The God of the Woods

"4.25⭐️ A slow burn about a teen girl missing from her elite family owned summer camp. Nope NOT a salacious thriller. What this book really is about is the overt peril women face when men hold the great majority of, or basically all the systemic power .. yes .. but also day to day macro AND micro aggressions that eventually lead to emotional trauma. Told in multiple POVs, mostly in the 60s when women had almost no voice and minimal choices, and in the 70s, a time of growing change when they were beginning to enter the workforce in much greater numbers. The contrast between the characters in their separate time frames seems stark but not so different when looking just beneath the surface. In 1975 Judyta, in her early 20s, is the first woman ever promoted to detective in the U.S. She lives at home in a patriarchal household that cannot reconcile her job with the traditional helpless role of young women to be protected and controlled. She is striving and struggling for respect and independence in both spheres. Alice is the missing girl’s mother, a woman on the verge, not only trapped, miserable and self medicated in a hyper controlled marriage to a generationally wealthy man, but also already destroyed by a too similar tragedy ~ a son, the family golden boy, missing some years prior from the same place as her *troublesome* daughter. There are many layers operating here, themes of white privilege and the power conferred by extreme wealth, of disparity and opportunity, motherhood and the choices made either intentionally or subliminally, freedom, autonomy .. and more. The characters are dimensional and sympathetic, time and place vivid, and the mystery, of course, not what it appears to be. This is one of those stories meticulously told that almost flawlessly develops and comes together. It’s one I’ll likely not easily forget."

"This book kept my attention for several days! Great read. Suspenseful, good character building. Truly worth the almost 500 pages!"

"I’m very torn by this book because I obviously liked it enough to finish it, but now that it’s over I’m not actually sure what I liked about it. The God of the Woods does not read like a mystery in my opinion, even when categorized as a slow-burn. It felt more like literary fiction centered around the lives of numerous characters with great commentary on many social issues and the catalyst for the characters to change just happens to be the disappearances of the children- Bear and Barbara. To phrase it differently, the mystery didn’t read like the priority of the novel which is obviously quite different than the mysteries and thrillers I read regularly. If you’re looking specifically for a mystery or thriller, I wouldn’t suggest this novel. If you are looking for a well-written literary read, this would be something I’d recommend. "

"I love how this book was set up like an investigation. The reader is given the evidence from all kinds of perspectives and from different times on a timeline. The truth slowly reveals itself, and as it does, you just get more immersed into the story. It really made me want to seek out the truth."

"This was a long but great read! I finished it within a day. Not your typical disappearance thriller! It’s very much a slow burn book but so beautifully written. I enjoyed the multiple POV’s and time jumps, but there were a lot. The ending was slightly surprising but very satisfying in my opinion! Also loved that the author thought to add a map, it helped a lot with getting a feel of the setting and atmosphere of the time. Would absolutely recommend this! "

"Between the multiple POVs and time switches, it is a little tricky to tract BUT the author does a great job at weaving all the stories together. Ultimately, a great book! "

"DNF. "

"Riveting. The whole way until the end. I haven't read a good mystery in a long time. This one was so, so good! Even though the story skips around between characters and decades AND between 2 different mysteries, it's still easy to follow and keeps you engaged. Read this book."

"I'm apparently in the minority here, but I do not get the hype around this book. The only reason I can think of that it's so popular locally is because I live near the setting, and because Jimmy Fallon (who went to school in Albany) chose it for his book club.<br/><br/>It honestly felt like I read 500 pages to learn something I already knew: <spoiler>rich people suck</spoiler>. We get no real answers until about 400 pages in. This isn't so much a thriller as a generational family drama with a few red herrings. It wasn't bad by any means; I just think I had different expectations for it based on all of the reviews and publicity. I was expecting something more along the lines of Angie Kim's <i>Miracle Creek</i> or <i>Happiness Falls</i>, both of which I found much more gripping and fast paced while still acting as a searing commentary on family, identity, and race. This was just a bit too slow of a burn for me, and there were too many characters to really develop any sort of connection to them, despite the book's nearly 500 pages.<br/><br/>tl;dr- didn't love it, didn't hate it, just had different expectations and feel it's been a bit over-hyped<br/><br/>Also, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, as I got to start reading it before it hit the shelves and didn't have to wait in a long line of library holds!"

"DNF. Too much time jumping, plot got confusing and boring."