One of the best ones of the year. I enjoyed this tremendously. Pick it up and it won’t disappoint you.

Wow! This book truly surprised me with the many twists it included! I had to reread a few sections because I was so shocked with what had just happened. Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC!

This book blew my mind! I just finished it and I can’t even comprehend what happened at the end!
Let’s backtrack to the beginning where the rollercoaster first began. The very first page sent us on a ride of a lifetime to a magical forest where three best friends; Cass, Liv, and Naomi pretended to be goddesses by crafting potions from leaves and flowers. They played a “Goddess Game” and gave offerings to their new friend Persephone that was found in a tunnel beneath a big rock. They swore to each other that they would never tell anyone about their discovery.

One quiet summer, darkness took over their magical forest and sent the girls running for help. Liv and Cass escaped the woods drenched in blood but Naomi was on the forest floor left for dead. Naomi was saved, she was stabbed 17 times but she was alive!
Together, three girls identified the suspect and sent him to prison for life. Twenty years later he died in prison and Naomi is left rethinking her past.
It turns out her small town of Chester has been keeping a BIG secret from her and her friends know about it too.

I love how the author brought in so many characters from Naomi’s past, and pinned them as possible suspects. I couldn’t quite figure out who the real villain was and I felt like the author brought in so much mystery and helped us peel away the layers of clues but also kept us in the dark until the explosive end!
Naomi shouldn’t have been digging around to find the truth because some people would KILL to keep it buried!

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a great thriller. It was mysterious, heart pounding, and kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. This is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year!

4.25
This was definitely a step above your average thriller/mystery. The twists just keep coming, and the end, woah! I was interested and engaged the entire time! And I really look forward to more by this author if this is what I should expect!

3.5 Stars
One summer twenty two year ago changed the lives of three young girls forever. Naomi Shaw and her two best friends always played in the woods. Games full of magic and mysticism, trying to hold on to their childhood just a little bit longer. Then tragedy struck, Naomi was attacked in the woods. The other two girls were witnesses and then everything spun out of control. The girls identified a wanted serial killer as the man who attacked Naomi. He’s then convicted and sent to prison, the only problem is they lied. That lie catches up to them as adults after the killer dies in prison and Olivia decides she can’t keep the secret any longer. Naomi is determined to try and find out what really happened in those woods, but will they all make it out of the woods a second time?
I did enjoy this story, the characters were well written and the storyline was interesting. The suspense builds from the beginning and is pretty consistent to the end. I did find that there were a bit too many twists and too many character reveals in this one. Toward the end it gets a bit confusing as to who did what and when. The ending was good, although a little abrupt. All in all I thought this was a decent mystery and would recommend it. Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron books for the opportunity to review this novel.

When Naomi Cunningham was a child, she survived a murder attempt out in the woods near her home. As an adult, this event in her life has left her with serious physical scars and just as painful mental scars.

Her best friends Cass and Liv witnessed the attack, but Naomi doesn’t remember what happened to her. So when her friends identify the attacker, she supports their story.

They wouldn’t lie… would they?

What Lies in the Woods is a well written, intense story of survival, betrayal, and and how one moment can change the lives of so many people.

This book has a whole lotta twists and while I did guess the big plot twist around 29% the book does a fantastic job of making you doubt yourself. You’re so incredibly suspicious of everyone and everything- this book makes you so paranoid!

The characters are written with a nice individual flair that helps you immerse yourself in the book. Naomi is self-aware (to an extent), damaged, and flawed- yet she is still a sympathetic, engaging character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for the eARC! What Lies in the Woods is out January 17th 2023.

I’m baffled. Heads empty. While I saw one of the twist coming I didn’t see the other one coming like it did. The pace? Love. Characters? Loved (and hated). The twists? Love. The ending? While ambiguous for a certain character I loved. The reveal?? omg be prepared.

What lies in the woods is a tale
Of three unlikely friends who share a tragic event.
One leaves their small town and doesn’t seem to be able to straighten out her life. The other two stay and live day by day….or so it seems.

When they come together again, it seems to be difficult to understand the why’s of the past.
And now one of them is dead. And there’s more…..

Twists and turns you won’t see coming. You think you finally have it all figured out but do you?

From the start it's an edge of your seat roller coaster of " who done it/what really happened that day in the woods". Just when you think you have it figured out, another clue/memory is revealed that sends you spiraling towards another theory.

When little girls believe in magic, they will play all sorts of games. While completing on of their magic rituals, one of them(Naomi) is stabbed. All the girls point to the most likely person. A man suspected of being a serial killer. He fits the description of the man her 2 friends saw and they want to keep what they were doing in those woods hidden.

