Reviews - In The Woods | The StoryGraph

7.65k reviews for:

In The Woods

Tana French

3.71 AVERAGE

headlesschicken123's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

asiu_'s review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

amandafunai's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

stacymcauliffe's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

breadwater's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A well crafted, if a bit predictable, thriller. I did clock whodunnit about halfway through, but still enjoyed reading the rest.

wardenred's review against another edition

3.75

challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this—two things: I crave truth. And I lie.

This is a murder mystery with a rather pretentious MC who, in the process of investigating a gruesome murder of a teenage girl, is forced to confront the mysteries of his past. Nearly, that one time when he and two of his friends ran off into the woods when he was a kid, and then the friends disappeared forever and he was discovered alone with blood-soaked shoes and amnesia. This older, personal mystery is introduced in the very prologue, and for a while there, the narrative is constructed in a way that suggests the present-day investigation is merely a vehicle for exploring what *really* happened in the woods that day. I was very here for that, not gonna lie, even though the focus sliding toward the past made it harder for me to keep track of the present-day developments with the case, especially since the MC himself didn’t seem super invested in the investigation. Instead, he was very into the trappings of it: hanging out with his co-investigators, bonding over late nights spent poring over evidence, trying to determine whether he sees his female partner as a friend or not, this kind of thing. (In case I didn’t mention it before: he’s very pretentious about it all.) But the mystery of his past was something he cared about, and so I cared, too, and I wanted to see it resolved.

Unfortunately, almost 600 pages later, I found no resolution to that plotline. At least the present-day case got solved, though I was left profoundly unsatisfied even with its conclusion. Out of all the numerous leads the characters pursued, the one that paid off was imo the least interesting one. Also, the case was mostly solved by the aforementioned female partner, whom the MC eventually treated awfully; she did all the heavy lifting while he brooded and thought deep thoughts and all that deep thinking never really went anywhere. Honestly, he’d be better suited to be a protagonist of some kind of litfic that can afford to be built mostly on philosophizing and vibes. In such a book, his exploration of his own unpleasantness would actually be compelling, and the substitution of an answer to a mystery with vague reminiscence on the nature of memory wouldn’t be out of place. In a mystery/thriller, though… Idk, looking back at the book now, I kind of wish he could move aside, let Cassie be the MC instead, and allow me to experience the present-day case as the main plot from her perspective.

To end on a positive note, the one definite strength this book has is prose, particularly when it comes to description. More than once, right when my attention began to drift, some evocative passage with a strong sense of space drew me right back. Whether it was the forest, the archaeological site, a character’s apartment, or a car interior, the text conveyed the overall feel of it so damn well. I love how atmospheric and immersive all these fictional places were. I feel like I’ve visited them and not just read about them.

Content Warnings