I wasn’t sure what to expect from What The Woods Took but it was an intriguing read. There were moments when I truly felt myself completely immersed in the story and its characters.

I was quickly attached to the characters as things began to unravel and rooted for their survival. While I wasn’t necessarily the target audience, I enjoyed this story and wouldn’t mind reading more from this author.

This book is being voluntarily reviewed after receiving a free copy courtesy of NetGalley, the Publisher, and Courtney Gould.

YA Thriller • Horror • Supernatural • Queer
Pub Date • 10 December 2024

🎉 Happy publication day & thank you @wednesdaybooks and @macmillan.audio for the free galley and ALC!

Loved this gripping and creepy walk in the woods. Recommended for fans of We Used to Live here and anyone who loves spooky campfire stories.

High paced starting with a middle of the night snatch-and-grab abduction, I sat at the edge of my seat and couldn’t look away.

Five troubled teens are sent off by their parents & guardians to rehabilitation camp via “wilderness therapy” — nominally 50 days off grid, with no technology, roughing it in the grueling Idaho wilderness.

Chaperoned by two camp counselor types, they’ll navigate what lurks in the dark and will have to decide who they can trust and who might not be everything they seem.

Beyond the atmospheric writing, strong character building led to a satisfying buildup, showing how each juvenile delinquent’s journey started, revealing their personal nightmares, and allowing us to watch their growth from zero trust to mutual understanding, co-reliance, vulnerability, an even a couple of romance subplots.

Just finished reading and I loved it. The story was engaging from start to finish, with well-developed characters and a plot that kept me hooked. I liked the writing style and the themes explored really made me think. It’s one of those books that stays with you. Recommend it to anyone looking for their next great read!

A survival story in more ways than one.

I loved Gould's previous two books and her third did not disappoint! Gould is so good at writing deep, heartfelt teenaged characters in atmospheric coming of age horror stories with a side of romance and found family. It's everything I want in a YA horror. Highly recommend this one!

They had me at “Yellowjackets meets Girl, Interrupted”!
What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould is another phenomenally written story that was damn near impossible to put down!
I’m a big fan of Gould’s previous work and I must say this book was amazing.
Her writing style is intriguing. She instantly sucked me in with her atmospheric writing and amazing characters.
Her characters were flawed and realistic. The characters were wonderfully complex and flawed, which drew me into the story so I was already hooked when the real suspense began.
It’s a brilliant, twisty, surprising read which earned five stars!

a tense and eye opening read that follows a group of troubled teens that all get sent to a wilderness camp by their families due to issues with their behavior. the topic of trauma is a strong motivator for the characters actions and later development in this story. the main cast: Devin, Ollie, Sheridan, Aidan and Hannah all grow so much throughout this experience and form bonds with each other as they feel a sense of kinship and understanding of one another’s situations. i think this book opens up conversations on the dark things teens have gone through and how they can feel isolated from their family due to the immense amount of pressure.

the horror elements where interwoven well, with these shapeshifting beings called “mimics” who feed on anyone who’s on the edge of giving up. they take over that person’s whole persona, until nothing is left of the original. i liked seeing how the characters worked through their own feelings and Hannah specifically had a really intriguing arc towards the end. all the characters are great though tbh and the romance between Devin and Sheridan was handled in a way that felt organic. i had a good time reading this and thought it felt so real and intentional with everything it set out to portray. i just love when authors use horror in this kind of way.

Devin Green thinks she is being abducted in the middle of the night only to learn her foster parents are a part of this plan. She is being sent to a so called wilderness therapy program for troubled young people in the middle of the Idaho wilderness. When plans to escape don't come to fruition she begrudgingly settles into the fifty day hike with the other campers with the exception the beautiful but cruel Sheridan. Devin soon realizes there is something strange going on with the woods. One morning the campers wake to find the counselors missing. They are alone in the terrifying woods but realize they must work together to save themselves.

Courtney Gould is an auto buy author for me so requesting this was a must and I was thrilled to be approved to review this book. I absolutely loved this book. It was scary and challenging. I was on the edge of my seat and completely creeped out at points. Devin really crawled into my heart, she was such a great character. I also really loved Sheridan and all of the other teens in the group. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this one. Courtney really knocked it out of the park with this one and I can't wait to see what she does next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for the honest review.

I really love this author so I was disappointed that I didn't like this story. It felt unbelievable and I didn't relate or care about any of the characters except maybe Ollie. By 40% it was barely keeping my attention and a struggle to keep reading. I will definitely continue to read this author but maybe this story just wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the chance to read this early in exchange for an honest review.

Goulds novels are always so full of emotion. I enjoy them all as each one is unique. Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy!

