A review by w0lfyfr3n
What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

I almost abandoned this book in the first half because of the unexpectedly tame camp and the maddening teenage bickering, but I'm glad I didn't because once I got through the slow start every single page afterwards was captivating. 

Travelling with the characters on this fast paced romp through a deadly forest, you get to watch their relationships with themselves and eachother evolve in interesting ways. Great found family vibes, with a commendably written enemies-to-lovers wlw romance as a bonus. The danger was well-defined instead of being left abstract, and the paranoia it wrought on the group was an intriguing addition to their dynamics. 

Ultimately what pushed this book above a 4 for me was the unrelentingly compassionate way it approached almost every character, even the ones you'd think were too difficult to like
especially in the case of the "monster"
. It went about recontextualizing the actions of "troubled teenagers", so that the reader is gradually able to better understand where their behaviour grows from, which I found refreshing for the psychological horror genre. 
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