What Lies in the Woods written by Kate Alice Marshall and narrated by Karissa Vacker is a tale of friendship, betrayal, healing from trauma and finding yourself.

This story is unsettling and once every piece falls into place, you are left shocked and heartbroken. I really liked the way the story was told with a few flashbacks jumping back to that tragic summer. It showed how the events unfolded from the perspective of the main character.

I liked how the story unravelled and while I guessed some things, others were a shock to me. I did have a hard time keeping up with all the characters but that's maybe because I listened to this book. That resulted in me not connecting much with the characters outside of the MC.

But I did connect to Niaomi. I love how open she is about being bisexual! And about her scars - the fact that she never covered them up, it shows how strong she is.

Overall, this is a thrilling and entertaining story that shows what people are willing to do for the ones they love.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite the twisted (and twisty) little thriller, wasn’t it? Honestly, preteen girls can be so scary in themselves and then we add in creepy Goddess Games.

I felt that this book was paced really well. I’ve seen some reviews saying it was a slower start, but I didn’t feel that way! I thought the twists and revelations were well-spaced, keeping you engaged throughout. Plus, another podcast trope. What’s not to like?

Though, a bit predictable at times, I felt there were enough other surprises to keep it interesting. I really enjoyed the main character, too! I liked how she used humor to deflect and was open about her coping strategies- it all seemed very real in that sense which I can appreciate.

The narrator, Karissa Vacker, absolutely crushed it. I’ve recently gotten into audiobooks so I’m still learning my go-to narrators, but she is now added to that list.

Let me start by saying I listened to the audiobook and Karissa Vacker is stellar and is easily one of my favorite narrators at the moment. The storyline was interesting, the pacing was excellent and the secrets and lies just kept coming! I was definitely shocked by some of the twists! While Naomi wasn’t always a likable main character, she had great character development and I was still rooting for her to piece together what happened in the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

Naomi, Olivia, and Cassidy were eleven years old when the unthinkable happened, one of them was viciously attacked while they were playing in the woods, and survived it. Naomi was certain she had put the right guy away for the crime but years later, after he died from cancer in prison, she questions everything she remembered about that awful day.

It's a slow burn, that really picks up in the end and has plot twists that I didn't see coming!

Just when I thought I had the twists pointed out, I quickly realized I did. It. The audio and we great. An engaging, fast-paced thriller that I could stop listening to. Would definitely recommend!

Read if you like:
-unreliable narrators
- lots of twists and turns
-deceptions
- double meanings
- who dunnit
-thrillers
- atmospheric settings

This Narrator!!!! I absolutely adore anything and everything Karissa records because she always does such a phenomenal job and always elevates a story with her narration skills to a point that honestly I love it more because of her narration which is rare for me to love a narrators work this much..

This book is full of twists and turns and deceptions that will make you keep guessing all the way to the ending to wonder what truly lies in the woods and what lies were told in the woods…

To say that this one took me for a ride would be an understatement as it was so well done!

3.5

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall was another enjoyable listen narrated by Karissa Vacker. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the review copy!

What Lies in the Wood released today and it’s a memorable one! Naomi and her friends spent their summer playing The Goddess Game in the woods, until one of them is attacked and stabbed 17 times. They identify the man who attacked her, a serial murderer wanted for killing several other women. Except, the details are fuzzy and she questions whether she put the right man away and whether his son wants revenge for what she did.

Although I could see a few of the major plot twists coming, it didn’t bug me because our author did a good job at keeping this book interesting. I was still surprised by a few things, too! Altogether, this was atmospheric and well-written. I was rooting for some people from the beginning and was nervous and pleased to see how things turned out for them. There were a lot of characters who gave me the creeps, which added to the ambience.

Karissa Vacker did a fantastic job narrating, as always. I was enthralled from start to finish. I couldn’t imagine anyone else narrating this novel.

This was a very good book. It had me questioning who the killer was the entire time. I never expected the ending. I have murder mysteries like this. She did such a good job. The narrative was excellent.

While I realize the year is just getting started, this is definitely my favorite read so far. Well, I should say listen and thank Macmillan for bringing it to my attention. I devoured this one. And I was mostly guessing until the end. I did peg one piece of the puzzle pretty early on, but in all honesty, I wasn’t sure and wavered on and off over it. It isn’t often I am totally stumped so kudos to the author.

This was my choice of book to listen to on my walks and at the end I was lucky I was walking alone on the golf course as I started talking to the characters. LOL. It’s been a while since I lectured a character.

I was invested from the start. I liked the present story better than the flashbacks to when the girls were children, but those kept up the pace and didn’t drag the story down. I also liked the dynamic of the adult friends. I was a little leary of whether I could trust Naomi’s narration, but that is normal for me in a thriller.

I’ve listened to a few books narrated by Karissa Vacker and she has quickly made into my group of top female narrators. She nails this narration.

There are multiple mysteries to untangle, coming home after an extended time, parental issues, PTSD from an assault and so much more. The story is layered and I was immersed as the layers were peeled.

Kate Alice Marshall, your place as one of my favorite authors is firmly established! To be fair it was already, but this audiobook definitely sealed the deal.

She has such a magnificent way of crafting a wholly unique and original world and a marvelously detailed cast of characters to populate it, and then placing them in bizarre and scary and violent and eerie and magnificent situations that allow them to thrive under the strongest pressure.

The narration was the icing on the cake for this one. Vilinsky is one of my favorite narrators, and she does a fantastic job here. Her voices are distinctive without being caricatures or overly done, and the nuance and pacing with which she reads really brings the story to life in all its creepy glory. I really loved this one!

