This thriller had excellent pacing, that leads the reader along for a wild ride. The characters are fully fleshed out, and enough subtle clues are given throw out, that the ending makes complete sense. I enjoyed this mystery, and will be purchasing for my library collection.

After a traumatic attack when she was eleven, Naomi has tried to put the past behind her. She's a survivor doing her best to pick up the pieces, but when the man who attacked her dies in prison, the secrets she's been keeping over the past two decades threaten to shatter her once and for all.

A slow-burn mystery with lots of twisty paths and darting shadows. The main character is flawed but sympathetic. This is the kind of book where the less information you have going in, the better your reading experience will be.

Recommended for readers who enjoy Gillian Flynn vibes and small-town secrets, and for anyone who ever played in the woods as a child.

I received this book as a ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.


I absolutely loved this book! Every-time I thought I knew what happened it would take a twist. This book sucks you in from start to finish. It does talk about suicide so keep that in mind. But would I suggest thriller lovers to read this… YES!! It keeps you guessing and on your toes.

I love Kate Alice Marshall's YA and MG books, so I was super excited to dive into her debut adult title. And in the end, this thriller is pretty freaking great. Yes, there's one 'twist' that I saw coming right away, but the rest of them were solidly unexpected, though pretty clear in hindsight. I very much enjoyed the MC and her narrative voice, and the borderline-Twin-Peaksy mill town in rural Washington was a suitably dark and claustrophobic setting for the story.

Love a good thriller? Every had a unique friendship? Been or know someone who has been betrayed? Then look no further and read what lies in the woods by Kate Alice Marshall. This book has all the things to be a great book which it is! The story is about Naomi Shaw who survived the attack of a serial killer. Naomi Shaw and her friends are not as innocent as they seem . They have dark secrets that are beyond the surface. This book has it all. Without giving away any spoilers. Let just say this book has a lot twist, It is dark, surprising, and unpredictable. It has an ending that no one could have protected.

I'm still spinning a bit from all of the delightful twists and turns in Marshall's novel, What Lies in the Woods. Told in the 1st person POV of Naomi Shaw, survivor of a childhood attack so vicious she is permanently marked by physical and emotional scars, the story follows her return to her hometown and the site of the violence committed against her when the man who was convicted of the act dies in prison. What follows is a reckoning of not just the actions of Naomi, her two best friends, Liv and Cassidy and the extended cast of characters who bore witness but of the lies they've told and kept hidden all this time. The details are meted out just slowly enough to build suspense but quickly enough for the pace to be propulsive and pulse-quickening, and the last quarter of the book is filled with revelations that flip everything the reader thinks they know upside down and around in circles. 4.5 stars from me for this fast and satisfying, well-written read!

This was my first thriller for the Fall season and it was a good way to jump into things. I read this book in less than 24 hours and I definitely did not see the twists coming! There were multiple different twists and turns within the book that you never got bored. Life lesson to never play in the woods!

These friends have been best friends since a young age but they never realize there is always secrets not shared. Chester is your small town gossip where people always find out the truth about you even if you don’t know it yourself.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the digital copy of this read

Atmospherica and claustrophobic story of childhood trauma, small town secrets and an overall gritty read.
Naomi Shaw is still recovering from an attack by a serial killer as a child. She and her childhood friends were able to identify the man and put him behind bars for life. When the accused killer dies in prison, the friends return to their small town to reconnect. Naomi has blocked most of the experience out, but her friends do remember, and they seem to be keeping some of the events secret from her. Suddenly Naomi is not sure if the serial killer did attack her. Beginning to panic, Naomi begins to work with a podcaster to try to get to the bottom of the events of her childhood. Be prepared for a gritty and dramatic story! If you love small time secrets, atmospheric stories, flawed and damaged heroines, then What Lies in the Woods is for you!
#Flatironbooks #Whatliesinthewoods #KateAliceMarshall

Thank you for the ARC.
I can't describe how this made me feel. It was relatable and disturbing. The end was darker than I ever would have imagined and I have a dark mind, three of my childhood friends are in prison for murder after all. Horror rarely upsets me.

