Thank you, NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was haunting and creepy, and not at all what I was expecting. I initially thought it would be a typical missing persons case in a forest, but I was completely wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this unexpected detour.

The story, centered on family secrets, sisterhood, and mysterious disappearances within a creepy forest, kept me on edge. I couldn't put it down and had to know what would happen next. This book was the perfect break I needed.

I just finished this book and it was great, I could not put it down. I was hooked through every chapter and loved uncovering more information about The Family as the book carried on. I really also loved the relationship between the sisters, Ophelia and Evangeline and reading about how their relationship evolved.
The book was everything I could have hoped for and more. A compelling plot, interesting main characters, great storytelling… at night sometimes I would even become a bit scared while reading. I felt like I was with the characters and became attached to them.
I rate this book a 4.25 (although I can only put 4 with the star system)
VERY enjoyable read, and will definitely recommend.

I just finished The Forest of Missing Girls, and I’m still not totally sure how I feel about it. The concept definitely had me hooked—creepy forest, missing girls, and a family with a lot of secrets. There were some genuinely eerie moments, and parts of the writing really worked for me.

But I also found myself confused at times, like I was missing something or couldn’t quite follow where it was going. It gave me a bit of a Frankenstein vibe (in a weird and unexpected way), and while that was interesting, it also made the story feel a little disjointed in places.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC—curious to see what other people think when it comes out later this year.

A creepy tale of hidden secrets and resurrection buried deep in the woods. When Lia returns home after a break up she's ready to settle in, but she can't shake the uneasiness she has about the woods that have always haunted her since she was a young girl. It isn't until her sister's best friend disappears right from their back porch that sparks investigation and further concern. This hasn't been the first time either. What unfolds is a horrifying secret that Lia's mother has held onto for years. A creepy story that will keep you engaged and turning the pages to find out what happens next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The Frankenstein inspired back story, the shock at discovering who the missing girls were. The creepiness of the forest. All of it was just immensely fun.
From the offset this book had me filled with anxiety and although I had correctly predicted some parts, I was wildly incorrect about others.
I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

WOW. honestly this book shocked me in more ways than one. i thought i knew going into this what the mystery and twist would be, but man was i wrong. this story was deeply haunting and learning the truth of what happens to the missing girls in the forest was horrific. the author really knew how to weave the narrative back and forth between the two points of view to make you understand both sides and how horrifying it must've been to experience what those missing girls did. this was a really solid mystery/horror

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Well this one unfortunately wasn't a book for me. Though the cover is gorgeous the story falls a bit behind. To slow and not much tension. For me these are key ingredients for a good thriller.
So this one i wouldn’t really recommend to anyone.

Truthfully, I could not finish this book. It was a lot of telling and not much showing. It was hard to connect with the protagonist. I skipped a lot trying to find something redeeming but couldn’t.

Lia returns to her hometown after a break-up with her boyfriend leaves her undecided on what direction her life should go. Her home, surrounded by a mysterious forest that always seems to be calling out, feels like home but Lia understands the dangers that lie within. For decades, young teenagers and women have gone missing within the forest, never to be seen or heard from again. When her sister's best friend becomes one of those missing girls after being in their own backyard, Lia begins to question everything she knows about her mother and the forest itself. While digging, Lia unearths the terrifying truth behind the missing girls, and learns just how desperate one is to become a mother and what a mother will do to save her children.

HOLY FRANKENSTEIN BATMAN! What a terrifying novel this was. Nichelle Giraldes definitely gives us a claustrophobic feel, making me as a reader feel as if the forest within the novel is alive, surrounding me. I will definitely be much more hesitant to go walking through the woods after reading this one. It is a well-written and hard to put down novel, and I hope others can appreciate just how Nichelle is wanting to go back to the classics with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nichelle Giraldes and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of The Forest of Missing Girls.

Después de una ruptura y con la sensación de haber fracasado en su vida adulta, Ofelia regresa al hogar de su infancia, una casa rodeada por un bosque denso y lleno de memorias. Lo que comienza como una pausa temporal se transforma en algo más inquietante cuando una adolescente desaparece en circunstancias extrañas, justo como ha ocurrido otras veces en ese mismo bosque.

A medida que los días pasan y las sospechas crecen, Ofelia comienza a cuestionarse todo: la perfección impecable de su madre, los silencios de su hermana, y los recuerdos que creía enterrados. El bosque parece tener vida propia, y lo que esconde en sus sombras puede estar más cerca de lo que Ofelia imagina.

...

