New from bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, and the perfect companion to her New York Times bestseller There’s Someone Inside Your House, coming to Netflix October 6!“The scares here are authentic, and the details meticulous, driven by a smart, distinct narrative voice. Hand this to fans of the film Midsommar who will delight in the eerie world building, the disintegration and rebuilding of … the disintegration and rebuilding of interpersonal relationships, and the unseen forces of evil that threaten to break two friends apart.” –Booklist
Bears aren’t the only predators in these woods.
Best friends Neena and Josie spent high school as outsiders, but at least they had each other. Now, with college and a two-thousand-mile separation looming on the horizon, they have one last chance to be together—a three-day hike deep into the woods of the Pisgah National Forest.
Simmering tensions lead to a detour off the trail and straight into a waking nightmare … and then into something far worse. Something that will test them in horrifying ways.
Stephanie Perkins, the bestselling author of There’s Someone Inside Your House, returns with a heart-stopping, gut-wrenching novel about friendship, survival, and navigating unmarked paths even as evil watches from the shadows.
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I loved this coming of age thriller by New York Times Bestselling Author Stephanie Perkins. This book follows Neena and Josie, high school graduates who are going on a backpacking trip before Neena goes off to College and leaves their small town behind While camping, the girls find out how difficult their journey is while dealing with blisters, getting lost, not enough water and a terror that they cannot see.
The terror I felt while reading was incredible. The writing in this book is so good that you feel like you are actually backpacking with the girls. Their bravery and resilient attitude is the real winner in this book. I love the “we can survive attitude” that Perkins portrayed within the pages of this book. I found myself engrossed in this story and could not put it down, In fact, I read into the early hours of the morning wanting to see how this book ended. This book is a 5 star read for me and I look forward to reading more from this author!
For me, the first half of the book dragged on, but once I hit the halfway mark, it got more interesting. The details throughout the story were good, but I did not connect to the characters. I was disappointed by the ending. Some things seemed hard to find real, but I never went through a traumatic situation like the girls in the book.
Well this was better than There’s Someone Inside Your House, but not by much (for me anyway).
My main issue with this one is the two main characters. Josie and Neena are supposed to be best friends. They are going on a 3-day hiking and camping trup BUT right away they are arguing and fighting and have a huge falling out?? That makes absolutely no sense… especially when it comes after ONE day of hiking??!!
I understand friends arguing and yes it happens but this was unbelievable for me. Having a connection to a main character is what can make or break a book for me so from the beginning I was already struggling.
Also, for as short as this book is, nothing happens until you are over halfway through the book. It’s just walking, juvenile bickering, and camping. Then the rest (slasher intro and action) is just rushed together and you’re done. O…K…
I am sure this one, and the one I previously mentioned, will be loved by other readers and if this sounds good to you then grab it and give it a go. Sadly, I just don’t enjoy this author’s writing style.
The Woods Are Always Watching is a very slow read as the pace doesn’t make an uptick until the reader is at least forty percent invested in the story. Way too long for this reader’s taste. I need a book to hook me from the beginning (which this book did not do); however, there were things to like so I pushed through.
Nothing happening at all except two friends with high insecurities wanting to do something they never have before and then the obvious fight that occurs between them. The characters are shallow and not much can be said about them, except that the main characters just seemed so self-centered until their own lives were at stake.
But after that? Oh boy, did it pick the up. I thought I knew what was going to happen, but I really had no idea what was about to go down. And if you don’t like blood and gore, DO NOT pick up this book. The author really doesn’t leave things to your imagination.
Something that was kinda rough about this book (other than the slow beginning) was that there were a lot of unbelievable things. I won’t give any examples, but there were multiple moments where I just wanted to roll my eyes at the craziness of it all.
The ending was pretty solid and pretty ambiguous, leaving you to decide what happens next, which was surprisingly nice to read. An overall okay book with a kinda decent plot. I wouldn’t read it again, but I also don’t regret reading it.
Firstly, thank you to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook and to Penguin Teen for the gifted digital copy. You’ve brought a new author to my shelves. I sure as heck did not expect any of what I read and I loved how mouth dropping it was for me in that delicious blindsiding way. I almost don’t want to review it because each and every one of you should go in blind on this one.
In an attempt to not leak a spoiler (or what I would consider one) I’ll review a few base areas starting out with format. I would recommend either audio or physical. Honestly, both is even better. The narration is spot on and at the intense areas it was exceptional. This is one I can see being a Netflix movie in the near future. You hear that Netflix??!! The narration played like a movie in my head and I literally found myself so lost in the plot halfway through that I forgot what I was doing in real life.
