The Woods Are Always Watching is a YA horror story that follows best friends Neena and Josie who decide to go on a 3-day hiking and camping trip before going their separate ways for college. They head out to a nature reserve near their hometown, and soon strange--and potentially life-threatening--things begin happening. ⁠⁠
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I grew up going on field trips to the local nature reserve, and had a healthy fear instilled in me by cautionary tales of kids breaking their arms and legs on the trails (never mind a physically disabled kid like myself couldn't even walk the trails without holding an adult's hand), but what happens to Neena and Josie in the woods in this book is nothing a well-meaning adult could prepare you for.⁠⁠
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The book is divided into "together" and "apart" as the girls' circumstances change, which I think really underscores the depth of their friendship and how much Neena and Josie need each other. This happens not only as they face a geographical distance of over 2,000 miles, but as they start having fights and realize the flaws in their relationship. ⁠⁠
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Both Neena and Josie go through a lot of harrowing things throughout The Woods Are Always Watching, but they have each other's back at the end of the day even as they come to terms with the fact that their friendship is far from perfect, which is a glimmer of wholesomeness in an otherwise really gritty story. ⁠⁠
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It's honestly hard to review this book without giving it all away, but suffice to say it is a classic horror story with some serious blood and gore while also simultaneously being a book about friendship.

Two young women decide to go camping before the start of college. Neither of them have ever done this before, and though they received some instructions from an older brother, they immediately forget everything once they have to carry their packs. At one point they complained because the food was in mason jars instead of easy to carry containers, which shows they didn't even pack their bags. They also brought a lot of extra crap they didn't need making their packs heavier and having no training trudge and complain the whole way. When they finally get to the campsite they blow up at each other and it ruins any chance of having a good time.

It gets worse when Josie falls into a hole, breaks her ankle, and can't climb back out. Neena decides to run for help, but is caught by a creepy man stalking the woods. A lot of other misfortunes happen, but in the end both women are saved by an act of nature.

The characters are whiny brats and the plot is over the top, but if you like nature survival stories this might be fore you.

This book took awhile to pull me in, but I am glad I decided to stick with it. The thriller aspect was very well written, but the relationship and dynamic between Neena and Josie just didn't sit well with me. The characters themselves were interesting, but together they're unlikeable. And sadly, the villain could hardly be considered interesting and there wasn't much plot. This was a fun read, but ultimately felt lacking.

This title just didn't hit the mark for me. Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC.

This book was just okay for me. I enjoyed There's Someone Inside Your House more. I love this authors Anna and the French Kiss series, and I love horror, so I was hoping this was as intriguing as the previous novel.

I love young adult mystery thrillers. This one had a lot of twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and I loved the mysterious aspect.

I really enjoyed “There’s someone inside your house” so I was excited to read this one but ultimately didn’t enjoy it. The threat was terrifying and, honestly, where I hoped the book wouldn’t go. Even when I saw it going in that direction when the men in the woods were introduced, I hoped something interesting or even unique would follow but no - they were exactly the type of men I hoped they wouldn’t be and because of that the story became extremely predictable. The ending was so abrupt I felt like there was still so much story left that the girls needed to address. It was a very quick read, I got through it in just a couple of hours but I couldn’t recommend it.

Wow this one is messed up! If you like that, pick it up! It started off slow for me and I almost put it down. Once the chaos began it didn’t stop. I’m not sure I liked the ending, I wanted more closure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this DRC.
I love to camp but this book can make you rethink setting up your tent. Two young women plan to spend a three-day hike in the Pisgah National Forest. National Forests are places people disappear. This is the type of book where you just keep screaming No! in fear and anxiety.
#TheWoodsAreAlwaysWatching #NetGalley

I was very excited to read it but was left unsatisfied. This book looked so good, and maybe I had too high of expectations, but it just wasn’t what I expected. I liked the main characters and their relationship as it was relatable and kind of sweet, but the ending of the book was terrible.
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I was hoping i was going to like this one more than I did but it just fell a bit flat. I'm sure it's the perfect read for someone out there though!