Esas señoras no aprendieron nada. El final me dejó sorprendida, porque después de todo lo que pasó, no podía creer lo que hicieron.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ARC Review – The Forest of Missing Girls by Nichelle Giraldes

Dark, atmospheric, and emotionally gripping, The Forest of Missing Girls follows Lia Gregg as she returns to her hometown—and her fear of the forest—to investigate the disappearance of two girls. The setting is eerie, the writing beautifully tense, and Lia’s personal journey adds real depth. While the ending felt a little rushed, the mystery kept me hooked, and the emotional payoff hit hard.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This isn’t just a forest thriller—it’s a slow-burning descent into paranoia, grief, and the darkness that runs through family roots. If The Hollow Girls met The Before and After, you’d get this: moody, layered, and deeply satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

This was an edgy thriller novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

A big thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC of The Forest of Missing Girls!! This book was horrifyingly delightful!! I loved every minute of it!! It was very creepy and disturbing!! I figured out what happened in a part of it too!! The characters were fun to get to know and I loved how long and sometimes short the chapters were!! This book almost made me sleep with the lights on, it creeped me out so bad. I’ve been wanting to read something as creepy as this book was and I won’t forget it when I sleep. It was very well done!! I hated one of the characters though. Mother was pure evil but I also loved her character too!! She was scary at times and loving at times too. But more terrifying. This book will stay with me for a while. That is how much I loved it. It had my pulse racing at times and I felt likeI couldn't get through the pages fast enough!! I look forward to reading more creepy reads!!

First off thank you Poisoned press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book coming out November 2025!!

I wandered into the forest… and kind of got lost. 3 stars for me on this one!

This one had such a strong start: eerie woods, missing girls, and that creeping dread that something is definitely off. I was in! But somewhere along the way, the story took a turn I didn’t expect—and not in a mind-blown kind of way. It felt like a genre change and I wasn’t loving that! But it still was a decent read!

The atmosphere? Spooky and tense. The writing? Haunting in parts. But the twist felt like it came from a different book altogether, and it pulled me out of the story more than it pulled me deeper in.

I wanted to love it. The cover alone intrigued me. But in the end, I was left wanting something else!

📚 Would I still recommend it? Sure—for readers who like their thrillers weird and winding with a dash of the unexpected. Just go in knowing it’s not your typical missing-girls mystery.

Are you a thriller fan? Check out The Forest of Missing Girls by Nichelle Giraldes. It’s out this fall and is one you’ll want to pick up.

An absolutely phenomenal read. I was hooked from the first page (which is REALLY hard for me to accomplish) and I finished it within 48 hours (again, really hard for me to accomplish.) I loved the mix of the magic within the forest that we got towards the middle/end, it really gave something extra to the horror of the missing girls. I am not a big “scary reads” fan and this didn’t feel like anything g too crazy for me. It was spooky/creepy and definitely made me close my windows at night though 😍😍

The prose and storytelling was so impactful, I’m obsessed with the writing and the way the author painted the detail. 10/10 would absolutely recommend to everyone ❤️

I enjoyed this gothic feminist body horror, the pacing was great and the writing was fantastic. The plot felt a little basic. Knowing ‘the secret’ as the reader, made the last half of the book feel a little bit like it dragged, but all in all I enjoyed it.

A very interesting read. Lia returns home after leaving her life and ex boyfriend in Los Angeles. When she moves back in with her younger sister and perfectionist mother, her sister’s best friend goes missing. She is just one in a line of missing girls spanning decades. This book alternates between Lia, and the perspective of “the missing girls”.

I liked the pacing of this book overall and the perspective shifting. Exploring the motivations of these characters and understanding the reason why they were who they were was also interesting. Ultimately, this book was entertaining but the concepts could have been deeper explored, such as the mysterious forest, Mother’s history, and the lives of the women in the book club. I also wish I got more about Evie as her own character. She was a major player but felt kind of “there”. We only get a brief peek of what her life is like when Lia is gone. Good overall but thought it could have benefitted from some deeper dives.

2.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC of The Forest of Missing Girls!

While I love the thriller genre, it is also a difficult genre to write, and I appreciate the time and effort that went into crafting this book. The concept is intriguing, but it feels as though the author struggled to execute their ideas. For one, the writing of this book was lyrical and descriptive. In my opinion, this kind of writing doesn’t fit the thriller genre. It slows the pace of the book, and makes it less “thrilling.” Specifically, the author spent a LOT of time describing the forest, which, yes, is important to the book, but I would have appreciated if she described it only once or twice rather than every time the forest came into play.

Additionally, the main character, Ophelia, was not my favorite protagonist. She was often bland and her only character trait was that she was a chameleon that blended in with the people surrounding her. I wish that we had gotten to know her a little bit more and that she had more distinctive character traits.

The end of the book, however, had me invested and I enjoyed the last 10%! It was “thrilling” and had my eyes racing across the page to see what would happen. In the end, though, I thought “that’s it?” There were a lot of loose ends that did’t get tied up and even more events in the book that didn’t make sense to me. I would have liked for the author to spend some more time explaining the ending that she envisioned. I would have also appreciated an explanation for certain logistics that didn’t make sense to me.

While I have many mixed feelings about this book, when asked if I would recommend it to others my answer is “maybe.” Some people may enjoy this book a lot! I don’t think it was for me, but I am glad that I read it!