☕️𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬☕️

Favorite thriller of the year so far (albeit it’s only January😂)

“They were eleven when they sent a killer to prison. They were heroes . . . but they were liars.

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.”

THIS BOOK IS GRIPPING. And dark and so screwed up. Kinda culty. Kinda magical. Definitely terrified of young girls now haha I loved it and all of the novels wild twists. Absolutely ate it up.

Naomi is a trauma survivor who returns to her hometown after the man she accused of stabbing her 17 times as a child dies of natural causes in prison. She begins to realize that her memories of the event may not be reliable, and when a podcaster starts questioning Naomi and a death occurs, Naomi begins to unravel the threads of a 22 year old personal history.

For some reason I've been reading a lot of thrillers lately, and this is probably one of the best. Like many thrillers, it suffers from common thriller tropes (albeit minimally), but actually has a plot with characters that I thought were (for the most part) believable. I was never bored reading it, and I really empathized with the main character (for many reasons).

If you're looking for a fast-paced, unputdownable thriller for a camping weekend, the beach, a long flight or winter night at home, What Lies in the Woods is a solid investment; I probably could have stayed with this one for one sitting.

Great audiobook narrator!

This book was so well written, I felt like I was living through it. The plot twist was pure perfection and the mind games!!! I highly recommend this one to all thriller lovers

4.5

This was my first book by Kate Alice Marshall, but it won’t be my last.

This is Marshall’s adult debut and it has so many elements I love: small town secrets, an amateur sleuth, and a past crime that may or may not be connected to current events. In this case our “detective” is Naomi Shaw who, at age 11, was stabbed and left for dead by a serial killer… or was she?

I loved followed Naomi. She was brash and jaded and fully aware of some of her less admirable qualities but she was unapologetically herself. She’s also openly bisexual and there’s a moment in the story where she’s reflecting on a childhood friendship and thinks something along the lines of ‘in hindsight that was pretty gay’ which I found deeply relatable.

The plot itself is twisty and though I guessed at most of the reveals, I still found the ride enjoyable. Partially because I liked being in Naomi’s head and partially because I liked the atmosphere Marshall created and liked the bits of humor she threw into her prose.

This book was narrated by Karissa Vacker, who is quickly becoming a favorite narrator for me. I like the way she distinguishes character voices and I find her tone to be very soothing. I highly recommend picking this book up!

This was an excellent thriller that kept you guessing and on the edge of your seat! I figured out a few things early on and the reveal was one of my many theories but I enjoyed the story getting there. This was my first book by this author and I will go back and read her backlist.

I requested this book because it was narrated by Karissa Vacker who is always excellent and this was no exception, everyone has a voice and the emotions she brings are fabulous! I also want to thank her for helping me discover a new author!

4 stars

I received this book from the publisher Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Loved the narrator for this book! Found them to be engaging throughout.

Although, I pretty much guessed right away “who dun it,” I was surprised by the motivations of one of the characters.

I found this to be a legitimately thrilling thriller! There are a lot of players considering the length of the book and it was a bit to keep up with but overall it wasn’t too bad.

Thanks to NetGalley I was able to listen to the audiobook and I absolutely love the narrator! It was the perfect narration for this story and I really have no complaints there - it was a great addition to the story!

It’s an interesting idea for a story as well. A young girl manages to survive the attack of a serial killer - her testimony puts him away but the thing is, she doesn’t actually remember any of it. We find ourselves in small town world as this book progresses and it feels real (at least from my own small town experience) since small towns do tend to protect their own at all costs.

I really did enjoy this book. My only real complaint is the amount of players to keep track of and it turns out almost every single one is important. That could be an audio exclusive issue though -

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

3.5 stars

Short and sweet review time…

I was excited to listen to the audio version of this book because @karissavacker is my favorite narrator. She does a fabulous job, as always, of bringing the story and characters to life. I also chose this as my January @bookofthemonth selection, so I sometimes switched between the audio and physical versions.

A small town with a decades old secret sets the scene, and there are thrilling twists and turns along the way. I guessed the ending pretty early on, so that was a bit of a bummer for me. I like to be surprised.

All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

My thanks to @macmillan.audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook.

What happens when what you thought you knew about a tragic event turns out to be a lie? Naomi Shaw is about to find out. At age 11, she was viciously attacked while her two friends were hiding nearby, but what they say they saw and what she remembers aren't clear. They're adults now and secrets from that long ago summer are starting to bubble up and threaten the peace they've found in their lives. The writing is atmospheric and the oppressiveness of the Pacific Northwest rain forests create a creepy vibe that enhances the storytelling. The mystery unravels at a nice pace and the ending still held some surprises.

The audiobook narration does a good job at capturing the characters and I found that the pacing perfectly matched the flow of the book.