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould
This is a beautiful, horrifying story about teens lost in a forest full of monsters.
The teens all had issues with their parents or trauma/abuse in their past and were there to undergo some intensive wilderness therapy. The monsters use this to their advantage. Yet, in-between attacks, the teens begin to heal. I love how they learned to trust each other as they banded together to fight a common enemy. It reminded me of the Dakota Fanning movie Watchers.
The forest monsters were unique, shapeshifting, and horrifying. Some seemed to be smarter than others. They all had the same weakness that the teens learned to use against them. There were some twists and not everyone survived, but overall, I was satisfied with the ending. The book was a lot of fun to read.
Thank you Netgalley, Wednesday Books / St. Martin’s Press for letting me read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having learned about rehab centers like this, I was prepared to be truly horrified and found that I was for completely different reasons. This book follows troubled teens who each have had their own sordid pasts and upbringings. As a last ditch effort to rehab them away from their problematic ways, they are entered into REVIVE a 50 day program that includes, hiking, counseling, camping, and it all goes horribly wrong the moment they cross a river threshold where mimics exist wanting a human body to take over in order to leave the woods. This was stunning, heartbreaking, and often times very scary in the way that it intermingled with growth, accountability, and so much more. I highly recommend this read.

This was such an interesting book that kept my attention all throughout the story. The mimic creature feature was such a good twist. Hannah being a mimic was something I had actually thought early on, so that particular twist didn't pack as much of a punch. But overall, this was such a good YA horror, and I ate up that sapphic romance.

This book went in a very different direction than I was expecting it to, but honestly I kind of loved that it did. What the Woods Took was such a beautiful and heartbreaking look at trauma, perseverance and friendship with a bit of horror thrown in. It was so incredibly atmospheric that often times while reading, I felt like I was right in the woods with those characters! The horror aspect of this book was done so well. It was very unsettling and unnerving, especially when I read at night. The characters though were my absolute favorite part. I loved Devin, Ollie and the rest of their group so much. Seeing them go from angry, distrustful kids to a team that will do anything for each other was so beautiful. I think this is a great addition to any YA horror reader’s TBR and I can’t wait to read what Gould writes next!
CW: mentions of suicide, mental illness, death, violence, drug addiction, sexual abuse

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was just what I needed when I was looking for a palatte cleanser of a book. What the Woods Took is a YA Thriller that had me hooked from the very beginning. I had never read a book by Courtney Gould but it was easy to get through and very entertaining. The book begins with the main character getting kidnapped out of her bed from one of those teen wilderness programs. I didn't find this book particularly creepy but I could see how a younger audience would get those creepy vibes. Because the majority of the book takes place in the woods, somewhere in the middle it did start to feel repetitive. The ending felt a little abrupt but wrapped up nicely. I recommend for those dipping a toe into the thriller genre.

Thank you to Netgalley, Courtney Gould, and St Martin's Press for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #netgalley #WhatTheWoodsTook #CourtneyGould #StMartinsPress

I was honestly amazed at this book and the leaps and bounds the characters were made. In the very beginning, I could not stand the character of Sheridan (by design, I'm sure), and I was sort of indifferent to Hannah and Aidan. I was very much interested in what Devin had been through and Ollie was a character that I felt like had potential but there wasn't a ton pulling me in right away. But that's not to say I didn't care about any of the characters or where the story was going - I was interested in what the overall story was going to be but I wasn't necessarily attached to the characters yet. And I didn't expect to get attached to all of them, but I did.

The level of growth seen among all of the characters is honestly one of the greatest things about this book. To take characters that aren't immediately lovable and make the reader so attached by the end is a huge feat and Gould absolutely nailed it. Aside from that, the atmosphere of the book was so chilling. I'm definitely one of those people that might not be super outdoorsy but I don't mind being outside and in the beginning, it sounded almost nice - not the wilderness therapy aspect, that was always going to be brutal to me - but the idea of just hiking and making camp in woods that should have been safe sounded like an ideal way to spend a weekend disconnected. When they hit the milestone and things flipped, everything got so much scarier. Walking in daylight, in the woods, where theoretically you're separated from the dangers of the everyday world, only to have something quite clearly watching and stalking you? It's a whole other type of chilling.

I did have doubts at one point in the book where I was very afraid the story was going to turn out to be a disappointing "it was part of the program" twist, but thankfully that did not happen. With Liv returning, it was obvious that something wasn't right. But with Hannah, that was a gut punch, even if I expected one of the group to end up being one of the mimics. I kept hoping it wouldn't be her, I just wanted Ollie and her to be happy. I even felt like at the end Ollie had lost more - his grandmother was gone by the time they were rescued and he lost Hannah too, and his father was never worth anything - but I realized Devin didn't have even that much to go back to and she and Ollie have each other. She also has Sheridan and they all still have a friend in Aidan, and it's not a happily ever after, but I also didn't expect that from this book.

I was intrigued by this book for the horror elements, and it ended up being so much more than that - it was such a lovely tale of people bonding and helping each other survive and the found family trope, which I love anyway. This book made me more emotional than I expected from a horror novel, but it's an amazing story and I can't wait to read more by the author.