And yet I couldn't go there. I loved every character and every twist. This is a very twisty book.

Oooh this book is good.

Filled with lots of small town drama, unlikeable characters, and years worth of secrets that some would kill to protect.

Very gritty and raw -- some twists were predictable but others were not! I loved how it all came together in the end to create a shocking tale.

Definitely pick this one up when it comes out in January 2023!

One thing about Kate Alice Marshall is she is going to leave me at the edge of my seat. What Lies in the Woods is no exception. Marshall is able to weave an intense narrative that made me genuinely anxious at times. This is bolstered by the relationship dynamics amongst the characters, I was never sure who I could trust. Even the main character was unreliable, which only added to the mystery and the finale. I couldn't put this book down!

“We tried to forget. We didn’t tell the story. Not the real one. Not ever.”

As children, Naomi Shaw and her friends, Cassidy (Cass) and Olivia( Liv) believed in myth and magic. Being raised by a negligent father who was drunk most of the time, Naomi found comfort and companionship in her friends, whose lives were very different from hers. The eleven-year-olds invented games and imagined mythical adventures. One such game was the Goddess Game, where they pretended to be goddesses from Greek mythology. A surprise discovery in the woods, one that they kept to themselves, only fueled their imagination further and their game became more elaborate and intense. However, that summer would change Naomi’s life forever. A gruesome act of violence in the woods leaves Naomi fighting for her life after being stabbed seventeen times and leaves both of her friends traumatized. They identified the attacker, a serial killer who was responsible for the death of other women, who was caught and jailed based on the testimony of the three girls. Naomi’s memories are foggy at best but she and her friends survived to tell the tale. But, they lied and twenty-two years later, after the killer dies in prison, the three friends reunite in their hometown of Chester, their guilt and secrets pushing them in different directions. Liv, who struggles with her mental health issues, has been digging into the past and wants to own up to their lies and reveal what they had hidden from everyone; Naomi, who still bears the physical and emotional scars from the attack, is willing to hear what Liv has to share as she tries to remember what really happened in those woods over twenty years ago; Cass, the Mayor’s daughter and a single mother who has built a life for herself in Chester, would rather not revisit the events that occurred all those years ago.

A lot is going on in Chester. Secrets and lies permeate the atmosphere of this small town. As the narrative progresses, Naomi begins to realize that her memories of that night were tainted and there is a lot about that night and the attack that she has never remembered. But some people would rather let sleeping dogs lie and would do whatever it takes to stop Naomi from discovering the truth.

Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is sharp, well-structured and absorbing. Naomi is a convincing protagonist – scarred by the violence she has endured, emotionally unavailable for the most part, cynical and distrustful of the world around her, she is immensely flawed and has not made the smartest choices. But she is a survivor and resilient. Initially, a slow burn, the story picks up at around the 30% mark. There are a lot of characters we meet along the way, but it is not hard to keep track of who’s who. The novel is narrated by Naomi, in the present-day in the first person. Flashbacks take us back to the events that occurred during her childhood. Full of twists and red herrings, this book had me hooked till the very last page. While one of the twists is not difficult to predict, this book kept proving me wrong as the story progressed and topped it with an ending that I did not see coming! (I love it when that happens!) Well-written, chilling, atmospheric, and suspenseful, Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is a gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the first book written by this author that I've read and and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Many thanks to the author, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this gripping thriller. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is scheduled to be released on January 17, 2023.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I really enjoyed this book. At first, I thought it was slow and I really didn’t like the main character. However, by the end I did like her. The characters were dark and messed up. This book will question if you really ever know who your friends are. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that in the one sentence you were in the present and the next sentence you were in the past. It got kind of confusing. I had to reread a paragraph over to know what was going on. Overall this was a good book and I would recommend for people to read it.