Their testimony is the only thing that can put the serial killer away, but the victim lies, she never saw his face. Fast forward 20+ years, the serial killer is dead, someone has figured out she lied that day and one of her friends it tired of hiding what they were doing in the woods. In a small town, some secrets like to stay hidden, but Naomi is determined to figure out what happened to her that day, at all cost

This was a great mystery. The story centers on Naomi, who was attacked in the woods as a child while playing with her 2 best friends. Their testimony put away a murderer but after he dies in prison 20+ years later, Naomi begins to question what really happened, and returns to her hometown to investigate.

The author did a fantastic job of creating red herrings and I changed my mind more times than I can count about who the villain was. When it was all revealed, the truth was both heartbreaking and believable. There was so much more to the story than just the attack on Naomi, and the author weaved it all together brilliantly and tied up the loose ends. I also felt that the friendship between the girls was authentic and that the author wrote beautiful prose that captured the spirit of young girls. I was frustrated with Naomi regularly but I also felt like I had to cut her some slack based on the traumas that she had experienced. I immediately decided on the choices I hope she makes after the book ends :)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and appreciated the many twists and turns throughout. I’d recommend it to those who read mysteries and psychological thrillers, and am going to track down some more books by this author. I’d give this 4.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review. #NetGalley #WhatLiesintheWoods

What Lies in the Woods is a suspenseful novel that kept me guessing til the end. Twisted and emotional and very well written, I enjoyed everything about this story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

Three girls walk into the woods. Only two come out.

Naomi still bears the scars of what happened that day in the woods. Now, as an adult, she’s drawn back to the small town of her childhood, and what she discovers there will require her to face more than just the truth. Will she make it out of the woods again, years later, for a second time?

What I Loved:
- a main character with flaws—physical and emotional scars—that she continues to try to cope with and heal. There were a lot of lines and passages in relation to that and they really resonated.
- Oh, the beginning. The way it starts is this absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful image of the wilderness, the wildness, that exists in little girls. Marshall captured that feeling so exquisitely. A few passages in particular clutched my heart in their fists and still haven’t let go. So beautiful, while also heartbreaking, remembering having those feelings so strongly as a little girl, yet now having them buried deep under the burdens of adulthood and the “taming” bestowed on us by patriarchal and societal expectations (and so much more).
- The twists and turns in the many reveals. You think you have it fairly well figured out, but then you’ll still have some lingering suspicions, and the. one little and big reveal after another confirms some things while also leaving you with raised eyebrows and maybe also an open mouth.
- Steady pacing! There weren’t any times when I felt I got bored or didn’t feel a little bit itchy to grab my kindle and keep reading until I finished. It caught my attention straight away and held it.
- There was a moment when a few things started being revealed and I thought, “Okay, so that’s probably it. Solid 4 star … but I wanted a smidge more.” And then I was given a few more twists and reveals and got my smidge more, even when I thought I had nearly hit the end and this was the best Marshall had for me.
- The quoteableness of so much of the book, which isn’t very typical of a mystery/suspense sort of novel. I walked away with a decent amount of lines and passages highlighted and I hadn’t expected that.

What I didn’t Love:
- I wish the main character, Naomi, had been a little bit more loveable/likeable, but considering her past and current traumas, her rough-around-the-edges flaws made her what she was, and I can respect that.

Overall
Solid mystery/suspense from Kate Alice Marshall and my favorite of hers so far of the ones I’ve read. Initially, I felt like it’d get a solid 4 stars out of me, but the bigger reveals kept twisting around more than I thought they would, and after revisiting some passages I had highlighted, the writing also tipped me over to a 5. It was fast-paced and will have you guessing along with the main character about what REALLY happened that day in the woods and what it all ultimately means.

HOLY WOW!!! I finished this book with my jaw on the floor and my mind racing. The writing, the character development, the interwoven lives and twists and turns. It literally left me stunned. This is probably the best book I’ve read all year.

At age 11 this trio of girls sent a killer to prison and they were all left scarred in their own way with deep ties back to the small town where it happened. The goddess game. The summer of magic which led to Naomi being stabbed 17 times, Olivia having a small grasp on reality and Cassidy trying to keep it all together. They put away a serial killer together but there were so many lies involved. 22 years later Olivia wants to tell the lie and Naomi coming back to uncover the truth. It’s deeper and more twisted than anyone can imagine. Will Naomi survive finding it and if she does will it destroy her?

What I can mainly say about this book is that I read it front start to finish in a day. It sucks you in. It tosses you around. It spits you out I’m a completely different direction than you thought you were going. This books is incredible. Go. Go get it right now.