I found the characters to be well developed and I really enjoyed the breaking of a strong friendship and watching it rebuild. Neena and Josie have their relationship put to the test on a hike that neither of them really want to do. Now I want to stop here and point out that this is an area that I struggled with for this novel. I couldn’t see two girls, who did not want to hike, plus all of their initial issues, continuing their journey. But alas, they do. I think that it would’ve touched more on the realistic side if they were both eager to do this last hurrah together. It also took me a little bit to start liking both of them. They had traits I wasn’t keen on but not a bad thing to start with. This portion aside, watching their inner female strength break free at the point of utter chaotic calamity was written perfectly. These two take the hardcore female award for me.
It’s a slow beginning and things don’t fully pick-up until a quarter of the way in. Even though there is a slow pace at the start, I was surprised at how many things wrapped back around to the build-up. Typically I don’t catch details like this and Perkins did a great job laying the groundwork for the final hurrah. Creepy, atmospheric, cringe inducing and a good bit of cheering for the girls comes with this one. Perfect fall read for me. I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys twisted thrillers with an element that focuses on friendship and strength. Ya’ll have no idea how much I am holding back right now. Grab this one!
The Woods are Always Watching is a short YA thriller/horror novel – almost a novella. The story starts when best friends Josie and Neena are about to go to college far away from each other. Josie is staying local in North Carolina, and Neena is going to California. They decide to go on a hiking/backpacking trip to commemorate their last days together. They have never backpacked, are out of shape and have no wilderness experience. Their parents never should have allowed them to go.
The first day goes badly, as they take six hours to cover four miles. They get dehydrated, briefly lost, sweaty and eaten alive by bugs. That night, they have a terrible fight with a lot of hidden resentment coming to the surface. Out of stubbornness, they continue their hike, and the next day turns to catastrophe.
The girls are plunged into a terrifying fight for their lives. Their strength and friendship is put to the ultimate test. The Woods are Always Watching is a fast paced, scary thriller. There is a level of gruesomeness that is not appropriate for the younger end of the YA genre. I would take this book to camp but not backpacking! It was compelling and hard to put down. #BookishFirst
I wanted to love this book so so much. Sadly, I did not. I very much expected a creepy otherworldly haunting thriller but this book did not deliver that. The ‘thriller’ & ‘horror’ was very centered in real life but the book felt like it was meant to be in this out of this world erie setting with an equally out of this world terrifying ‘horror’/’villian’. The author is obviously very talented because she built the suspense and atmosphere I expected the book to give. However, the book let me down with the actual horror it presented. The setup was phenomenal the actual climax sadly, was not.
Neena and Josie are two best friends who bonded over being outsiders in high school and are now are facing a future without each other, as Neena travels to the West Coast for school, seperating them by 2000 miles. Desperate for a last-minute bonding trip together, Neena and Josie decide to take a three day hike and camping through the Pisgah National Forest. What starts off as an innocent and rather inexperiencedly planned trip, suddenly turns into something far more terrifying than wither one of the girls could have possibly planned for and soon the girls are fighting for their very survival.
Both Neena and Josie are the kind of quirky, eccentric teenage protagonists outcasts that make them likeable and relateable. You can feel the tensions in their friendship as they fight to save it whilst camping in the woods. AS a reader, you feel for them and you want them to pull through to the end. Which is done throught some excellent character development on Stephanie Perkins’ end.
The novel is well written and easy to follow, told through alternating viewpoints and in seperate chunks–while the characters are “together” and “apart”. Which makes for an interesting read and timeline that will keep you on pins and needles from start to finish.
The story is gripping, intense, chilling, and fascinating–though not for the faint of heart.
This YA slasher thriller is about 2 teen girlfriends, Neena and Josie who decide to go on a 3 day camping trip together before Neena moves across the country for college. They are in a remote area, and they are not used to camping and they start arguing, like girls do. The first half of the book builds up the tension…but the thrills really pick up in the second half. Now my slasher fans will love the rest. When Josie falls and breaks her leg and cannot move, Neena must leave her and go find help. Ummm hello… terrifying!!! They definitely are not prepared for what happens next. They are being hunted by these redneck men on a killing spree. Let me just say the second half of this book creeped me the hell out.
This is a short, suspenseful, and terrifying tale of being chased through the woods, my all time nightmare. There are some triggers in this one which will make you wince such as Broken bones, lost limbs… and others such as threat of Rape and murder, to name a few. Definitely a fun YA horror read that I pretty much read in almost one sitting. Perfect halloween read!
This is a quick horrorish read that I would love to see on film! Best friends Neena and Josie will be off to college soon so they decide to spend a weekend hiking in the Pisaugh National Forest. They are causal hikers sticking to a trail map, but things take a turn and they’ll have to rely on their instincts and friendship to survive! Thank you to Penguin Teen for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.