I loved this creepy, suspenseful and intense read! The description of the woods was really visceral and unnerving. Definitely not for the faint of heart. This is the type of book which keeps your eyes glued to the page.

This gripping YA thriller/horror takes place deep in the wilderness in a program that rehabilitates difficult teens. It's creepy, suspenseful, and mysterious, which is how I like books. The characters were also wonderful and distinctive. Sheridan and Devin were my favorites, and I enjoyed their struggle to coexist while also trying to survive the terrifying horrors in the forest. The audiobook was great. I enjoyed the narration by Lindsey Dorcus. I think fans of Stephen Graham Jones would enjoy this book.

Short and Sweet Review

Devin wakes up in the middle of the night to find two men trying to abduct her, the only thing is this abduction was planned by her foster parents. Devin is being taken away to one of those wilderness therapy programs. Devin isn’t the only one she finds herself with Ollie who was also taken in the night. Soon they find themselves taken deep into the Idaho Woods where they meet three other teens and two camp counselors. The group of teens are informed that this therapy is supposed to help them overcome their destructive ways over the course of a fifty day hike. Devin is trying to escape but hasn’t found the opportunity and she also finds she has a big problem with Sheridan, one of the other campers who just says cruel things to everyone and doesn’t take anything seriously. After waking up one night the group of teens find that both of their counselors are missing and that theres something strange in the woods. Now the group of five has to make it out before they become stuck in the woods.

I feel like most of us have heard about these therapy programs, and if you know Paris Hilton you know how detrimental some of them can be. The book starts off with Devin being abducted in the middle of the night and if that’s not traumatic I don’t know what is. In this case Devin wasn’t the only one who experienced this so did Ollie, Aidan, Sheridan, and Hannah. Each kid is sent to this camp because their parents think they have something they need to work on. We get both Devin and Ollie’s POVs which is beneficial especially when we see the group have to split up. Devin has a hard exterior but she’s actually a softie. I think with her growing up in foster care and having to take care of herself she’s made it seem like she has a lot to work on but through out the course of the book we can see she’s already quite reflective. Ollie is the actual softie and we can see that being on this journey he has to gain the hard exterior to survive. We see that Devin has the biggest problem in this book is with Sheridan and how she blows off the group activities and makes the others feel bad about themselves, and Devin always stands up to the bullies and that’s why she won’t back down when it comes to Sheridan. When the counselors go missing is when we have our characters go into survival mode. There’s something strange in the woods and it just happens to be something called mimics, they can take on different shapes and their goal is to make the characters get to a place so low that they want to give up. When the group learns this they begin to have a hard time knowing whether they can trust each other but one thing is for sure they need to make it out of the woods alive.

Overall, this was a gripping book and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I did like that the author brought attention to these therapy camps, it has been talked about more recently but I do think there could be more discussion. I enjoyed every character and learning about their lives outside of this camp got pretty deep and each character and story felt real. I would recommend this book not only for the eerie feeling you get when reading about their race against time to get out of the woods but also just to survive and make it through life when you’ve been given a bad hand.

Devin Green is one of several teens who are summarily dropped into the woods with two counselors for an experimental therapy program. The woods are strange, and the teens are all told that if they are able to change their self-destructive ways, they'll come out of the fifty-day hike as better people. But both counselors disappear, and the woods seem to be hiding something dangerous. The teens themselves are hiding things from each other but must trust in one another if they want to survive.

Devin is one of five teens with two coaches as part of the first REVIVE class for wilderness therapy. She gets angry and violent, and the others have various problems within their families, mostly due to alcohol or drugs. The coaches lead them on a hike, which none of them are used to. After the first checkpoint ten days into the planned fifty, the sense of creepiness is magnified after the two coaches disappear. The teens split up, one team to complete the trail and the other to try to find help. Nothing goes as expected for either team, increasing their sense of wrongness and dread.

Wilderness therapy actually exists, and many programs are not accredited or run by people with training in therapy at all. This has led to many abusive tactics, which are pointed out in the warning before the book opens.

The program in this book is not exactly on the up and up either; Devin and Ollie were both kidnapped out of their homes with their guardian's permission in the middle of the night. Sheridan is dismissive and antagonistic, with glimmers of her past once revealed explaining why she can't connect with others. Hannah is too fearful of her father's censure and Aiden needs to feel important. Within the forest, hallucinations, dread, and creatures that stalked the teenagers heightened the tensions.

We don't get the horror of the creatures until the second half of the book, at which point we have the question of who is human and what will it take to stay alive. The psychological horror and aspects of body horror are very well done and kept me enthralled until the very end.

☆ARC REVIEW☆
Publication date: December 10, 2024


This book had such potential but just fell short for me.

The storyline was such an interesting concept but I felt the writing was just a bit all over the place and due to the many characters it was a bit hard to follow.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and St Martin's Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.