Reviews with content warning for Violence - What the Woods Took

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

19 reviews

tinynightingales's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"What the Woods Took" is like if "Where the Wild Things Are" was a nightmare. Devin is a foster kid who is used to fending for herself. She has spent her entire life acting out and being sent from broken home to broken home, but when she is stolen from her bed and thrust into a Wilderness Explorer program for troubled teens, she's sure she has hit rock bottom. Armed with nothing, but her vicious words and a powerful right hook, she is determined to survive this program if only in spite of the system that chewed her up and spat her out, even if she has to suffer through horrible group mates, non-stop hiking, and gross food options. However, Devin soon finds that there is something about the forest that feels inexplicably strange. When the group leaders go missing Devin discovers that the forest is more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.

This book includes:
- troubled teens in a behavioral wilderness program
- nightmares come to life
- generational curses and broken spirits
- camaraderie
- LGBT protagonist
- TW mentioned but not on page: child abuse, drug abuse, depression, suicide

This book is WOW. I typically don't reach for thrillers or horror, but I am so glad I took a chance on "What the Woods Took." This book dives into nightmares both real and imagined. It has a compelling atmosphere of paranoia, dread, and anguish that entranced me and had me staying up late just to keep reading. The story has so much depth, to a degree I don't often expect from YA. If you're the type of reader who loves to be surprised and appreciates a good amount of suspense, I can't recommend this book enough.

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Courtney Gould, and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and it will be posted to my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/ and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

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booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bookeduntil's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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queeerlybeloved's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

BIG THANKS TO COURTNEY GOULD AND HER GIVEAWAY FOR A PHYSICAL ARC OF THIS BOOK ❤️❤️❤️
i'm a loser and got this literally in april but didn't read it until now HAHAHA but god i'm so glad i started the month with it!!

it follows Devin, Ollie, Sheridan, and others through a wilderness therapy program gone wrong. at first, Ollie is the only "likeable" character to the readers' eye. but i secretly loved both Devin and Sheridan because i knew exactly what the tone was supposed to be and that they were supposed to be antagonistic and emotional and raw!! and boy did they fit those characteristics perfectly. love my girls ❤️

the story completely drew me in; i didn't want to put it down!! i would've happily not slept and finished it had i not had to work today. i love a story with so many twists and turns that keeps me on the edge of my seat. i'm also never one to see a twist coming so i was SHOCKED WHEN

IT WAS HANNAH??? also damn!!! mimics!!! that's not fucking terrifying or anything.

i couldn't imagine coming across anything like what the kids came across.

ALSO I SAW

DEVIN AND SHERIDAN

COMING A MILE AWAY. I WAS GIGGLING AND KICKING MY FEET. I LOVE GAY PEOPLE.

anyway, i absolutely loved it. i can't WAIT for y'all to read it. it comes out in 8 days so keep your eyes open!!!!
thanks again, Courtney ❤️

ALSO; i included some content warnings below BUT it's a horror novel, so some of them come with the territory! be sure you know what you're doing into.

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audreylee's review

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Nature is scary enough but being abandoned in a forest when there is something or someone stalking you....hard pass. High stakes adventure and teen bonding. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy.

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skye_era_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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

4.5

This book was fucked up in the best way. It kept me intrigued the entire time, I literally could not stop listening. All I knew about this book before reading was that it was about a wilderness therapy program, which is already horrifying, but add in

mimics in the woods?

fucking terrifying and one of my worst nightmares. But I loved seeing how the characters ended up coming together, to the point that it almost felt like a coming of age story. In a way, it was beautiful.

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jazzyjbox's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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.

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paracosim's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Do you like found family? Do you like body horror, trauma bonding, and a pervasive sense of dread and unease that permeates the setting of a book? Did you enjoy Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin and want something very similar, but much more age appropriate for teens? This is the book for you.

So, I read this in a single sitting. I requested it on a whim because it had a pretty cover and I wanted something similar to Felker-Martin’s Cuckoo, and boy was I in for a treat. The second I began reading What the Woods Took, I knew I was going to binge it in one go; it was just that good. The writing was great, the characters were easy to root for (even Sheridan!), and the horror…goodness, the horror. It was fantastic. If you read Cuckoo and found it a bit too gory and sexual for your tastes, but still crave that body horror and sapphic themes combo, this will be right up your alley. The injury descriptions were kept to a minimal but still managed to get the point across in a way that was grisly but not uncomfortable.

I think I’ll be buying a physical copy of this book when it comes out. I’d love to have it on my shelf.

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seriouslynerdy's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was able to read this before release thanks to NetGalley!

I want to start off by saying I LOVED this book, it was right up my ally with horror/ psychological thriller vibes. This is a YA based book if you read this book and think these kids act immature or it’s juveniles themes (it’s a ya book of course its going to have juvenile themes) but the YA aspect does not take away the horror of this book for me it made it more intense thinking of 13-17 year old taken away to stay in the woods for 50 days is terrifying in itself and what lies beyond as they continue their journey just add to the horror.

This book is going to be in my top 5 reads of 2024 and I cannot wait for it to be released to re-read it it’s a physical book and annotate it and go back finding hidden horrors that I missed while hyper-focused of these kids survival. I could not read this book at night because living near the woods I was freaked out so this was strictly read during daylight hours, if you can read horror books at night then sleep soundly I am also scared of you.

This is a slow paced book about 5 teenagers Devin, Aiden, Hannah, Sheridan and Ollie who all only have one thing in common they were all sent to stay in the woods for 50 days under the the supervision of two leaders who are going to “change” the teenagers before they leave the woods. Things don’t go as planned but everyone who leaves the woods is changed forever, maybe for the better or maybe for the worst. This book showcase every bump you're scared of in the night, every shadow in the woods that have a face but you shake it off because that’s absurd, every fear you’ve kept buried because you're not scared to admit the truth to others but the truth to yourself.

This book is a dual POV between Ollie and Devin. Ollie who is easy to love, easy to like and you want to protect him from the darkness. Devin is harder to like she’s rough, she’s full of anger, she is the protector not the girl who needs protecting.

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