Reviews

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke

haley09's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

hdwyerrr's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

eyeofthedivine's review against another edition

5.0

I don't often leave a written review, however, this book is beautifully harrowing. It's such an amazing story that I feel worth your time. It never stops keeping me on the edge of my seat and I never knew what would happen next.

It addresses historical events that have happened to women and the LBGTQ+ community still alive today. It addresses stigma and heartbreaking social injustices that to date I feel are not spoken about enough. This is done through gothic fiction in a way that puts the reader in their shoes.

If I'm ever brave enough to have a child of my own I will be giving them a copy of this book.

rosielazar1's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

chiwa's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

myadventurewithbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? N/A

4.0

annineamundsen's review against another edition

5.0

4.5⭐
This is the kind of gothic novel I like!! The pacing is good, the mystery is intriguing and is revealed at just the right pace. Throw in some sapphic characters and a cute kid and I am down!

lucymudie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

eloise_gilbart's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

After lots of build up the ending felt anti climactic, and left me with lots of unanswered questions

criticalady's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.0

This dark tale explores crucial feminist themes and includes some LGBTQIA+ characters, however,

it unfortunately panders to the “bury your gays” trope by literally infecting all of the main lesbian characters and proceeds to burn three of them alive, for some reason. Authors, don’t do this trope anymore, it’s a horrid way to further the plot. Those characters didn’t need to die so violently when so many other ppl were infected by Nicnevin and left the premises to then infect others.

Beyond that, there are far too may loose ends.

Why infect Mr. Whitlock? Then again? Why treat him with Belladonna to not have the effects? I’m so confused about the relationships of the characters who live in Lichen Hall. Who is the father? Who died and how did the mushrooms make them come back to life? Why didn’t Morven come back to life once infected? Do the spores make people not age? What or who is the headless thing in the woods? How are there suddenly good mushrooms that were not mentioned before until the VERY last minute? When did the East Wing close? During Mabel or Pearl’s time? In this book’s world, are there loads of ppl infected with these fungal spores just walking around in the world? How does Nicnevin play into all this? Also, stems and branches don’t look anything like mushrooms. Also, something like the cordyceps mushroom basically possesses people, but how the possession aspect works isn’t clear and effects each character differently. It’s too inconsistent.

Having some questions at the end of a book is fine, but this many just seems like the author and editors forgot to finish the plot.