Thank you Allen and Unwin for this book in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

On her eighteenth birthday, Hayden inherits her childhood home – on the condition that she uncover its dark secrets.

Hayden tried to put the past behind her, and it worked. She’s getting ready for college, living in a Brooklyn apartment, and hanging out with her best friend and roommate Del. But now it’s all catching up with her: her mother’s mysterious disappearance a decade before, her father’s outlandish theories about a lost supernatural race, and Hayden’s own dark dreams of strange symbols and rituals in the Colorado woods where she grew up.

As soon as Hayden arrives at her hometown, her friend Del in tow, it begins: Neighbors whisper secrets about Hayden’s mother; the boy next door is now all grown-up in a very distracting way; and Hayden feels the trees calling to her. And among them, deep in the woods, Hayden will discover something incredible -something that threatens reality itself.

Review:

If this book was a human, it would be that book that everyone loves and raves about. It would also be that book that would never turn up to set plans and leave you standard in the rain and be a bitch about it. Or it would that human that looked incredible hot on their tinder photo and when your rock up for your date, you sit there cringing and disgusted at not only the sight before you but the fact they lied about it too. It would be the type of human/book that you would never want to see again.

What the Woods Keep was one of the most hyped books I have heard about since the release of ACOFAS but upon reading it I wanted to leave it out in the rain and laugh from the safety of my bedroom window. This book disappointed me in more ways than one.

Starting of the book is written in first person, which I think should only be done if you are really good at it, and also not reveal too much feeling and emotion and sadly this book did. Knowing everything from our characters point of view, leaves little imagination to what is about to unfold and yep you guessed it people I had every inch of this plot pin pointed before it was to happen. Why? Because it’s amazing what a story written in first person gives away…

This story is centred around Hayden, who I constantly had annoying issues with throughout the book. At points she is aware of the magic and what needs to be done and then five minutes later it’s like she had brain damage and couldn’t remember what the hell was going on. I found her very inconsistent. I also think that her friendship with Del was more for loss and gain then actually caring for one another, though Del did seem to give more of a hoot than Hayden. However if this was written in third person this whole friendship situation could have been avoided, again it comes down to the writing and how much detail is put into first person.

And don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of books out there written in first person and some of them are brilliant but most of them have this very problem. Too much emotions from first person distracts the reader from the story.

While I write this though I think of all my bookstagram friends that highly enjoyed this book and loved it too bits, loved the ending and loved the thrill and horror to it all. Whereas I am beginning to wonder if we read the same book at all? There was no thill and I did not witness any horror, besides the fact I read it from cover to cover.

Another thing, nothing about this book screamed horror or thriller at me. None. Nudda. Nothing. At best I would say there may be some faint elements or sprinkles of eerie in there but nothing new and definitely nothing I haven’t seen before.

The witchy characteristic of the Promise town in Colorado was pretty cool and the building of the town was great and the woods around it are ‘creepy’ so to say.

Another big nup, not today lady, moment for me was the ending. 97% of this book was build up, leading to the climax, running for the danger and so on and so forth. The ending itself was minimal, not thought through and was as cheesy as a 80’s sitcom (cause you know what’s about to happen and there isn’t no surprise). It was honestly like the author didn’t know how to end this book, so there was little detail thrown in, this random happens and there you go ladies and gentleman the magic act of how an ending disappears. Not to mention that the ending left sooo many plot holes, unfinished stories and unanswered questions that it drove me nuts, as if by doing this world entice people to buy the sequel.

At best this was a mediocre book, and nothing stood out or would make me want to re-read this book which at the same time is overwhelmingly disappointing. I love eerie, creepy, thriller, horror and all the paranormal aspects the world could ever create and yet nothing about this book enticed me. Overall, I am not impressed, it wasn’t bad I just expected so much more.

Rating: 2.5/5

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

ISBN: 9781760637309