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purplejumping's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning was not as well written, but I fell in love with the book by the end. The haunting story will stick with me for a long time.
runningonwords415's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to Penguin Young Readers at Penguin Group for providing an advanced reader's copy to this novel through NetGalley.
This novel is a booklover's dream! Mystery, sex, and good ole Mother Nature! It's hard to find a Young Adult suspense novel nowadays that is truly suspenseful, but Kuehn grips the reader from the first chapter, and the twists just keep coming. I appreciate the male perspective; there's something authentically honest about Ben's point of view that not every female narrator can pull off. As a lover of the outdoors, I really enjoyed the landscape descriptions riddled throughout the novel; the native Californian in me gobbled up the lush details of the camping trip scenery. At the heart of this novel, though, is a story about suffering - emotional, physical, mental - and the tough choices that one is presented with on their path to healing. There were some ends that were left untied, with one character in particular, but nothing that didn't distract from the overall plot. Recommended for teens 14+
This novel is a booklover's dream! Mystery, sex, and good ole Mother Nature! It's hard to find a Young Adult suspense novel nowadays that is truly suspenseful, but Kuehn grips the reader from the first chapter, and the twists just keep coming. I appreciate the male perspective; there's something authentically honest about Ben's point of view that not every female narrator can pull off. As a lover of the outdoors, I really enjoyed the landscape descriptions riddled throughout the novel; the native Californian in me gobbled up the lush details of the camping trip scenery. At the heart of this novel, though, is a story about suffering - emotional, physical, mental - and the tough choices that one is presented with on their path to healing. There were some ends that were left untied, with one character in particular, but nothing that didn't distract from the overall plot. Recommended for teens 14+
ashleyreadstoomuch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
awkward_bee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
sandrareilly513's review against another edition
2.0
Ben struggles to find his own self-worth while saving his classmates from imminent danger during a school-sponsored hiking excursion in this YA adventure. Ben is a small-town kid who has never left his hometown thanks to a harrowing, desperate act as a child that has left his mother widowed, permanently injured, mentally unstable, and an alcoholic. He feels beholden to her to help make her life simpler in any way he can. Despite becoming codependent on his very self-reliant and confident girlfriend, Rose, Ben is ready for her to move on from him as he feels he will never be more than he already is now. This hiking trip is his chance to prove he has more to offer Rose, and the world, but when everything begins to go wrong it will be up to him to save their lives.
Thoughts: I hate to say this, but I was not a fan of this story. I feel it started as an interesting suspense/thriller and became an adventure/survival that wasn't quite as interesting. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge adventure/survival fan, but the characters also began to wear on my nerves and the lack of real communication and the continuous poor decision-making was frustrating for me. There is a demographic of my HS students that might find the fast pace and rule breaking interesting enough to hold their attention, but with the abundance of adult content (several descriptive sex scenes) and language, I would keep the appropriateness level at grades 12+.
Thoughts: I hate to say this, but I was not a fan of this story. I feel it started as an interesting suspense/thriller and became an adventure/survival that wasn't quite as interesting. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge adventure/survival fan, but the characters also began to wear on my nerves and the lack of real communication and the continuous poor decision-making was frustrating for me. There is a demographic of my HS students that might find the fast pace and rule breaking interesting enough to hold their attention, but with the abundance of adult content (several descriptive sex scenes) and language, I would keep the appropriateness level at grades 12+.
apare's review against another edition
This book has terrible characters and the way the narrator is talking is incredibly annoying. Not sure how I made it this far with such an egregious story but I have to end it here. Upset I wasted my time thinking I was going to read this, this is the first book I haven’t finished in a very long time. Sorry to all who chose to read my rant
taylorreadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Digital ARC provided by Penguin in exchange for an honest review.
Review to come.
Review to come.
annab23's review against another edition
2.0
The book felt wildly lackluster. It was recommended on tik tok or Instagram or something, I love a good camping trip gone wrong, but this one just..dragged? The characters are trying too hard to be deep, lots of weird and unresolved emotions, not really what I thought it was going to be. Pretty slow in places and takes a while for the main action to begin.
bookwyrm_kate's review against another edition
3.0
STAY OUT OF THE WOODS. This was a super fast read, YA thriller, just about what you would expect from that genre. Very poor decision making, terrible circumstances, teenage angst, and murrrrrder. I thought it was fun, finished in a day, and the speed of the plot was more movie than book-like. Would have liked to see much more of the aftermath/consequences, as it felt like only half the story. Did enjoy the author’s style and will look for her writing again.