I am so thankful to Flatiron, Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Kate Alice Marshall for sending an Advanced Listener Copy and a physical ARC of What Lies in the Woods prior to its publication date of January 17, 2023.

What a twisted tale that kept me guessing who the murderer was page after page. When the girls were eleven, Naomi, Olivia, and Cass all enjoyed playing around in the woods, believing in fairies and magic, spells and rituals to cast. One day they come across a skeletonized corpse wearing a bracelet with the name "Persephone" on it, they crown themselves victors and begin to make a game out of providing these remains with gifts and offerings.

In the depths of their game, one day, Naomi gets attacked and stabbed seventeen times and left for dead. The serial killer that apparently committed the crime was identified by the girls, convicted, and locked away for good.

Flash-forward twenty years and the convicted Serial Killer has died in prison, which should seemingly provide the girls with some sanity, but it does far from that because the girls were lying about what they saw that ill-fated night.


Returning to her childhood hometown, Naomi links up with Olivia and Cass to recount what happened that night and debate on coming forward with their misgivings. When Olivia turns up dead of a supposed suicide by gunshot, all hell breaks out, for nobody in Chester is really who they say they are. Naomi takes up with a podcaster, Ethan Schreiber to hash out the case in person and what they find is shell-shocking.

I was able to consume this fast-paced thriller in a few days and I really have a good feeling about this one for all of my thriller-loving pals.

TW: Racism, cancer, bullying, suicide, child sexual abuse, alcoholism, toxic parent relationship, drinking, language, bullying, family drama, depression, toxic friendships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: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.
Release Date: January 17th, 2023
Genre: Thriller - horror
Pages: 336
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Love the cover
2. The writing style flowed

What I Didn't Like:
1. Naomi is such an annoying character
2. Too predictable

Overall Thoughts:
This book is so predictable. I felt like it's a paint-by-numbers thriller. I mean maybe if you hadn't read a lot of thrillers you'd be shocked by the the things that happened in it. It all just felt meh to me.

I love how they question Naomi so much because she found the body. No one thinks it's odd that this dude followed her to the woods and was with her when she found her friend. Dude I would seriously question the guy that shows up in the woods while you are there. Plus the missing gun that she was killed with. How would she shoot herself and not have a gun? Naomi is stupid.


Ethan is clearly the son of the "killer". The way he keeps asking her if she made a mistake on saying it was Slate.

It drove me insane that Naomi is so trusting of Ethan. Like dude shows up asking about a podcast, follows stalks her to the woods, and then sleeps with her in the course of days. Then she tells him her secret that she didn't see Slates face.


This gross insta love with Ethan.... 😒


I am SHOCKED that Naomi was able to keep all her secrets for these years. She is so quick to just tell everyone what really happened.


Oh no I'm just so surprised it was Cody 🤪. Who would have seen that coming.


I hated everyone in this book. Everyone did the most random dumbest things. The fact that Cody let's Cassie explain everything to Naomi and THEN shoots Cassie is like why? I still don't get the point of calling Cassie to get her help dealing with Naomi if you were just going to kill Cassie too.

I hate how easy these characters were just able to shed all the drama and addictions they have. Naomi's dad is able to quit drinking and work on not being a hoarder. Naomi is able to deal with her dramas by not sleeping with random men to cover her emotion scars and trauma.

Final Thoughts:
Book was meh for me. That ending was cheesy. She looses fingers and is okay with it. She has a giant scar down her face and she's okay with it. Okay....

Recommend For:
• Thrillers with a complex background
• Fast reads
• Strong queer female lead

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Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
1 like

Wow! What a ride! Just when I thought I had this mystery thriller figured out, a new twist would completely throw me off. I really enjoyed this one! I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’ll just say no one is who they seem and I couldn’t put this one down!!! Great plot, great characters, and well written

Naomi Shaw returns to her hometown in response to a summons from her childhood best friend. Along with their other pal, Cass, they were involved in a horrific crime as children, in which Naomi was stabbed and almost murdered. The other girls ran for help, and their shared trauma has bonded them to each other ever since. As Naomi begins to revisit the past, she finds that her memories are unclear, and the version of this story she thought she knew may not be the whole truth. Or even a little of it!

This book was well written and the audiobook narrator was very good. Unfortunately, I was disappointed that I figured out all of the twists pretty early on. I even wrote some down so I could remember later what I had guessed, and see if I ended up being correct! The final act was action packed and suspenseful. Even though there wasn't much to be revealed, I enjoyed the tension and seeing how it would all turn out.

Without spoiling anything, the ultimate truth reminded me a bit of an infamous real life crime. I have to wonder if the author got some inspiration from that.