This was a very short read, so I expected it to be a quick one. The first half of this book was incredibly slow, and the action didn’t really pick up until almost 50%. I really disliked the first half because we were following two girls who were “best friends”, but all they did was fight the whole time. I really didn’t feel anything for their friendship because they just bickered.

When the action picked up in the second half, it definitely got gruesome. I loved how bloody it got, especially for a young adult book. Unfortunately, the good parts came a little too late for me.

Y'all, this will come to an utter shock but guess what? I've never read a single book by Stephanie Perkins. I know, right!? So I'm browsing my Kindle for a "spooky" read to devour in October and The Woods Are Always Watching comes up.

First, I'll say this book is not spooky. If you're looking for a spooky, scary, even horror story . . . you will not get that here. It's anything but. What you do get is creepy stalker, run for your life in the woods.

The first half is a little boring that leads up to the good parts. However, I think the lead up is a little important. Our main characters are camping out in the woods and they get into a fight and naturally that's when everything starts to go downhill.

I couldn't tell the girls apart at times, but I know one ends up hurt, and the other has to go get help. Enter the creepiness. I won't get into the nitty gritty of it because spoilers but these girls need to be headstrong and resilient. Which was actually something they fought about!

I may have read this book in one sitting, staying up way past my bedtime to finish it. There wasn't a lot going on story wise but I was just really intrigued and wanted to see how the girls would get themselves out of the mess they were in.

I have won this book in a giveaway online and did not have the time to read it. I believe this book got archived before I had the chance and would have read it as I love Stephanie Perkins who writes such incredible stories.

It is always nice to read stories that involves camping and horror events, making you think twice to go camping in the woods every again. Lol. I really enjoyed this read, it is Suspenseful, well built up characters and very intriguing plot.

A perfect read for this upcoming Halloween season! I’m excited to get my hands on it. The mystery and thrill will claim you

As much as I loved the first book, I just couldn't get into this one. I can't put my finger on why but after the first few chapters it just didn't grab me unfortunately.

I could have sworn I wrote my review for this but as I am obsessed with Stephanie Perkins, I'm delighted to write it again.

I. Love. Everything. Perkins. Writes. I love this duology and cannot get enough of it. I loved the twists and turns, hidden secrets, and dark truths woven in this thriller. I had to sleep with the lights on and triple check the locks on my doors after reading this story. I can't wait for her next book.

I didn't fully realize when I was going into The Woods are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins that it was a horror novel. I guess MAYBE I should have gathered that by the cover, but I did not, and then when I started and found out where this book was going, I was very surprised. I love good horror so that wasn't a problem, but I'm not sure the characters or their age in this book were the ones for me. Neena and Josie start out being very whiny and they bickered a lot until the action finally started and then I couldn't put it down. I can't even tell you how many times I said "gross" to myself or how many times I shuddered/cringed, so the horror is definitely there. This went a route I would never have expected and there aren't any supernatural elements even though I kept kind of hoping for them. It had been so long since I read the synopsis that I didn't even remember what the book was about, so I went in with no expectations other than knowing the title and what the cover looks like.

I almost wonder if I would have enjoyed the book a bit more by reading it instead of listening to the audiobook which is what I did. The narrator Reena Dutt did a good job, and she definitely made me feel very panicky when the characters did, but there was something off about her cadence for me. That being said, it could be that my biggest issue overall was just the story itself and our main characters, but I also have a hard time thinking in terms of their age and how I acted when I was that old. I would honestly say that if you enjoy YA horror and thrillers then you should give it a shot, but just know it definitely gets dark and disturbing once the plot fully hits. I didn't realize this was a companion to There's Someone Inside Your House which I haven't read, and not sure that would have made a difference either. I didn't enjoy The Woods are Always Watching as much as I had hoped I would but judging by how fast I finished and that I couldn't put it down, I would definitely still read more books from Perkins, and I still plan on checking out There's Someone Inside Your House as well.

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and digital copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Got to love Stephanie Perkins! She's this generations equivalent of R.L. Stine! Loved this book, just as much as her last one!!