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A review by jen_is_booked
What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould
4.0
3.5 rounded up
This was a good premise with a great variety of characters. I have always been interested in those "scared straight" teen wilderness boot camp type of programs because I think the concept is just so wildly unbelievable it shocks me anyone actually thought it was working. I also love stories like Lord of the Flies where young people are left to survive on their own for whatever reason. So needless to say that this story sounded amazing to me when I heard about it. You've got five teens all from different backgrounds, all there for different reasons taken from their homes at night and driven to the woods to be left with two "counselors" that are barely adults themselves and so full of toxic positivity it's sickening. What could go wrong? HAHAHAHA! Not only do we get the teens and their drama which is interesting, but I think we could have gotten a little more of it. You get sort of basic stories as to why their parents want them "fixed" but it sort of felt like the author was holding back and I think it would have made it easier to connect & care about the kids if we knew more. Like Aiden, I really could have a whole story on him alone. Throughout their experience, they hike everyday to their next campsite and sleep outside, which to me, sounds like absolute hell. Very quickly though, things start happening in the woods and the counselors disappear leaving the kids alone to figure out where they're supposed to go and how to find help. From there things get pretty creepy and intense. I do think there were parts of the story that could have been shorter since they weren't interesting nor did they add anything. Overall I liked it, it was fun, though that kind of feels weird to say about something like this. There was some great character development and I do think a lot of YA readers will see some great representation when they read this.
This was a good premise with a great variety of characters. I have always been interested in those "scared straight" teen wilderness boot camp type of programs because I think the concept is just so wildly unbelievable it shocks me anyone actually thought it was working. I also love stories like Lord of the Flies where young people are left to survive on their own for whatever reason. So needless to say that this story sounded amazing to me when I heard about it. You've got five teens all from different backgrounds, all there for different reasons taken from their homes at night and driven to the woods to be left with two "counselors" that are barely adults themselves and so full of toxic positivity it's sickening. What could go wrong? HAHAHAHA! Not only do we get the teens and their drama which is interesting, but I think we could have gotten a little more of it. You get sort of basic stories as to why their parents want them "fixed" but it sort of felt like the author was holding back and I think it would have made it easier to connect & care about the kids if we knew more. Like Aiden, I really could have a whole story on him alone. Throughout their experience, they hike everyday to their next campsite and sleep outside, which to me, sounds like absolute hell. Very quickly though, things start happening in the woods and the counselors disappear leaving the kids alone to figure out where they're supposed to go and how to find help. From there things get pretty creepy and intense. I do think there were parts of the story that could have been shorter since they weren't interesting nor did they add anything. Overall I liked it, it was fun, though that kind of feels weird to say about something like this. There was some great character development and I do think a lot of YA readers will see some great representation when they read this.