I may read too many thrillers. Maybe I am hard to impress these days! This one clearly wanted to surprise me, and it didn't. But that's okay! I don't mind a predictable plot as much if a book is at least written well and interesting keep reading.

Wow. 🤩 I really enjoyed this thriller/mystery novel. (Not something I say often these days, as they have been hard to keep me intrigued lately) This one is really well written and engaging and had me questioning everyone and everything.🔍

I’ve never read a book by this author before, but I for sure want to read more of her work in the future. I adored her writing style and the various twists and turns of the story. One twist I was able to see coming, but I loved playing the guessing game and there were plenty of shocks to come.

Essentially, this book is about a group of 3 eleven year old best friends who go in the woods to play a game they made up based on Greek mythology called “the goddess game.” One day, two of the girls run from the woods covered in blood claiming the 3rd friend had been attacked. What happens from that point on is a sequence of events etched with lies and numerous layers for the reader to uncover.

The story resumes with the girls in adulthood as they come together to discuss some issues of their past. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll only say that there is a huge mystery to explore with these friends and it ends with many deceptions being uncovered.

The audio made laundry feel like a breeze as I listening and lost track of reality. The narrator was total perfection. She really made this suspense story come to life and I hung on every word.

4.5/5 stars rounded up to 5 for this review

Tragedy in a small town finds a way to define not only those involved but the town as a whole. Naomi, Cass and Liv were three friends who at 11 years old seemed to escape a serial killers attempt to end their lives but when a call brings them back to the past dark secrets from this small town start to come to light.

Naomi who was stabbed 17 times and almost died was the towns surviver from this tragedy that rocked their small town, with the scars to remind her daily how lucky she was to still be alive. When she gets a call to inform her the person charged for her attempted murder died she and her two friends meet up to process the news together.

Cass and Liv who never left their small town in Washington state are still dealing with the events on the day where they almost lost their friend but the more time Naomi spends at home the more the dark secrets of the past start to come out.

There were so many twists and turns in this book that keep you guessing right up to the end on what really happened that day and did the right person get convicted of the crime of stabbing Naomi 17 times. This on the edge of your seat story kept me thinking I knew the twist only to have another one thrown in there.

An easy thriller to get through in a day with a great narrator and a plot that makes you not want to stop until the end made it easy to get through in a day.

I loved this audiobook, Karissa Vacker did an amazing job narrating and bringing the story to life.

What lies in the woods was tense and suspenseful and took me on a wild ride trying to guess what really happened to Naomi twenty-two years ago, and what it has to do with what is happening in her life right now. I never wanted to stop listening, and when I had to put it down I couldn't stop thinking about it, and what was going to happen next.

This was a twisty thriller that had so many layers, and every time one was peeled back we were left with even more questions. Naomi is never quite sure who she can trust throughout the story, but there was one person she began to let her walls down with, and that person I really liked, and hoped wouldn't end up being a part of this crazy mess she found herself in the middle of. And every time I was sure Naomi had put the right clues together and I had a strong suspicion of who was behind everything, we got a new piece of information that turned everything I thought completely upside down and had me rethinking it all. And when we finally get the big reveal I was surprised and loved how everything played out.

I have loved every Kate Alice Marshall book I've read, and can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

I will definitely be buying this once it's released in both audio and physical format.

What a wild ride! This is a really fun and suspenseful story that has a large cast of characters to keep track of. It was really hard to figure out who to trust (maybe no one??). There were a LOT of twists, so you definitely need to pay attention to who’s who and who did what, or you will get lost.

Naomi, Liv, and Cass played very sinister games in the woods at 11 years old. There were rituals, sacrifices, and blood offerings. One evening, Naomi was stabbed 17 times by a serial killer and somehow survived. But not without scars.

After receiving a letter from the son of the serial killer who attacked Naomi all those years ago, Naomi desperately needs the truth about who attacked her-and why her two best friends watched it happen.

I was interested in this story the entire time- never got bored or felt like the story was predictable.

Some things weren’t really tied up at the end, but I won’t spoil! I will likely read this in print to see if I catch more of the twists- it’s hard for me to pay 100% attention to audioboooks and I’m sure there’s tiny nuances I missed.

Narrator did a great job as well, which made for an easy listen 🎧.

👏🏼👏🏼𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 to readers who enjoy thrillers and twisty suspense.

I am looking forward to what this author releases next.

Really good book! Took me a bit to get into it, but by the halfway point, I was invested. I loved all the layers and unraveling everything. I felt like I was right there with Naomi waiting to find the truth. Will definitely be reading more from Kate Alice Marshall! Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

*Thank you to @netgalley & @macmillan.audio for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review*

I must be losing my touch because I did NOT see these twists coming. (Other than the first super obvious one. Lol) But that ending... shocked.