I took a short break from reading and this book totally sucked me back in! The twists! The turns! Just when I was for sure I had it figured out, I was wrong, again! This author is spectacular in leading you to what you think may happen and totally throwing you a curve ball! This was one heck of a ride. Thank you netgalley and publisher for gifting me this eARC!

I am totally in the minority with this review. I thought this book was one of the worst I’ve read in a long time. The characters were unlikeable, devious, unhinged and despicable. I understand that was the point! But it was a “turn off” to me. The language was base, gruff and off putting. The plot was totally unbelievable. I wanted to ditch finishing it so many times but was granted it as an ARC and wanted to fulfill my obligation. I cannot write one redeeming sentence about this book and will not give specifics, as to not create spoilers. Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall is a thrilling, frightening story that keeps you awake to the jolting end. Some of the thrills are predictable but others aren’t so the engagement factor is very high with this deftly plotted book. The characters are all flawed in some way and you learn to what extent as the book twists and turns. Worth staying up to finish as your adrenaline that builds from the beginning won’t let you easily sleep.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read this exciting ARC.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of What Lies in the Woods in exchange for an honest review.

5 star read! Wow! All I can say is this book was full of twists and turns, very mysterious and unpredictable. I was HOOKED from the beginning and honestly couldn’t put it down. One of the best thrillers I’ve read in awhile. Kate Alice Marshall does an amazing job creating in depth and difficult characters and their relationships. I loved the magic of the childhood friendship and memories and also the concept of trauma and trust. I can’t say enough about this, definitely worth reading!

When Naomi was eleven, she was viciously attacked while playing in the woods with her friends Cassidy (Cass) and Olivia (Liv). Her memory of this event is practically nonexistent; all that she knows—or thinks she knows--comes from what others have told her. Convinced and pressured to rely on the recollections of others, Naomi makes sure the police get a conviction. She rationalizes that she did the right thing. But, is what they say really the truth of what happened? Is she a liar?

As an adult, she returns to her hometown and encounters the people who played a pivotal part in her childhood. She decides to find out what really occurred. She turns to her two friends, looking for support and information. However, they do not want to revisit the events of that day. Naomi rationalizes that their trauma is what holds them back. Cass is a leader who takes charge of situations; she is used to having people do what she wants without question. When Naomi asks her for help, Cass reacts as if Naomi is questioning her truthfulness and friendship. Liv wants to help Naomi but is too fragile to react; when she decides to, it is too late.

This is a book about memory, trauma, trust, friendships, expectations, and redemption. Our author returns often to the concept that we have stories that belong to us that are made up of our trauma and memories. They define us to others, but they also define how we see ourselves. For example, after the attack, Naomi was a troubled teenager. Her mother was dead, and her negligent father is a drunk. The people of the town view her as a troublemaker, never taking into account that she may responding to her trauma and may be asking for help. Naomi us unable to express herself appropriately. She’s afraid to share her real-self: her doubts, pains, and alienation.

Naomi is an aggravating character. She is mistrustful yet naïve, always believing that her friends—despite evidence of the opposite—are beyond reproach. She goes through a painful growth throughout this book trying to find out what she really wants from herself and others. Tied into this is a great whodunnit mystery.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book.

In my opinion this was a great book. The main character is a woman by the name of Naomi who runs into several obstacles leading back to her childhood. There are several twists and turns. I thought that I had the plot figured out but then I was wrong and the book surprised me. I definitely recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and Negalley for the advanced coy.

This was excellent! I was very lucky to read an advanced copy of What Lies In The Woods through NetGalley. It was a great book and thriller! There were several mysteries intertwined throuout that kept me guessing. Naomi the lead character is an extremely complicated person. She's funny, raw, blunt, off-putting, and uncomfortable. It was nice to see a complex person who you at times were very frustrated with and yet still rooted for. It was fast-paced and the pacing was great. Everything felt necessary and there wasn't any filler material. It was a great suspenseful mystery and I highly recommend this book!