A great October read! In the beginning, we meet Devon and Ollie, who are stuck in a van on their way to an outdoor wilderness camp for troubled kids. As they and the other campers travel further into the wilderness, the line between reality and supernatural starts to blur. Packed with twists and a creepy forest, this book will have you second-guessing any hiking/camping plans you may have.

I enjoyed most of this novel! It was a great concept, a slow but interesting burn.
I will say I really liked the characters. I had a few "hang ups." There is a lot of background and character building, well over 1/2 of this book is that. The action doesn't really start until well after 60% in. I was pretty okay with that. The ages of the characters and they way they talked seemed a little "off" to me. As a mom of teenagers: 16 & 17, I just felt they would be much worse and speak worse given their situation(s). My teens would definitely be more hysterical than how the characters in this book were portrayed.
Finally, I will say I was not scared. I know this is YA and horror, but I was never frightened. I wanted to be scared!
I will say it was a good story! I loved the way the novel ended too. What the book was saying spoke to me; it painted a beautiful story. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC of this novel for my unbiased opinion!

Strong characters, spooky setting, well-paced and well-plotted. Wilderness camp survival when there's something in the woods that wants to get you, tied to your personal trauma? Sign me up! Highly enjoyable and a pleasure to watch the characters change and grow through it all.

When wilderness therapy on its own isn't terrifying enough, add a terrible supernatural entity hunting you through the woods! What the Woods Took is a sharp, terse, and unapologetically queer YA horror novel from Courtney Gould and it delivers on the premise with haunting efficiency.

Things start going bad for Devon when she's pulled from her bed, and shipped off to a wilderness therapy program. They get much, much worse when she realizes there is something else in the woods with them watching all the teens (and their counselors) from between the trees, and it wants more than their trauma to snack on.

Its filled with complex characters, a dread-filled tense sprint through the woods where what you're hiding is the least terrifying thing waiting in the darkness.

"What the Woods Took" by Courtney Gould is a haunting and atmospheric novel that masterfully blends elements of mystery and supernatural thriller. Gould's writing is evocative and richly descriptive, painting the forest as both a character and a labyrinth of secrets. The novel's strength lies in its exploration of grief and the uncanny, with well-developed characters and a plot that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

This book hooked me from the first line. Devin was a flawed but sympathetic and understandable main character and Gould did a great job of making her feel like a real person. I loved that the book opened with a sense of unease and creeping horror rooted in human behavior, and the inhumanity of forced teen therapy camps. It seemed natural when that built into supernatural horror in a way that kept me glued to this book. The sapphic love was complex and endearing.

This is not my preferred genre, so I went into this unsure what to expect, but I really enjoyed this. I really liked all the characters and seeing their growth through the book. Devin is a strong FMC, which is always great to see. It was not super scary but definitely a little creepy, and I would not recommend reading right before bed! I think the author did a great job making it a dual POV with Devin and Ollie. It was helpful to see a different perspective.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

The story opens with Devin being taken from her foster home and, right off the bat, I loved her. She’s one of 5 teens taken to the woods with 2 counselors/guides to “fix” her behavior. Devin is competitive, thoughtful, and would sooner punch you than ask you to stop talking one more time. Ollie, the only other teen taken from Devin’s city, is more reserved, but I came to enjoy his side of the story as well. This book was well-paced and kept me very interested. The characters had depth and layers to them, all of which felt genuine. I read my Kindle at night, in bed, and I had to put it down a couple of times because I was THAT spooked. There was nothing about this book that I didn’t like. Courtney Gould’s descriptive writing touches my bones and makes me shiver.
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CW: substance abuse, mentions of suicide, death/harm of a child, mentions of sexual assault/child sexual abuse, gore/violence.
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I’d recommend this to: fans of the shows Yellowjackets or The Wild, fans of Your Blood, My Bones, and anyone who is looking to be afraid, yet entertained.
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Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Courtney Gould for this DRC!

“What the Woods Took” is a story about five teens who are forced into a wilderness therapy program. Early on their 50-day hike, the two counselors disappear and the group discovers that they’re stranded in the woods and being hunted by monsters.

This book was so good. The creature horror element was extremely well written — Gould’s description of the monsters was unsettling and scary. The setting of the woods also added an extra eerie atmosphere to this horror novel.

In addition to the monsters lurking in the woods, this book tackles real life horrors such as child abuse, drug addiction, and the foster care system. Gould also addresses the true brutal reality of wilderness therapy programs and the impact they can have on the “troubled” teens that are forced to attend them.

