A review by outsmartyourshelf
The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
Friends Neena & Josie decide to go on a 3 day hiking & camping trip before Neena moves to California for university. Borrowing their gear from Josie's older brother & his girlfriend, the two girls head out for the Blue Ridge mountains, but shortly after starting their trip, they realise that they are out of their depth. There's no phone coverage & there are few cars in the car park meaning hardly any other fellow hikers. They also realise that their friendship is on the point of disintegration as they snap & snipe their way over the first day. On finally reaching the campground for their first night, the girls notice that only one other tent is there, but it is strangely quiet.
The girls make their evening meal & get ready to sleep, but during the night, Neena is sure she hears someone creeping about the site. The two girls end up falling out with each other completely, but the next day, both are too stubborn to turn back so they decide to follow a different route back. This turns out to be the worst decision they could have made as partway through the new route, the markers suddenly disappear & then Josie falls into a concealed sinkhole. She is badly injured & Neena decides to return to the car & drive far enough to get a signal & call for help. Whilst separated, the girls are about to face their worst nightmares.
The first part of the book seems a young YA roadtrip book - there's a lot of 'fish out of water' moments, but also a lot of falling out & fighting & you wonder why these girls are friends. The second part suddenly becomes almost a different book - it's brutal & rather gory in places with sudden violence & menace. It does show very neatly though, how girls can be socialised into ignoring their intuition that someone is not what they seem, because they don't want to appear rude or unkind & how predators take advantage of that. Overall, it turned out to be a grittier book that I expected, but I don't really get why the author stopped the story where they did - what the heck was that ending?!
The girls make their evening meal & get ready to sleep, but during the night, Neena is sure she hears someone creeping about the site. The two girls end up falling out with each other completely, but the next day, both are too stubborn to turn back so they decide to follow a different route back. This turns out to be the worst decision they could have made as partway through the new route, the markers suddenly disappear & then Josie falls into a concealed sinkhole. She is badly injured & Neena decides to return to the car & drive far enough to get a signal & call for help. Whilst separated, the girls are about to face their worst nightmares.
The first part of the book seems a young YA roadtrip book - there's a lot of 'fish out of water' moments, but also a lot of falling out & fighting & you wonder why these girls are friends. The second part suddenly becomes almost a different book - it's brutal & rather gory in places with sudden violence & menace. It does show very neatly though, how girls can be socialised into ignoring their intuition that someone is not what they seem, because they don't want to appear rude or unkind & how predators take advantage of that. Overall, it turned out to be a grittier book that I expected, but I don't really get why the author stopped the story where they did - what the heck was that ending?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Sexual violence