Book Review: What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

 

My Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“We tried to forget. We didn’t tell the story. Not the real one. Not ever.”

As children, Naomi Shaw and her friends, Cassidy (Cass) and Olivia (Liv) believed in myth and magic. Being raised by a negligent father who was drunk most of the time, Naomi found comfort and companionship in her friends, whose lives were very different from hers. The eleven-year-olds invented games and imagined mythical adventures. One such game was the Goddess Game, where they pretended to be goddesses from Greek mythology. A surprise discovery in the woods, one that they kept to themselves, only fueled their imagination further and their game became more elaborate and intense. However, that summer would change Naomi’s life forever. A gruesome act of violence in the woods leaves Naomi fighting for her life after being stabbed seventeen times and leaves both of her friends traumatized. They identify the attacker, a serial killer who was responsible for the death of other women, who was caught and jailed based on the testimony of the three girls. Naomi’s memories are foggy at best but she and her friends survived to tell the tale. But, they lied and twenty-two years later, after the killer dies in prison, the three friends reunite in their hometown of Chester, their guilt and secrets pushing them in different directions - Liv, who struggles with her mental health issues, has been digging into the past, wants to own up to their lies and reveal what they had hidden from everyone; Naomi, who still bears the physical and emotional scars from the attack, is willing to hear what Liv has to share as she tries to remember what really happened in those woods over twenty years ago; Cass, the Mayor’s daughter and a single mother who has built a life for herself in Chester, would rather not revisit the events that occurred all those years ago.

A lot is going on in Chester. Secrets and lies permeate the atmosphere of this small town. As the narrative progresses, Naomi begins to realize that her memories of that night were tainted and there is a lot about that night and the attack that she has never remembered. But some people would rather let sleeping dogs lie and would do whatever it takes to stop Naomi from discovering the truth.

Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is sharp, well-structured and absorbing. Naomi is a convincing protagonist – scarred by the violence she has endured, emotionally unavailable for the most part, cynical and distrustful of the world around her, she is immensely flawed and has not made the smartest choices. But she is a survivor and resilient. Initially, a slow burn, the story picks up at around the 30% mark. There are a lot of characters we meet along the way, but it is not hard to keep track of who’s who. The novel is narrated by Naomi, in the present-day in the first person. Flashbacks take us back to the events that occurred during her childhood. Full of twists and red herrings, this book had me hooked till the very last page. While one of the twists is not difficult to predict, this book kept proving me wrong as the story progressed and topped it with an ending that I did not see coming! (I love it when that happens!) Well-written, chilling, atmospheric, and suspenseful, Kate Alice Marshall’s What Lies in the Woods is a gripping read that I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the first book written by this author that I've read and and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Many thanks to the author, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this gripping thriller. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is scheduled to be released on January 17, 2023.