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A review by em_harring
That Night in the Woods by Kristopher Triana
2.0
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book. That Night in the Woods releases in October 2023.
That Night in the Woods follows a group of friends who are called to return to their hometown twenty-some years after a tragic occurrence on Halloween.
I liked the framework of this story, and I enjoy narratives that follow a group of people who have to return someplace a certain of amount of time after a huge event. They can be fun stories.
This, unfortunately, wasn't really a fun story. It was entertaining in a B horror kind of way, where you're waiting to see what happens next but cringing on the journey.
I hope this book saw more editing in between the e-arc and its final releases, as there are some hilarious mistakes like saying someone lives "next store" instead of next door and calling spanx "Spankx." My favorite had to be "loving making" though, because oh boy.
My real issue with this book is that the characters are nothing. They are just stereotypical and all of the exposition dumps provided to give them depth and characterization are either unnecessary or just further stereotype them. Mark is the bad boy fuck up and Jenny is the obsessed with her high school sweet heart good girl and Corey is the "nice boy" whose just so nice and nerdy that he's neverrrrr going to really be loved by a woman (incel vibes). There is absolutely nothing to them, combined with the fact that they are all insufferable, made this a hard read.
The novel either needed to be longer to really delve the town, the woods, and the characters, or it needed to be a novella with all that unnecessary exposition cut.
I also yearn for the day when horror writers stop using disfigurement as a way to show someone is horrifying. It's ableist and disgusting. Please stop.
There's also some weird kid stuff in here, a la this book's clear inspiration, It. So CW for that.
So, yeah, overall I wouldn't recommend. It was not great, unless you're in the mood for a B horror read and can deal with some cringy writing.
[Any quotes used in this review are from an advance reader's copy and do not reflect the final copy. Please refer to the finished copy.]
That Night in the Woods follows a group of friends who are called to return to their hometown twenty-some years after a tragic occurrence on Halloween.
I liked the framework of this story, and I enjoy narratives that follow a group of people who have to return someplace a certain of amount of time after a huge event. They can be fun stories.
This, unfortunately, wasn't really a fun story. It was entertaining in a B horror kind of way, where you're waiting to see what happens next but cringing on the journey.
I hope this book saw more editing in between the e-arc and its final releases, as there are some hilarious mistakes like saying someone lives "next store" instead of next door and calling spanx "Spankx." My favorite had to be "loving making" though, because oh boy.
My real issue with this book is that the characters are nothing. They are just stereotypical and all of the exposition dumps provided to give them depth and characterization are either unnecessary or just further stereotype them. Mark is the bad boy fuck up and Jenny is the obsessed with her high school sweet heart good girl and Corey is the "nice boy" whose just so nice and nerdy that he's neverrrrr going to really be loved by a woman (incel vibes). There is absolutely nothing to them, combined with the fact that they are all insufferable, made this a hard read.
The novel either needed to be longer to really delve the town, the woods, and the characters, or it needed to be a novella with all that unnecessary exposition cut.
I also yearn for the day when horror writers stop using disfigurement as a way to show someone is horrifying. It's ableist and disgusting. Please stop.
There's also some weird kid stuff in here, a la this book's clear inspiration, It. So CW for that.
Spoiler
And the whole cult thing was...weird. Needed more explanation.So, yeah, overall I wouldn't recommend. It was not great, unless you're in the mood for a B horror read and can deal with some cringy writing.
[Any quotes used in this review are from an advance reader's copy and do not reflect the final copy. Please refer to the finished copy.]