Twisty, and dark, and FACINATING. Courtney Gould will always be an author I turn to when I need an unsettling story and a complicated MC and What the Woods Took hit that nail right on the head. I very much enjoyed not only the main character, but the whole cast of misfits on this dark, therapy adventure. The romance, too, was thrilling to watch--their back and forth, their angst and hate, all of it. I was hooked the whole time, and parts of the end were definitely unexpected (in a good way).

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. What the Woods Took is a ya horror/thriller that follows a handful of teens that have been kidnapped for some sort of wilderness camp with the permission of their parents or guardians. I, overall, enjoyed this story. I liked the setting of the woods. The comparison to Yellowjackets was a good one. I loved how creepy the mimics were and all of the suspense surrounding the characters finding out about them. This was a fast paced story and I read it in a day. My only complaint was that I had trouble believing in the close relationships between the characters because they were all strangers at the start of the story. I understand bonding over the horror they're experiencing together, but some of the things they said left me rolling my eyes because they've all known each other less than a month. But that didn't really diminish the story much. I was eager to find out what was going on and if the characters were going to survive. Definitely recommending this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Well written and engaging but overall lacking in its tension and pacing. I found myself coming away just wanting more from this. This did make me curious enough to look into Courtney Gould’s other publications though!

I loved this one. The cast of characters were so well written and my heart broke for all of them in turn. The story kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I enjoyed this novel by Gould. It was scary at points and I think teens will really enjoy that. It was also not only scary but I really enjoyed the character growth. Definitely has that creep factor.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Stories about abusive wilderness "therapy" programs have been blowing up lately. I've been watching documentaries and reading books about them. It's really horrifying the things they've gotten away with and the trauma that these kids have left with. When I saw an author turned this theme into a horror novel, I was immediately sold.

This book was so bizarre, and I loved it! The characters were all "troubled" teens forced into this wilderness reform retreat. While each character is flawed, they each have a unique and interesting story that makes them all relatable. Pushing a bunch of acting out teens together is probably not a recipe for success, but then you add in some weird things going on in the woods and you know that this retreat is not going to go well. Then members start to go missing and other start to act strangely. What starts as a "straightforward" wilderness trip, soon becomes a fight for survival.

I loved the meshing of the characters. They all came from different backgrounds with little in common, but as the story progresses, you watch as they are forced to rely on each other in order to survive. Unlikely friendships develop and the book becomes so much more than just a story about survival.

I will never understand how authors come up with things. This book was incredibly unique and creative, and I devoured it. Gould created the perfect setting for a creepy and atmospheric novel that will leave readers wanting to sleep with the lights on.

Queer YA horror is my jam, and Courtney Gould has officially secured her place on my list of favorite authors in this genre.

What the Woods Took is a slow, atmospheric horror story that has so much depth beyond just its creepy premise. The novel follows a group of teens forced into a wilderness therapy program due to an assortment of behavioral issues, and quickly the 50+ day hike turns into something far more sinister. The cast of characters is fantastic, each with their own personal demons to overcome, and the overarching themes of identity and family were extremely well developed.

Now, I will say, it is quite a slow start. While the first few pages start with a bang, the action slows down tremendously until about halfway through the novel. Gould takes her time building up the characters, making them feel real and vivid. By the time things start getting weird, you’re attached to these kids and it really heightens the suspense.

I found the horror aspect pretty well done and honestly pretty creepy, though not gory or anything too scary. There was a real sense of danger for the characters, and I really didn’t know who — if anyone — would be safe. There were some things I felt were maybe not super clearly explained, but not enough to bother me.

Gould has definitely won me over and I look forward to more creepy stories in the future!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC.

I actually started reading this book in April and I was really enjoying it, but it took me a while to get in the right headspace for it because I hate the troubled teen industry so much! Ironically, that’s exactly why I wanted to read this book. It’s just something you have to be in the right headspace for because that whole industry is infuriating.

I do think this creature feature tackles the topic well. I really love the concept of setting this theme on a horror backdrop. It feels very fitting.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters in this one. It has plenty of angst and strong character arcs. I found myself rooting for them and I loved the strength they showed throughout the story. There's definitely an almost claustrophobic atmosphere which feels totally appropriate and keeps you flipping the pages. I also can't help but love sapphic love, what can I say?

3.25

While I really enjoyed the supernatural element to this it just seemed to lack a little something for me. It dragged a bit in the middle and I just wanted to get to the point of what was really going on. Regardless I always enjoy Courtney's work and can't wait to see what she continues to come up with.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This book features alternating points of view which is always fun and while not every book pulls it off well, I think it was well done here.

Our story follows a group of kids that end up doing a wilderness camp in order to help with their bad behaviors. Our first character, Devin, is a foster kid with an anger issue. She’s bounced around from one foster home to the next and doesn’t really settle in. When she’s woken in the middle of the night by two men, she thinks she’s being abducted. Only for her foster parents to seem to know exactly what’s going on and they don’t put a stop to it.

Talk about betrayal. Once she’s put in the van, after giving one guy a potentially broken nose, she meets a boy who is just sitting there, and they don’t really talk.

The group of kids range from a girl who seems to make it her job to antagonize people to a girl who is quiet, and seems genuinely afraid to be there and wants to be better. She was the saddest character and when you read it, you’ll see why.