My favorite part of this book, and the thing that made me fall in love with it, was the characters. I loved following Devin, Sheridan, Ollie, Aidan, and Hannah as they learned and evolved over the course of the novel. The conflicts were believable and the resolutions were realistic. The resilience, stubbornness, strength, and vulnerability that all of these characters showed in “What the Woods Took” is something that will stick with me for a long time — and it’s also something that I love to see represented in a Young Adult novel that teens will be picking up!

I loved this novel so much more than I anticipated. I wish it was a little bit longer and I wish it touched on the home lives of each of the teens a little bit more, but overall I really enjoyed this story and will be giving it a 4.5 star rating.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Goodreads 10/18/24.

Review to be posted on Instagram week of release. Brief review will be posted in my October reading wrap up at the end of the month.

“It isn’t perfect but it’s enough”
Ugh, what can I say except what a fantastic creature feature about a group of teens that are taken to a therapeutic camp to help them resolve their problems. But when the leaders go missing, things become bizarrely worse the longer they remain in the woods.

A powerhouse of a sapphic psychological thriller with a unique twist climax and a beautiful HEA. As a first time read from the author, I am already checking out the next title to add to my TBR. Great for the spooky season!

3.5 stars
I should probably not have read this the week I'm supposed to go camping.

Send off a group of troubled teens on a "wilderness therapy" program and mix in some supernatural weirdness with a dash of queer romance.

I am not a big horror fan, but I always enjoy Courtney Gould's books. While this isn't my favorite of Gould's books, it was an interesting adventure. I liked the setting a lot. I liked Ollie. There are things that don't really make a lot of sense, though. Like how did the counselors or whomever set up food drops without falling victim to the same thing this group did? Overall, I wish I liked it more than I did, but I'm not mad I read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This was exactly what I was looking for. Like a combination of But I'm a Cheerleader, Homeward Bound, and John Carpenter's The Thing this was a terrific, queer read for the spooky season. All of the characters are well developed and while the author plays with stereotypes, they all feel real and relatable. I enjoyed the horror elements and liked that things weren't over-explained. While this heavily draws from The Thing for inspiration, I also detected a hint of Lovecraft/Blackwood or even some Robert Bloch (e.g. Notebook Found in a Deserted House). Some may not like that the book engages in one or two popular tropes, but they're tropes I love so I was 100% on board. I would 100% recommend this to everyone I know.

4/5 stars loved, and inhaled this book. good luck to everyone when this book finally drops. you will never be the same *coming from all arc readers and the author*

Holly creepy YA horror books! I loved this book! It was a true delight and so much fun. I have really been enjoying YA Horror books lately, but none as much as this one. It had all the elements that I look for, fantastic writing, creepy vibes, and relatable characters. Usually one of those falls short, but this book did not. The writing was divine and so well done. The author did such a great job with making me feel like I was right there with the characters, experiencing everything with them. I love feelings like I have a front seat to everything that goes down, and this book did just that. Next thing that I look for is creepy vibes. Again, this book hit it out of the park! I love YA horror because for me it is all about the creepy, unsettling vibes and that’s what this book had. It was so good in this regard and I could just feel my skin crawling. And lastly relatable characters. This is tricky because while I love reading YA, I am a few decades from it, but I will say the characters were relatable, even for someone of my age. I remember what it was like to be that age and go from there and it worked out well. The plot was fantastic and I just loved everything about it.

Check this book out! It is so much fun and you won’t want to miss it.

THOUGHTS

The start to this book was, to put it lightly, terrible. It didn't make any sense, except on a surface level. I was asked to suspend a lot of disbelief, and in a strictly realist novel, I was absolutely not able to. But once we get to the woods, once the monsters start creeping through the shadows, Courtney Gould hit her stride. That's what Gould does best, and it shows clearly here. As soon as monsters were involved, this book took a sharp turn into something much better than the beginning promised, and overall, I think this is Gould's best book to date.


PROS
Tense Dynamic: This group of trouble teens are full of conflicting personalities. And as abrasive as Devin is, she is also absolutely in the right here. An annoying character like Sheridan isn't a good companion at the best of times, and somebody who can't be serious under pressure? No, thanks. That interpersonal conflict only ups the stakes here.

