Reviews

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

kwest's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

lonestarwords's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

4.0

In the woods each decision you make is irreversible and sometimes catastrophic, a forgotten compass, a wrong turn, a fire lit in defiance of a drought....
The God of the Woods
Liz Moore
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Thank you PRH Audio for this gifted audio copy!
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If you’ve known me for some time you know that you could scour my feed and find but a handful of mysteries or thrillers - they just aren’t my jam. Add to that, the ones I’ve read since starting my account have been absolutely silly, for lack of a better word. Eye rolling, predicable and implausible - a terrible trifecta.
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So why did I decide to pick up The God of the Woods, given it is coined both a mystery and a thriller? First, it is because Riverhead books published it and their books are always literary, so I was almost guaranteed it was going to be solid. And then I began seeing other readers whose taste I trust getting behind it, so I had nothing to lose with a gifted audio copy. The narration is excellent BTW.
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You know I love familiarity with setting, and TGOTW is set in upstate New York, specifically The Adirondacks. Having lived in Saratoga for many years, I loved the numerous mentions to it — Moore does a great job with the vibe of that area.
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This is the story of a young girl named Barbara who goes missing from her ADK summer camp. However she’s not just any camper but the daughter and granddaughter of the wealthy family who has owned the camp for generations. The story is told over the week in 1975 that surrounds the investigation, but also goes back in time 16 years to when Barbara’s brother Bear also disappeared. Sounds a bit odd I know but Moore made it work — this is a thriller with good bones.
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The story is perfectly paced and I was NEVER bored. It has short cliffhanger chapters and multiple POVs, all ingredients for great mystery unraveling. We have an affluent family, the working class community that surrounds them, and some good sleuthing.
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As I posted about this one in my stories, hoping upon hope it didn’t let me down, I got comments about Long Bright River. I did not read that one but from the high praise I’ve heard I would say you can bet this lives up. Out 7/2. Great summer read.

bretts_book_stack's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

markeefe's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

criticalady's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

Had a hard time putting this down and when I wasn’t reading it, I still thought about it. 

“Rich people… become most enraged when they sense they’re about to be held accountable for their wrongs.”

basicbsguide's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Talk about slow burn. It takes a good chunk to get a handle on everyone and I’m glad I could rotate between kindle and audio for this reason.  Rich people behaving badly and a long history but feels over told in a way and I found it predictable and a little flat in the end.  Definitely not as compelling of a read as her last,

book_ish_bitch's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

trinny's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A slow burn mystery set in a summer camp, 1975 and Barbara goes missing,  but she's not the first in her family to do so as her brother Bear did so before she was born.
Unfortunately, unlike other reviews I couldn't take to the novel, I didn't particularly take to the many characters and found it disjointed in places. However the writing was descriptive and I loved the setting. I can see why it appears to readers, sadly not for me

greyys_libraryy's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

The God of The Woods was kind of boring in my opinion. I felt that the amount of pages was completely uneeded and could have been cut in half. I liked the plot of Barbara's disappearance, but the parts that took place in the past didn't I retest me. I felt bored during a lot of the past parts, and the present day parts felt like they dragged on.

I'd give this book another chance in the future, but as of the ARC I think it could use some final edits before getting published

oliviapaige3's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0