Review by kdickerson38 - What Lies in the Woods

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

Tropes/themes:
- Psychological thriller
- Dual timeline
- Whodunnit
- Reuniting with childhood friends in hometown to face past
- Amnesia
- Secrets, betrayal, and lies
- [Female] friendship
- Trauma
Such a dark, twisty, and suspenseful thriller.
Woodsy, witchy vibes.
One or two things were predictable but there were so many other things that shocked me.
Kept me on the edge of my seat.
Super captivating - it just lured me in so well and had me completely hooked.
A little bit of a slow burn but things slowly unravel so it definitely wasn’t boring.
I do wish that the final reveal of what really happened was ‘shown’ in the timeline of the past rather than ‘told’ in the timeline of the present, or at least a mix of the two.
Spoiler:
This was very obviously based loosely on the Slender Man stabbing. Which, to clarify, is not a complaint whatsoever! It just made one of the many twists predictable for me because I’m so familiar with that case and that’s all I could think about. I’m also shocked it wasn’t mentioned in an author’s note or anything.
Content warnings:
- Murder
- Violence
- Gun violence
- Death
- Serial killer
- Stabbing/injury detail
- Stalking
- Abuse
- Sexual assault
- Death of a friend
- Mental illness
- Grief
- Adult/minor relationship