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A review by lydiavsbooks
In a Cottage in a Wood by Cass Green
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.75
I went into this with the wrong expectations, which definitely affected how much I enjoyed it, and is my bad rather than the books. From the title and cover I expected this to be a haunted cabin in the woods kind of horror, rather than the mystery thriller it turned out to be.
My disappointment with what the book was about, and my slower reading pace with this one both affected my reading experience, though not the fault of the book.
Overall I think this sits in between fine and good. The main twist I really enjoyed, but the clues along the way felt weirdly placed and too close to the reveals to be as affective as I think they could have been. The second twist/reveal didn't make sense to me, it felt too far-fetched and I struggle to see why those characters acted that way, other than for convenience for the plot. Similarly, throughout the book several characters are being unnecessarily secretive for no real reason other than to drag out the plot. It made it feel weirdly paced and a little underwhelming.
I also wasn't a huge fan of our main character, i see what they were going for but it just missed the mark for me and it made it hard to care.
I did appreciate that the delusions and suicide in this book were handled relatively sensitively which is often rare for the genre. And we love a conclusion that ends with the character going to therapy.
My disappointment with what the book was about, and my slower reading pace with this one both affected my reading experience, though not the fault of the book.
Overall I think this sits in between fine and good. The main twist I really enjoyed, but the clues along the way felt weirdly placed and too close to the reveals to be as affective as I think they could have been. The second twist/reveal didn't make sense to me, it felt too far-fetched and I struggle to see why those characters acted that way, other than for convenience for the plot. Similarly, throughout the book several characters are being unnecessarily secretive for no real reason other than to drag out the plot. It made it feel weirdly paced and a little underwhelming.
I also wasn't a huge fan of our main character, i see what they were going for but it just missed the mark for me and it made it hard to care.
I did appreciate that the delusions and suicide in this book were handled relatively sensitively which is often rare for the genre. And we love a conclusion that ends with the character going to therapy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting