Debra's Reviews > What Lies in the Woods

The games we play when we are children are priceless. Made up of imagination, dreams, and magic! Naomi Shaw and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, were playing in the woods. They made up a game and spent hours playing and believing in their Goddess Game. They made a discovery in the woods and vowed to keep it as secret. It became a part of their game. It was all fun and games until Naomi was attacked viciously. She survived seventeen stab wounds. When interviewed by the police, Naomi identifies the man who attacked her- a serial killer wanted for the murder. The girls testified and he was put away. The town did a huge sigh of relief. A girl survived, a killer was put away and life could go back to normal - except the girls lied!

When the man they identified dies in prison, the three old friends reunite in their hometown. Naomi has been traumatized since the attack. How could she not be? She also knows deep down that the man she identified as her attacker, may not have been the one who stabbed her. The three friends bear guilt and carry secrets. But they are not the only ones. The town holds secrets as well.

This started a little slowly for me, but I was intrigued with Naomi, a wedding photographer who put her scars on display so people knew what they were getting with her. As her friend calls her, readers see Naomi grapple with both her present and past. Things really picked up for me when Naomi went back to her hometown and began interacting with her father, friends and a podcaster named Ethan.

What really happened in the woods? Who is responsible? Those questions kept going through my mind, and I was shocked when the final reveal occurred. What a shocker! Put that down into the I-did-not-see-that-coming department. Well done, Kate Alice Marshall, well done!

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a fantastic job.

This one kept me on my toes and fully invested in the plot. I found this book to be well thought out, riveting and shocking! I can't wait to read what Marshall writes next!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com