This was audio and this narrator, Karissa Vacker, is one of my FAVORITES! She's narrated a lot of books I've listened to and I just absolutely love her voice and her voice acting. She's passionate, but not cheesy. Just so nice to listen to! 👏 👏 👏

Honestly, I go back and forth between 4 and 5 stars for this book. It was a very solid thrilled. Strong characters and really just all around enjoyable.

What happens when you mix the secrets of a small-town community, the depths of a child's dark imagination, and a super creepily atmospheric setting in the woods? This very twisty little book! This story was so dang gripping and packed full of twists all the way up to the end. Right when I thought I had everything figured out toward the end, a whole new element was revealed, and I thought the ending overall wrapped everything up together well and made sense with the story.

As always, Karissa Vacker absolutely nailed the audio performance and her transition between characters was seamless while also making it easy to tell who was who in the chapter. She was so animated throughout the whole story and really helped to keep me invested during times I felt the story lulled a little bit.

Definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys psychological thriller/mysteries. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my early audiobook copy!

Naomi and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent their summers in the woods playing games. But then Naomi was attacked, she had some pretty severe injuries. She didn't see her attacker but Cassidy and Olivia did, so she agreed with them when asked, and her attacker went to prison. It's now twenty years later and Naomi's attacker has died from cancer. Olivia wants to tell the truth about that day, so Naomi goes back home to try to figure out what really happened.

Wow, what a story! Just when I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. These girls all had secrets and very dark ones at that. WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS would make an amazing movie! It kept me on the edge of my seat as I listened to the audiobook in one day. I highly recommend getting this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted on my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this ARC! I really enjoyed this story and the narrator did a fantastic job! This was my first read by this author but I will be reading more in the future. I loved her prose and the twists were done very well. A fast paced and intriguing thriller!

I read about 40% of this, but just lost interest. I didn't finish it.

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Fast- paced thriller about three friends who survived a horrendous assault as 11 year olds. Now 20 years later they reunite after they learn that the man who was sent to jail for the crime has died in prison. I was hooked early and even though I was right about the underlying mystery, I enjoyed the ride.
Highly recommended

This is one of the most compelling thrillers that I have ever read. Kate Alice Marshall does a fantastic job setting up this gripping novel. There are so many twists and turns up until the very end. Once you pick this book up, you will not want to put it down. I also listened to the audiobook and very much enjoyed it!

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Karissa Vacker as the narrator of this book! She switches characters seamlessly while still making them easily identifiable. The story was based on three girls who were attacked in the woods when they were young, with one almost dying, and revisiting the crime years later to try to find deeper answers. I really enjoyed the character development and there were so many different twists and turns in the last fourth of the book, my head was spinning! I would recommend to anyone who likes psychological thrillers with an ending you won’t see coming!

Three best friends Naomi, Cassidy and Olivia have known each other since grade school. They used to spend their summers playing in the woods and played games. Twenty years ago Naomi was attacked in the woods, with seventeen wounds. She survived the attack and with her friends testimony they put a man away in prison.

Fast forward they get notified that the man died in prison. We learn they all lied, and its possible he was not the man responsible. The secrets they kept and their promise to each other are coming out. Olivia wants to set the record straight, but something happens to her which changes everything.

Did they really know each other? What really happened? The twists in this novel kept me engaged in this novel. My first by the author. The narrator Karissa Vacker is a favorite of mine. She is so animated and keeps you invested.

Thank you NetGalley, Macmillian Audio and author Kate Alice Marshall for this advanced audio, which is due out January 2023. I will look for more books by this author and narrator.

This was a very intense thriller/mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire book.

We meet Naomi as an adult who has returned home after years away. As a child, in the woods with her two best friends, Naomi is brutally attacked by a serial killer and left for dead. Her friends hide and watch, terrified. Naomi survives and the testimony of herself and her friends while her friends sends the serial killer away. The whole town applauded tehm for their bravery.

Years later, the killer has passed in prison. Naomi returns home to spend some time with those friends. They relive a lot of memories. Things get cloudy.

And here is where I can't tell any more for fear of spoiling the story. But it was a roller coaster of a ride and I'd definitely recommend.

It was amazing on audio!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Three 11 year old girls play a game in the woods, a last hoorah before moving on to middle school. Best friends. A skeleton is involved. One girl s attacked & left for dead.

20 years later the girls return to town & suddenly there’s a mystery to solve!

Listen as the narrator peels back the multi-layered lies & the truth is revealed.

Is there a serial killer on the loose in this small town due to lies? An unreliable narrator? Did an innocent man die in prison? So many twists & turns your head will spin.

A good slice of small town life. Secrets that fester. Can a secret kill?

I liked the ending.

Thank you Macmillan Audio & NetGalley! This was a fantastic thriller!