Now, there are two camp councilors as well, a man and a woman. He handles the more emotional, psychological bits and she handles the survival bits. It would have been a nice flip on the ideas of what are masculine and feminine jobs if either of them had been decent. You’ll see what I mean, like she’s just laser focused, both are, at first, when it comes to the hiking and he really needed to be better at conflict resolution. Like, there are middle school peer councilors doing better jobs than this grown man.

The scary stuff takes a while to kick in it but it does in a way that I liked. People doubting themselves and what they’re seeing are some of my favorite things to read. Our girl Devin doubts it hard. Her male counterpart, is actually a very sweet kid and I liked his chapters. When it comes to spooky stuff, he has his own sort of experience that’s totally different at first to anyone else’s.

Now, I think the spooky element was great. The things the kids were here to “correct” were behavioral issues. I don’t know who came up with the idea that throwing kids with no survival skills into the wild and forcing them to break their bodies was the way to do it but they were wrong. Maybe throw a monster in too.

I’m kidding. those camps are notoriously heinous, look at what Paris Hilton alone has said. They are vile and sanctioned kidnapping and abuse. This book didn’t shy away from the fear aspect of not knowing what to do, and also, how these situations can also make kids more afraid to go home.

Because what if your problems follow you? What if the wilderness attacks? What if you can’t make it back?

They’re questions I think everyone would have being thrown into such an unknown situation. The characters especially had to learn to trust each other and themselves. And open up. Because you have to be able to trust people if you want to survive.

They wouldn’t have to survive though if they adults in their lives had been better. Understanding and therapy go a long way.

I don’t want to spoil the monster but I think the book was well written, the characters are very well fleshed out and the story wraps up really well.

All in all, I give it a 4. It’s not diverse and come on, it’s 2025. If we can create monsters, we can have diverse characters. It’s not that hard.

It does deal with death and drug abuse though so if those are sensitive spots, please read with care.

I recommend it overall though.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

an atmospheric story, that made you feel like you were in the woods yourself. Spooky and gripping, I was hooked straight from the start.

3.5

the hatchet meets until dawn in this spooky tale of wilderness therapy gone wrong, where i spent the entire book posting on my social media like "what the fuck is happening!!! (is enjoying it)"

"what the woods took" tells the story of five teens thrown into wilderness therapy, a fucked up version of therapy summer camp in the woods, only to have things go horribly wrong in the middle of their journey. we follow these troubled kids battling both the creatures hunting them and their inner demons while trying to get out of this fucked up forest. i can't tell you more without spoiling but i AM telling you it is equal parts suspenseful and absolutely absorbing. there was so much tension, unease, and the feeling of being trapped that was sooo delicious to read about.

truly, i did not expect to enjoy this as much as i did. i was immediately thrown into it and it was so easy to lose myself in both the plot and the characters. like i can't articulate anything besides how much i enjoyed this! i was on the edge of my seat the entire time, chapter after chapter, and i finished this entire book in one sitting like it was so enthralling. such a fun read, ANDD i love girlkissers!! what a pleasant surprise to get lesbians in my spooky wilderness horror!

overall, totally surprised with how much fun i had and i might have to keep an eye out for courtney gould's next book 👁️ i did NAWT know your game like that queen..

Five 'troubled' teens are sent to a wilderness therapy program. Things are tough, but when they wake up one morning and their two counselors are gone, it becomes even more dangerous. But being alone isn't the biggest danger - rather, there are monsters in the woods and they seem to be able to mimic people's appearances. Alternating perspectives between Devin and Ollie, we follow their struggle to escape the woods alive.

I thought this was a really enjoyable read! It was pretty quick paced, especially after the counselors disappear. I was really worried for a while that the "monster" was just going to be facing one's demons, but there are actual supernatural monsters! I wish we had gotten a little more info on them. We got a decent amount toward the end, but I still have questions!! For anyone looking for a creepy, quick to read YA book, you should definitely put this one on your list!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould is a story of survival. Many levels of survival: surviving the wilderness, their personal traumas, themselves, each other… and if that’s not enough, throw in a supernatural element as well. The romances didn’t do much for me. I feel like they took away from the story more than benefitting it. Thankfully they weren’t a focus through most of the story. I really wish we would have gotten more from the ending. Like a flash back to the woods with an incident with the search crew or something. Or maybe even having the survivors seeing “something” that made it out of the woods. I don’t know. It needed something. The ending just didn’t do it for me. Overall, I loved the premise. The execution just wasn’t for me.

I'm not much of a YA reader anymore (the perils of not being a young adult for many years), but Courtney Gould continues to be one of my must-read YA authors. There is something atmospheric and creepy but simultaneously vulnerable and heartfelt about her writing that has made each of her books so enjoyable and impossible to put down. She is an expert at building tension and drama while also building strong character relationships, and the pace never really slows down.

WHAT THE WOODS TOOK is no exception to this, as Gould explores a wilderness therapy program aimed to help troubled teens. Throw in the creepy setting of remote woods, conflicting personalities of kids who don't want to be there, counselors that go missing, and strange creatures that may or may not be following them...and what could possibly go wrong? All in all, a very solid read that will keep me looking forward to Gould's next spooky creation.

I love Courtney Gould’s wild scary ideas!! This one is part survival story, part finding yourself and part romance. I really enjoyed the setting and premise (and reading Gould’s inspiration for telling a story about “wilderness therapy programs” for teens). There were several complex characters with great dynamics between them, lots of paranoia and banter, and sapphic enemies to lovers.

What the Woods Took was a super interesting read. I loved the character study and the writing felt propulsive. I'd read more from the author.