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darquedreamer 's review for:

The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins
2.5
emotional funny tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

So, this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I started off loving it. It was funny. It was reflective of how it feels to grow up as a teen girl, and of the evolution and potential separation of friendship. It felt like a metaphor about navigating teenage, female hormones, and the awkward transitions from high school to college/teen years to young adult years in comparison to getting lost in the woods on a hike only half prepared for the trip. It seemed like a YA contemporary for about the first 60% of the book. And, it was a slow pace.

The Thriller aspect didn't settle in until around the 60% mark, though. And, from there, suddenly the pace changed. Taking in account the genre change, pace change, the unnecessary plot device around the 70% mark, and the abrupt, unsatisfying ending, the last 40% of the book was just jarring, enough so to drastically lower my rating...