Naomi and her friends survived a terrible night in the woods a couple of decades ago. The stories that followed of the 3 brave young girls made headlines nationwide and they were celebrated. However, someone knows what really happened that night and it's not what any of the girls have told anyone else. Cassidy and Olivia have stayed behind in their home town after Naomi moved away and when she goes back to visit, Olivia wants to tell the truth of what happened that night, regardless of the consequences.
This book had more twists and turns than many I've read, and just when I thought I had it figured out, something else happened that proved I was wrong.
The narrator did an amazing job in all areas and that helped keep me on my toes throughout the story

I really liked this one. I love books where the title comes into play and what lies in the woods has multiple meanings through out the story. It gave Final Girls vibes, even though Naomi wasn’t technically a final girl she still read like one.

There were lots of characters to draw suspicion and several twists. I guessed 2 of them so it wasn’t quite a 5 star read. But I was still invested in the outcome.

This one was tense and had me looking over my shoulder while reading. Would recommend for anyone new to the genre or fans of Stacy Willingham and Megan Miranda.

*3.5 stars*

This was a very twisty thriller! I read a lot of thrillers and it’s not often that I don’t see the ending coming. This gave up enough of its twists that it kind of lulled me into a false sense of thinking I had it all figured out.

Great for fans of modern thrillers. Small town, creepy woods thrillers are my favorite and this really satisfied that itch. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes that kind of atmosphere.

A couple tropes in the book aren’t my favorite like the podcast angle and the “avoids trauma by sleeping with everyone” troupe, but they weren’t so huge a part of the story that it became off-putting.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC copy of this work. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

The first 50% of this book did it catch my attention and seemed to drag a bit. I was interested enough to continue and the back 50% was much better.

I don’t really no how I feel about it

SYNOPSIS:
Naomi, Cassidy and Olivia were just 11 when the most horrific event happened to them. They sent a man to jail for brutally attacking Naomi in the woods where they live.

Now, years later, when the women find out the man has died in jail old secrets and memories start to come to the surface.

Are the memories of three 11-year-old girls correct? And are they hiding secrets of their own?

THOUGHTS:
-So many twists and turns
-Whodunnit? I really didn’t know until the story was coming to an end
-Cannot the characters and I loved every minute of it!
-Audio was great and I could not stop listening.

4.5 stars for What Lies in the Woods. I could not figure this one out until very late in the game and the audio book was phenomenal! Great job Karissa Vacker!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

What Lies In the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall has plenty of secrets and drama to keep the book moving along quickly. I listened to the audio format and really enjoyed the myriad of voices provided by the narrator. Three girls vowed to keep a secret after spending a day in the woods together. Fast forward a couple decades and that secret is about to be revealed with stunning consequences. Lots of mystery and deceit make for a riveting thriller. Read and enjoy!

From my blog: Always With a Book

This is the second book I’ve read by Kate Alice Marshall, though it is her debut adult mystery/suspense novel and if this is any indication of what’s to come, I cannot wait! I really liked the one YA thriller I read, Our Last Echoes and have been meaning to read her others and now I will do so as I wait to see what she writes next!

But back to this story…and oh what a story it was! While I did have the print copy, I was able to snag the audio version and I’m so glad I did because one of my favorite narrators, Karissa Vacker narrates it and she did a fantastic job bringing this story to life! This one grabbed me from the beginning and I was completely captivated from start to finish. The idea that three young friends managed to send a serial killer to prison after an attack in the woods is one I just couldn’t resist. But of course, the deeper you get into the story, the more you realize not all is as it seems.

I loved all the twists and turns this book took. It totally surprised me and let me say, as someone who reads a lot of thrillers it’s a nice change of pace when you don’t see everything coming. I loved the true crime feeling this one had and would classify it as a nice slow-burn thriller that definitely picks up speed towards the end. It is incredibly atmospheric, and I love how it gets into the reliability of memories, especially those from childhood.

This is a suspenseful, addictive read and I loved how we don’t get the full story of what happened all those years ago all at once. Rather, it is revealed in little pieces, keeping you on edge. And along the way, the twists are thrown in at just the right moments to keep you off-kilter. Add in flawed characters and the secrets that they all have and you can’t help but become consumed with this story.

I highly recommend picking this one up. As I mentioned, this is Kate Alice Marshall’s debut adult novel and I think she totally nailed it!



Audio thoughts:

As I mentioned, this is narrated by Karissa Vacker and she does a fantastic job bringing this book to life. There are a lot of characters in this book and Karissa is able to give each and every one of them their own unique voice and personality which is just one of the reasons she is a favorite narrator. Her pacing and intonation were spot on and she managed to infuse just the right amount of emotion and tension into her voice as needed.

Jaw dropping novel! The narrator brings the entire book to life!!! This was one of the best reads/listens this year!!!

Happy pub day to What Lies In The Woods! And thank you to NetGalley for the ALC!

I am so happy I read this one, it was SO good!

Synopsis:

Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes. And they were liars. For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods—no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.

What I liked:
- The story itself was interesting! Through the whole book I had trouble putting it down because I just wanted to know what happened.
- The characters are complex but not so complex you feel lost
- When do you read a thriller where the main murder victim lives? It was definitely an interesting twist right from the start.

What I didn’t like:
- It got a bit confusing at the end when the plot was unravelling. I got easily confused but understood it in the end.

Overall I really enjoyed this one! I’ve had a lot of rom-com arcs to get out this month, so it was really refreshing to switch up my reading with this one.

While I certainly found this book propulsive and easy to read, for me, it was an average 3/5. I found the plot twists to be fairly predictable. However, that did not keep me from devouring the book! I thought the true crime kind of mash up of Green River Killer and the Slenderman case was an interesting premise to build a fictionalized story on. While an average read for me, I would read another book by Kate Alice Marshall.