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mer_dont_care's review against another edition
4.0
okay julia said this was one of her favorite books so had to check it out!! definitely a captivating plot and I couldn’t put the book down. some of the best interrogation scenes I’ve ever read. literally did not seen any of the twists coming and was really surprised with who the murderer ended up being!
not a 5 star because I didn’t love the narrator. maybe because I haven’t read a male protagonist book in a while, but he was just like sad white boy sometimes and that was boring.
not a 5 star because I didn’t love the narrator. maybe because I haven’t read a male protagonist book in a while, but he was just like sad white boy sometimes and that was boring.
sara_shocks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
evanf's review against another edition
2.0
This book easily could have gotten 4 stars, in my opinion, if the author had bothered finishing it. One of the most disappointing reads to date.
reydeam's review against another edition
4.0
Tana French's word crafting ability is amazing; my breath was taking away during several moments throughout the book. Many times her word pictures made me pause to reflect the beauty that is tightly packed in few words; depth was felt in simple words placed within beautiful sentence structures.
The suspense had me at the edge of my seat, gripping the pages tightly. Could I trust the narrator? I did, but a part of me thinks that maybe I should not. I liked him. He drew me into his story, and I found myself doing what I never do—I flipped to the end of the book and read the outcome. I was so much on edge that I needed to do that, and afterwards I was able to go back and carry on with the story. That is not my reading style.
The ending left me wondering; the case was neatly tidied up but the lives of those involved where not. In many ways, the reader has been left in a state of the unknown. Most times I gristle when this happens. This time I'm good with being left in the wondering state of the unknown, it suits the characters and it suits the realities of life. I just hope that at some point in this series, Rob Ryan is brought back in. I'm thinking he will not, but I can hope.
This story could be a stand alone because enough of the plot was brought to a conclusion. Yet enough was not packaged up neatly—enough to make me curious about Cassie Maddox's life trajectory.
More importantly, the writing is brilliant and that alone will bring me to next book.
The suspense had me at the edge of my seat, gripping the pages tightly. Could I trust the narrator? I did, but a part of me thinks that maybe I should not. I liked him. He drew me into his story, and I found myself doing what I never do—I flipped to the end of the book and read the outcome. I was so much on edge that I needed to do that, and afterwards I was able to go back and carry on with the story. That is not my reading style.
The ending left me wondering; the case was neatly tidied up but the lives of those involved where not. In many ways, the reader has been left in a state of the unknown. Most times I gristle when this happens. This time I'm good with being left in the wondering state of the unknown, it suits the characters and it suits the realities of life. I just hope that at some point in this series, Rob Ryan is brought back in. I'm thinking he will not, but I can hope.
This story could be a stand alone because enough of the plot was brought to a conclusion. Yet enough was not packaged up neatly—enough to make me curious about Cassie Maddox's life trajectory.
More importantly, the writing is brilliant and that alone will bring me to next book.
kaimo007's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
unexpectedbookish's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautifully written psychological thriller. It is narrated by Rob Ryan, a boy who is left behind after 2 of his friends mysteriously disappeared in the woods. Although he is not a very credible narrator, it is written in such a way that makes you feel for him. He's broken by the incident that happened when he was 12 years old and some wounds never heal. The only thing that I felt was lacking was the answer to the disappearance of 2 of his friends, Peter and Jamie.
libraryofdreaming's review against another edition
1.0
After completely adoring Tana French's other book, The Likeness, I was seriously disappointed by In the Woods. This book is MUCH darker than The Likeness. Its murder mystery is grisly and made me very uncomfortable. I also didn't realize that each book in the series has a different narrator so Cassie Maddox appeared only as a secondary character. I found the narrator of this book to be rather annoying. Even the writing felt flatter and less appealing.
This book contains a dual mystery, present and past, and to my complete dismay, only one mystery is truly solved! The advertising was very misleading in this regard. Yes, it is realistic that some murder cases go unsolved, but I don't read mystery books to be left hanging! That's what true crime is for! *glares at Serial* In the end, I abandoned all other responsibilites to finish this book, not because I was thrilled with it, but because I was creeped out by it and I wanted answers before I went to sleep. And I was never satisfied!
The hanging, incoherent ending is still driving me crazy. I want answers, dagnabit! Why did I put myself through all that creepiness if not to get an actual resolution? And there was a lot of creepiness. There's child murder, rape, abuse, and just general ick. Definitely not what I look for in a book. If I had read In the Woods first, I never would have continued with the series, which is a true shame because The Likeness is completely different. I'm going to make my sister read the rest of the series first before I decide whether or not to continue on with it.
This book contains a dual mystery, present and past, and to my complete dismay, only one mystery is truly solved! The advertising was very misleading in this regard. Yes, it is realistic that some murder cases go unsolved, but I don't read mystery books to be left hanging! That's what true crime is for! *glares at Serial* In the end, I abandoned all other responsibilites to finish this book, not because I was thrilled with it, but because I was creeped out by it and I wanted answers before I went to sleep. And I was never satisfied!
Spoiler
I assumed that it would be a case of an unreliable narrator, but instead it's very murky and the story just... ends. Did Rob murder his friends?? DID HE?? If he didn't, then who did? A pooka? Did a pooka kill them and make the marks on his shirt? A pooka armed with an arrowhead?? I'm literally grasping at straws here. I could not understand what Tana French was implying. Or maybe she wasn't implying anything and she truly has no answer for us. That's the feeling I get from her interviews and as far as I know she's never answered the question in any of her later books. The Likeness is not a sequel in that regard and I can't imagine how frustrated other readers must have been when they discovered this.The hanging, incoherent ending is still driving me crazy. I want answers, dagnabit! Why did I put myself through all that creepiness if not to get an actual resolution? And there was a lot of creepiness. There's child murder, rape, abuse, and just general ick. Definitely not what I look for in a book. If I had read In the Woods first, I never would have continued with the series, which is a true shame because The Likeness is completely different. I'm going to make my sister read the rest of the series first before I decide whether or not to continue on with it.
itzelgmadrid's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
3.75
no2camels's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This review is for the audio recording.
It is a testament to how good the book is that I actually finished listening. The audio book has three issues.
1) It is a CD transfer, so every 45 minutes there are disc markers: "This ends disc 11; now begins disc 12."
2) The narrator's voice "reads" old, like a 60 year old man, not a 35 year old. Even though the story is told in flashback, the age of the voice still reads "off."
And perhaps the most alarming issue for me. . .
3) So many MOUTH NOISES!!! I am definitely not an ASMR person and so often you can hear the dehydration: lips sticking to teeth, dry swallows, tongue slapping. I kept thinking "The producers have to hear this, right?"
"In the Woods" is approaching its 20th anniversary and is well worthy of a new audio production.
It is a testament to how good the book is that I actually finished listening. The audio book has three issues.
1) It is a CD transfer, so every 45 minutes there are disc markers: "This ends disc 11; now begins disc 12."
2) The narrator's voice "reads" old, like a 60 year old man, not a 35 year old. Even though the story is told in flashback, the age of the voice still reads "off."
And perhaps the most alarming issue for me. . .
3) So many MOUTH NOISES!!! I am definitely not an ASMR person and so often you can hear the dehydration: lips sticking to teeth, dry swallows, tongue slapping. I kept thinking "The producers have to hear this, right?"
"In the Woods" is approaching its 20th anniversary and is well worthy of a new audio production.