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something_aboutpineapples 's review for:
The Woods Are Always Watching
by Stephanie Perkins
Ok buckle in my friends.
I’m torn. I really can’t decide how to rate this book, much less what I want to accomplish in my review. Hey, kind of like the author of this book!
Two friends decide to go on a hike to spend some time together before one of them leaves for college. They are ridiculously ill-prepared and scared of everything. One friend fears bears to no end and the other fears men. Both of these things will come in to play. Literally.
Neither Neena or Josie truly want to go on this hike, they just think they have to because they want to spend time together. They’re both irritated and like I mentioned earlier, they didn’t pack well at all. Josie’s brother, Winston, gave them plenty of tips and tricks to help make this backpacking trip easier but they didn’t listen and because of this they are both miserable.
They have a massive fight and it kind of goes downhill from there (literally and figuratively). Neena is convinced there is an unsavory character in the woods with them and Josie is scared that a bear will eat them. They refuse to go home and end up hiking further into the woods. One credit I will give the author is that she made it spooky. It wasn’t necessarily bone chilling but a lot of the lead up to “the big bad” was genuinely unnerving. I could really feel the eeriness of the woods and felt like I was there with the characters.
Then Josie breaks her ankle. Bone is sticking out, blood is everywhere, and she’s still conscious. Neena leaves to go get help, because leaving your injured friend in a sinkhole in the middle of the woods is a really helpful survival trick. While hiking back to the car Neena runs into a man and she immediately gets bad vibes but goes with him anyway. When she does finally try to run he turns on her and tries to kill her with his massive rifle that concerned her but wasn’t enough to make her run the first time. While all of this is happening, another man is torturing Josie and shoots off one of her hands.
Ok a whole bunch of violence and action and chase scenes happen and then boom, Josie gets out of the hole and incapacitates the man. Neena loses her attacker and starts running through the woods. She finds a campsite and a dead body and then she finds another campsite and another dead body. Tension is starting to mount but I can’t totally feel it in the writing. The author did a good build-up but the actual scary parts just aren’t quite there, I’m getting bored.
The girls find each other! Then one of the guys finds them and takes them back to his sadistic little torture campsite dungeon place. Conveniently, it’s the campsite Neena found earlier and the dead woman is still there. The guys tie them up and the girls slowly realize that these guys will rape them and then kill them. Neena and Josie try to outsmart them and turn one against the other and it starts to work!!
And then the bear attacks. I’m not sure how a plot twist can be so obvious and yet make so little sense all at the same time. This bear starts to attack the rapists, conveniently ignoring the two little girls covered in blood, vomit, and other bodily functions. The girls escape and slash the tire of the attackers and ride off into the sunset.
Congratulations, you just read the whole book!!!!!! 2/5 stars, my version was better.
I’m torn. I really can’t decide how to rate this book, much less what I want to accomplish in my review. Hey, kind of like the author of this book!
Two friends decide to go on a hike to spend some time together before one of them leaves for college. They are ridiculously ill-prepared and scared of everything. One friend fears bears to no end and the other fears men. Both of these things will come in to play. Literally.
Neither Neena or Josie truly want to go on this hike, they just think they have to because they want to spend time together. They’re both irritated and like I mentioned earlier, they didn’t pack well at all. Josie’s brother, Winston, gave them plenty of tips and tricks to help make this backpacking trip easier but they didn’t listen and because of this they are both miserable.
They have a massive fight and it kind of goes downhill from there (literally and figuratively). Neena is convinced there is an unsavory character in the woods with them and Josie is scared that a bear will eat them. They refuse to go home and end up hiking further into the woods. One credit I will give the author is that she made it spooky. It wasn’t necessarily bone chilling but a lot of the lead up to “the big bad” was genuinely unnerving. I could really feel the eeriness of the woods and felt like I was there with the characters.
Then Josie breaks her ankle. Bone is sticking out, blood is everywhere, and she’s still conscious. Neena leaves to go get help, because leaving your injured friend in a sinkhole in the middle of the woods is a really helpful survival trick. While hiking back to the car Neena runs into a man and she immediately gets bad vibes but goes with him anyway. When she does finally try to run he turns on her and tries to kill her with his massive rifle that concerned her but wasn’t enough to make her run the first time. While all of this is happening, another man is torturing Josie and shoots off one of her hands.
Ok a whole bunch of violence and action and chase scenes happen and then boom, Josie gets out of the hole and incapacitates the man. Neena loses her attacker and starts running through the woods. She finds a campsite and a dead body and then she finds another campsite and another dead body. Tension is starting to mount but I can’t totally feel it in the writing. The author did a good build-up but the actual scary parts just aren’t quite there, I’m getting bored.
The girls find each other! Then one of the guys finds them and takes them back to his sadistic little torture campsite dungeon place. Conveniently, it’s the campsite Neena found earlier and the dead woman is still there. The guys tie them up and the girls slowly realize that these guys will rape them and then kill them. Neena and Josie try to outsmart them and turn one against the other and it starts to work!!
And then the bear attacks. I’m not sure how a plot twist can be so obvious and yet make so little sense all at the same time. This bear starts to attack the rapists, conveniently ignoring the two little girls covered in blood, vomit, and other bodily functions. The girls escape and slash the tire of the attackers and ride off into the sunset.
Congratulations, you just read the whole book!!!!!! 2/5 stars, my version was better.