I am an absolute sucker for a small town that has secrets on secrets on secrets, and this one did not disappoint! I love Kate's storytelling and the way that she perfectly weaves the past and present. I can't wait to read more from this author - I see she has YA and MG titles and I want to check them all out!

And I just need to let it be known that I absolutely adored this narrator and will definitely pick up other books that she does!

Big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the audio arc!

In the small town of Chester, the news of gossip and events travel like wildfire. Naomi, Liv and Cass were 11 when tragedy struck their best friend trio. While playing a game in the woods during their summer break, Naomi is violently attacked. All three girls are traumatized but have identified the same man as being responsible. The girls have several secrets they're keeping... is the identity of the killer one of them?

I really enjoyed this title. I felt like the narrator did a great job differentiating between character voices, so the dialog was easy to follow. It definitely held my attention; I was dying to find out what happened next! Several twists and turns were unexpected, but I did end up guessing part of the major plot twist early on. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this title to anyone who loves mysteries or thrillers.

I really enjoyed this twisty thriller. 3 young girls sent a killer to prison, Was he the one who attacked one of their group? What happened and who was at fault? After many years the man they sent to prison has passed away. This brings up a lot if feeling and even more questions.

This book was ok. At times I thought I thought it had potential to be better then it ultimately was. The main reason that I found it to be just ok is that none of the characters were likable and I figured out where the book was heading almost from the beginning.

There were a lot of twists in this book; a few of them were quite obvious to me and some were not. I like how Kate Alice Marshall was able to tie everyone's story lines together and I look forward to reading more of Kate's books in the future.

Karissa Vacker did a great job of narrating this novel and I will definitely look for more books narrated by Karissa in the future.

I was approved for an eARC via NetGalley.
This is my first book by this author, and I am officially a fan! This is the story of three girls who experienced something horrific during their childhood. They put a serial killer away for life, but now they have to face some secrets that they tried to bury. I loved the atmosphere of the small mountain town in Washington state, I liked the character development, and the way the story ended. I think this thriller would be perfect for fans of Riley Sager or Ruth Ware. Overall I gave this book 4 stars because I felt like the pace lost steam in the middle, and because I guessed the twist.

This was such a ride! I absolutely loved this thriller from start to finish. I did guess a few of the reveals, but how they were revealed and the motives were not what I guessed at all. I absolutely loved the true crime podcast element to this. I thought the characters all felt very real, and that this story actually seemed plausible. None of the twists were out of left field, they fit with the story and weren't just for shock value. Kate Alice Marshall is an absolute master of storytelling and I cannot wait to read more from her.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my review copy!

Naomi and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, were attacked in the woods when they were 11 years old. Naomi not only survived the vicious assault that nearly ended her life, but her testimony sent the serial killer to jail.
While their small town thought they were heroes the girls had secrets of their own.
A fast-paced intriguing read!
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook narrated by Karissa Vacker.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This book is wow. If you love true crime and thriller this is for you! The whole time we have so much sympathy for our main character. Her life is simply a mess and she’s just trying to figure it all out. One bad thing after another just keeps happening. But it all finally comes together once it all crashes down.

This story reminds me a lot of the true crime story of slender man. We all know the creepy pasta stories about slender man, but the true crime one that actually happened is even scarier. If you know that story, you’ll feel the same about this one.

(Audiobook): Fantastic narrator for this intense mystery!

The audiobook version was fantastic and had me riveted! The narrator varied her voice for the different characters and kept these variations consistent throughout the story! I'm impressed with the narrator and loved the mystery by Kate Alice Marshall! 5 stars!

What Lies in the Woods is a psychological drama about Naomi, a woman who was attacked in the woods and left for dead when she was eleven years old. Two of her friends witnessed her attack, and they all identify her attacker as a hotly hunted serial killer who was busy in their region. But now that they are adults, commiserating over the untimely death of the killer they fingered, we find out that they lied. The big question we need to answer is “about what?”, and it seems like the answer is "so very, very much".

Between you and me, I couldn’t stand Naomi’s character. I didn’t care much for her two friends, Cass and Olivia, either. If I’m being honest, there wasn’t a single character in the book I really enjoyed getting to know. Everyone was neurotic, abrasive or angling to get their own, and they were all untrustworthy in their own unique ways. It was exhausting trying to keep up with the drama they continued to create for themselves.

Not one of the characters was particularly memorable.

As for the narration, I started having a hard time distinguishing the male characters from each other -- either Karissa Vacker isn't all that good at performing male voices, or the author didn't do a very good job of giving them distinct personalities. Either way, they all seemed kind of limp and less than fleshed out.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a chance to listen to and give my honest thoughts on this audiobook. I really wish I’d liked it more than I did. While I might try another novel from Kate Alice Marshall, I wouldn’t go out of my way to find one.