Truly Monstrous: There's no beating around the bush with these monsters. They're grotesque. They're deadly. They're haunting. They're psychologically horrific, and they're hideous amalgamations of eldritch fears and horrors. They pull on something primal, something uncanny. They're the type of monsters to give nightmares.

Trust-Building: You know what I really appreciate? Smart characters. Sure, these characters get under each other's skin, but they also have to rely on each other. And they know that. And they also know that nothing in this wood can be trusted. They're not fools. They can see the red flags as clear as the readers, and I appreciate the wary way they approach getting out of these monstrous clutches. And if that means backing someone into a corner and forcing them to show their true colors, so be it. They've got suspicions, and they take those suspicions seriously--which makes the impossibility of their situation all the more stark. They're not making stupid decisions, and yet they're getting into deeper trouble with each step they take.


CONS
Impossible: I said it above, and I'll say it here. The beginning of this book? It makes no sense. Oh, I know that "wilderness therapy," awful as it may be, is a real thing. It's part of the troubled teen industry that's really just starting to come to light. But the thing about the troubled teen industry is that these "services" cost a lot of money. A foster kid isn't ending up in wilderness therapy. The state isn't footing the bill for that, especially when there isn't a wilderness therapy out there that's state certified. There is so much red tape around a foster kid's life that the idea the foster parents could hire a wilderness therapy group to take care of an almost-18-year-old foster kid for a few months is absolutely absurd.

Therapy Heavy: Practical concerns aside (like the fact that there's no reasonable way for Devin to end up here), the beginning chapters are also "therapy" heavy. I've put "therapy" in quotes because that's not ultimately what it is, which would make sense since those running wilderness therapy aren't likely to be certified in anything. (Though I do think Gould meant for it to at least be somewhat sound advice from the counselors, in which case it fell quite flat). This section really drags, perhaps because I wasn't buying into the concept. But it really is to the detriment of the book, if only because it takes that much longer to get to the actual monsters at hand.

Practical Concerns: Practical concerns back in the picture, these kids aren't carrying food with them. They're hardly carrying anything (which makes sense, as they haven't trained for a trek like this). And sure, it's explained that food drops have been left for the group as they trek along, but my question is, how? Like, how did they manage to leave food in a monster-infested wilderness? They had to enter the monster woods to leave it in the first place, and there obviously were food drops in the infested forest. Who put the food there, and how did that person get back out of the forest to lead the wilderness therapy? I just don't understand why the monsters let that person go. Also, even if practically nothing to carry on their backs, these kids would have some serious blisters. They'd be in some serious pain from hiking like this without conditioning, and that's not really mentioned at all. Which irked me. It's another case of the practical concerns with the scenario not being taken into consideration. Even if the monsters are the point, the story really should make sense leading up to the monsters. And this story just doesn't.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8/10
Those who enjoyed Jen Ferguson's A Constellation of Minor Bears will like this new wilderness trek... with a monstrous twist. Those who thought the monsters in Sarah Beth Durst's The Lake House were bad will like this forest infested with terrible eldritch horrors.

What the Woods Took is a fast-paced thriller/horror for fans of survivalist stories. The story revolves around a group of troubled teens who while out in the woods start experiencing strange things. The counselors who were with them suddenly disappear and the woods around them become a haven for their darkest nightmares to come alive in.

Heart-pounding suspense will keep you reading, wondering if the teens are going to make it out of the woods and what sacrifices will they have to make in order to survive.

Courtney Gould delivers a great YA horror with just the right amount of suspense and scare.

What the Woods Took follows five troubled teenagers in a wilderness therapy program. Devin has hopped from foster home to foster home, but she’s almost eighteen. Before she can age out though, her concerned foster parents sign her up for wilderness therapy. Along with four other teenagers and two counselors, they venture into the Idaho woods to grow and become better versions of themselves. Except, the woods hold more than they seem. When inhuman faces appear between the branches and trunks, and the counselors go missing, the teens have to survive and figure out what’s really going on or no one will make it out of the woods alive.

This was a really great read. The atmosphere was stunning and the setting was perfect. I adore forest settings and the fact that they were so isolated and abandoned was so fun. I loved the survival element and the monster twist was so good. It’s such a unique concept but absolutely terrifying! This is the perfect spooky read if you love a supernatural/paranormal twist to your survival thrillers.

