Review by suziej - In the Woods

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suziej 's review for:

In the Woods by Tana French

2.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is good if you're looking for a story with a unapologetically misogynistic, fatphobic, and abusive narrator looking to justify his bad choices that have lead him to lead a miserable life. Additionally, the main character, despite presumably being in his 30s or 40s, speaks very grossly about the young women in the story, including the victim. He is obviously attracted to an adolescent and makes gross remarks about the victim's body, such as remarking on her "budding breasts".

The story is fine, but it's predictable. The author seems to think that the twist in the story was some kind of gotcha that no one could see coming, but I saw it coming from a mile away (or about halfway through the book). There's no reason the book needed to be that long for such a predictable twist. The ending was also lackluster, and simply an ode to a pathetic man who ruined his own life because he couldn't get out of his own misogynistic way. To their credit, the author seems perfectly aware how unlikeable the narrator is, but I don't think the story is good enough to compensate for that.

Content Warnings