Welcome Blog Review Policy My Novels Giveaways Restorer's House

Thursday, March 31, 2016

After the Woods by Kim Savage


Would you risk your life to save your best friend? 
Julia did. When a paroled predator attacked Liv in the woods, Julia fought back and got caught. Liv ran, leaving Julia in the woods for a terrifying 48 hours that she remembers only in flashbacks. One year later, Liv seems bent on self-destruction, starving herself, doing drugs, and hooking up with a violent new boyfriend. A dead girl turns up in those same woods, and Julia’s memories resurface alongside clues unearthed by an ambitious reporter that link the girl to Julia’s abductor. As the devastating truth becomes clear, Julia realizes that after the woods was just the beginning.

This is a difficult book to review. I read it in a day, it held my interest and I was invested in the characters. However I m not sure I liked where this book went and what happened in it.

Julia was abducted saving her best friend. She escapes two days later and a year afterwards she is still in therapy dealing with the after effects of what happened.

I liked Julia, I liked her "dad" Erik (the family dynamics in the novel are weird.) I liked the love interest and was glad it wasn't the primary focus of the story. I enjoyed the writing style and the setting.

Julia's memories about the abduction and her escape are really interesting and intriguing. Plus she has a unique mind(everything is statistics and reasoning) and was a well written character.

The information Julia gets about Donald (the bad guy) from his mom and the scene where Julia visits her is one of the best parts. Showing that he was a mentally disturbed person that became a monster, but had a mom who loved and missed him.

I did not like the Gone Girl type plot line, the ya standard of moms so sucky it's surreal. I didn't like Alice, the throw away friend character. I hated Liv (though you are supposed to) and the casual abuse this book had in it. But most especially I hated the pacing and the way the story ended.

I found many parts implausible and a bit far fetched, which is odd since there are no supernatural aspects to this novel.

I would have enjoyed this book more if it had focused primarily on the crime, and if there had been more abductions or murdered girls and less of Julia constantly worried about Liv.

I also felt like parts of this novel I have read before. Honestly if you want a story about a girl going into the forest and escaping you are better off reading The Creeping.





Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday- Last Ten Books I gave a 5 Star Review





Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the brilliant Broke and Bookish
This week is the Top Ten Books I last gave a 5 star review to