The characters were all pretty great. They were all very nuanced and had so much depth to them as well as being so distinct. I really thought the author did a great job at creating these troubled teens and having their growth arc be really realistic. Devin and Ollie are great main characters and both so strong in different ways. Their personalities juxtapose each other really well. Hannah and Aiden were really sweet though Aiden annoyed me at times. Sheridan was a piece of work in the beginning but learning why she was so mean was done really well and by the end, all of them were so well-rounded and I wanted them all to survive.

Overall, if you’re looking for an isolated, survival thriller set in the woods with a creepy monsters and troubled teens who go through great growth, this is the perfect book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly can't think of even a single bad thing about this book. The writing, plot, characters, pacing, relationships, just everything, is so perfect. The writing is so accessible and well-done. It paints such a clear picture of the characters and the settings that it was so easy for me to picture in my mind what was happening. It was such a good idea to force these characters to be in the woods for a "wellness" retreat to try to fix "behavioral" issues. It created such an impactful and natural parallel to them having to come together to survive. While this book may not be scary enough for some readers, I think it was a perfect balance of horror and reality. In fact, I think if it was too scary, it would have overshadowed the personal journeys these characters had to go on, which is definitely the more important aspect of this book. It was also so great to see such a realistic depiction of teenagers and their relationships with one another. They didn't immediately know how to survive, they made mistakes, they had immature moments, and even when they fought, they knew they needed to stick together in order to survive.
Overall, this was a very exciting and emotional read that had me hooked from the start.

THANK YOU TO WEDNESDAY BOOKS AND NETGALLEY FOR AN E-ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR MY REVIEW!!

Honestly, this book took me 3 days to finish because I didn’t WANT it to end. I wanted to stay with the characters. I wanted them to heal in between the dangers, to see them open their broken hearts and bare their souls to each other. What The Woods Took is literally just that good.

Five teens are dumped into the Idaho Wilderness for the REVIVE Program, a new therapy program for troubled kids. They’re told that they’ll be out there for fifty days. That’s doable, right? Camping and hiking under the stars, unplugged from society and their demons alike. Until things take a turn for the worse. When their counselors disappear, Devin, Ollie, Hannah, Aidan, and Sheridan are left alone with their dwindling supplies and the monsters that lurk in the woods.

Forced to confront their demons literally and physically, they must work together to go home. This book was raw. It sent absolute shivers down my spine. What The Woods Took releases December 9th, so keep an eye out for it on the shelves!

review is posted on the goodreads connected to my Netgalley as well as my instagram, however I cannot retrieve my goodreads link from mobile ^^

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould was not the normal type of book that I pick up, but I was drawn to the synopsis and cover. I went into this read thinking that it was going to be a queer YA storyline involving a wilderness camp experience (and likely a conversion therapy type trap) but I was so wrong! This book blew my mind in the best way and had me staying up late at night to keep reading because I just couldn't put it down. I didn't even mind the 3rd person POV, which is normally a deal breaker for me.

Each of the main characters in What the Woods Took had so much depth and complexity. They all shared the commonality of past traumas and mistakes, now labeled as troubled teens. Adolescents that were out of control and who's guardians thought they'd be scared straight by being thrown into a survialist type endeavor.

The start of the book was a little slow and I struggled to get through the first few chapters, mostly due to the fact that it involved a lot of backstory for each of the main characters and the setup for the wilderness camp experience. Once the teens were thrown into the woods and had to start learning to work together, problem solve and address their behavioral issues, the speed of the story picked up. I never really cared for the two adult guides that were the teens' caretakers and felt their characters were purposefully not detailed, making them almost irrelevant to the overall story.

Gould did an incredible job of slowly creating doubt and suspicion within the relationships of the characters and the environment they were surrounded by. A little unease here, a little noise there. Nothing obvious but just enough to get the hairs on the back of your neck on end. The slow burn of the thriller aspect of the plot was what I loved most about this book. You just couldn't put it down until you knew what was happening and got answers!

The mythical component was so unique and eery. The more the characters discovered about their surroundings, the more worried I became for each of them and their survival. This book put your emotions through the ringer over and over. Not only were they dealing with personal trauma, they were fighting for their lives due to a circumstances completely out of their hands. Their trust was constantly tested, for one another and for their own thoughts.

I was left slightly unfullfilled at the end of the book. I was grappling for more answers and wished the author would have given a little more explantion / closure given the severity of what the teens experienced. The ending did have its positives, seeing some of the characters fight for what they wanted out of life and going after it. The growth and character development was stellar. It was like night and day from the beginning of the book to the end.