**

Angelini did a wonderful job of making me question everyone. I honestly had no idea who the killer was going to be and how this story was going to play out. I definitely did not see the end coming. I devoured the last 50% of this book in a single day because of how good it was. These characters were so interesting and their backstories really made this story what it was. It added layers that a lot of stories are missing. The writing, while the story jumps back and forth, was smooth and was easy to follow and read quickly.

All lovers of a good mystery should read this book. While it is categorized as a YA Fiction or Teen book, this book is so much more than that and anyone would enjoy it. It’s definitely a psychological thriller. Everyone should pick up a copy

In a lot of ways, this YA Thriller was the perfect book to read after I finished my last book, The Cold Vanish, as it shares the same wild Washington state setting. Magdalena arrives at her grandparents' house, recovering from a long hospital stay- as well as in the aftermath of a high school scandal. Now 18, she feels numb to the world and is un-interested in reconnecting with old summer friends - or anyone at all. Until she meets Bo in the woods and she slowly starts feeling like herself once again.

But this isn't just a teen love story, Magda's backstory has more darkness than is initially apparent. Plus, the small Washington town is starting to see a real upswing in drugs - and now bloody corpses start showing up. All told from Magda's point-of-view, this is a fast-paced and genuinely exciting read. And while a few of the plot's twists are easy to see coming, there are still some other surprises to be found in the plot. It's a good balance between the romance and the more dramatic plot elements.

The ending may be a bit unbelievable in parts, but otherwise, this was a totally engaging and satisfying read! The characters all came to life and I appreciated the strength of the written word here, that's for sure. Plus, I liked Magda's character, flaws and all. I feel like this has a much less problematic view of mental illness than some other YA books that I have encountered. There are a few funny moments, too, but I think that this subject matter overall would be better suited to the older end of the YA audience.

This was so interesting and truly gripping. I read a lot of mystery, and I can say this one really kept me interested. I also really enjoyed the way the author handled more sensitive topics like mental illness and medication. I found the setting to be spooky and interesting, and I really enjoyed the small town atmosphere. I really appreciated the way the story progressed and the way things unfolded. Overall this is a really solid thriller, and I think I will look into the author's other books.