Book Review: The Woods by Vanessa Savage
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 25, 2020)
Length: 384 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
To be honest, I think I expected a little more excitement from this mystery thriller, but it was still good where it counted. Darkly twisted and eerily disconcerting, this story had its fair share of intense, dramatic moments. Set in a small and closely-knit English village, The Woods by Vanessa Savage tells the tragic tale of two families, brought together and then torn apart by grief, lies, and scandal.
Although nearly a decade has passed since the mysterious death of 18-year-old Bella Cooper, the years have not made things any easier for her younger sister Tess, who had been found lying unconscious next to the body in the woods. In fact, the trauma had been so severe that she cannot remember much of anything from that night, and certainly nothing about the purported accident that extinguished the bright and shining life of her beautiful, beloved sister.
Now in her mid-twenties and working as a schoolteacher in the city, Tess would rather not dig up the past, but then one day, an unexpected phone call from her father turns her whole world upside down. Distraught, he informs her that Julia, her stepmother, is dying, and that he is hoping to get the whole family together for her one last time. Even though going home is the last thing she wants, Tess could hardly refuse her father’s request, knowing how much it would mean to him. Besides, she loves Julia, who has always been a kind and loving stepmom. It is her kids that Tess can’t stand.
Back in her hometown though, Tess soon discovers a lot more to contend with than Julia’s sons, Jack and Sean, as well as the insufferable friends they used to hang out with. Being so close again to the place where Bella died seems to have shaken loose some long-buried memories, and before long, she starts hearing her sister’s voice and hallucinating her presence as well. Convinced she is losing her mind, Tess is further shaken when the police are called to a grisly discovery in the neighboring property that used to belong to Julia’s family. What they find there prompts a fresh wave of questions over the circumstances surrounding Bella’s death, as well as the disappearances and murders of other teenage girls in the area that occurred around the same time.
Initially, there were several factors that made reading The Woods feel disorienting, the prime one being Tess’ memory loss paired with her reluctance to speak frankly about what happened the night her sister died. Our protagonist is an unreliable narrator, deliberately avoiding or obfuscating certain subjects that presumably would cause her great shame or guilt. A big chunk of the story was also told through flashback, and at times this back-and-forth switching of past and present narratives also brought on confusion. Readers must constantly stay on their toes to have any hope of following along.
At first, I also found our protagonist a bit off-putting. Tess was difficult to connect with, which was not entirely unexpected, I suppose, given her guardedness. However, on top of that, her character was often unpredictable, and there were many cases in the book of her reacting on impulse to situations in such a way that made it nearly impossible to feel bad for her, when so many of her problems were of her own making.
That said, despite my early struggles with this book, there’s no doubt in my mind that these “flaws” were deliberate. As we move into the second half of the novel, the story’s complex structure as well as the reasons for the Tess’ behavior become more apparent. The author gradually begins adding layers to the mystery, filling in the gaps in our knowledge. Relationships between various characters start to take on new significance as more dots are connected, and to be sure, if you are a fan of dark family dramas filled with secrets and suspense, you are going to love this book.
Like I said, overall The Woods felt more like a slow-burn mystery than an all-out thriller, but I didn’t mind too much—the building crescendo to the climax was well worth it. My only regret was that much of the conclusion was on the predictable side, and despite the plot’s many attempts at red herrings and strategic breadcrumbs to throw us off course, I wasn’t all that surprised by any of the ending revelations.
Still, none of this prevented me from enjoying The Woods. Vanessa Savage clearly knows a thing or two about writing mystery and suspense, and I would be happy to read more from her in the future.
The BiblioSanctum 
A bit too bad for the conclusion but other than that it looks good!
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Yeah, to be fair though, I think the author meant it to be that way!
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Loved your review, Mogsy. After reading the blurb and seeing the cover, I though this would be one of those thrillers which would blow away a reader’s mind. But your review hints otherwise. A slow-burn mystery is always welcome, but predictable conclusions not so much.
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Yeah, it’s definitely not the “traditional” pageturning kind of thriller…but definitely still suspenseful in its own way 🙂
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This wasn’t on my radar at all, for some reason. I’m seeing more of these slow burn thrillers around, I’m wondering if our expectations are slightly off?
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Could be they are tapping into a slightly different market too – I know some people prefer the slowburn to the high octane over-the-top thrillers! I still would rather read the latter though 😀
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When we tend to read many mysteries, it comes as no surprise that we might be able to see where the plot is leading, and therefore miss some of the surprise factor. Still, this sounds interesting, and a slow-burn mystery, as you defined it, might work well in the right moment 🙂
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Yeah, I don’t really mind slowburn…predictability though, I think that’s slightly worse sin 😉
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I’m glad you did manage to enjoy this one. I loved Vanessa Savage’s first novel and I need to catch up on this one as soon as possible.
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I need to hunt down her previous book. I was only aware of this one by her. Thanks! 🙂
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Great review.
Sounds like it’s a good read despite your issue with it as a whole.
Maybe one to try and pick up second hand?
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A wise approach. Or maybe library loan 🙂
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Thanks for the review, Mogsy. I won’t try this one. There are so many 5 star books on my TBR list at present, I need another lifetime to get through them all!
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Fair enough! And I agree, there are probably better thrillers to check out first.
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I still hope to get to this one but I’ll be honest, I’m a tad worried about the points you make about Tess. Guess we will see how it goes but there’s so many other books ahead of it who knows when I’ll make time.
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Yeah, she was pretty difficult to like. I had a hard time connecting with her, but maybe you will have better luck 🙂
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Hmm, sounds like one to keep in mind. My thriller recs are piling up from your reviews! 😀
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Haha, sorry (not sorry) 😛 I do have to say, ever since venturing more into the thriller genre this year, my tbr has exploded too…
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It seems like a very popular genre!
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I did enjoy this one – I had problems at the start and definitely became a bit annoyed at times with the narrator but then I think in the second half, when things had really spiralled into a big heap of mess, like you said, it became a little more obvious that this was the author’s plan. I probably enjoyed this one a little more than you but that could be based on the simple fact that I hadn’t guessed the conclusion at all – or at least I’d pointed the finger at everyone by the time the conclusion was revealed.
Lynn 😀
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Yes, exactly right! I had a hard time getting on board with Tess – she’s annoying, she makes dumb decisions, she jumps into things without thinking them over…but to an extent I also understood what the author was trying to accomplish. 🙂
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