The Woods

The Woods follows Tess, a young teacher, who must return home to care for her dying stepmother; her time back in her hometown brings up horrific memories of her sister, who died in a mysterious death years before. Tess was the only person there when her sister dies, yet she remembers almost nothing of the night.

The inventive plot and unique situation that Tess faces makes the novel both exciting and a bit unbelievable. I found myself constantly taking guesses about the plot and found myself wrong often–always a good sign for me in a thriller! Savage expertly describes the scene, immersing the reader in Tess' whirlwind of a life. I thought Savage did a beautiful job of writing Tess' mental decline, particularly emphasizing Tess' lack of sleep and its effect on her decision-making (although I do feel that the “declining mental state” trope is used fairly often in thrillers nowadays).

The cast, however, felt quite flat. I wasn't particularly sympathetic to any of them, including Tess. The characters were very two-dimensional, and I struggled to fully understand their motives at any given time. The little bits of romance/tension between characters also felt a bit forced to me. Ultimately, the Woods is very plot-driven and didn't really capture nuanced characters in my opinion.

Thank you to the Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.