What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould was not the normal type of book that I pick up, but I was drawn to the synopsis and cover. I went into this read thinking that it was going to be a queer YA storyline involving a wilderness camp experience (and likely a conversion therapy type trap) but I was so wrong! This book blew my mind in the best way and had me staying up late at night to keep reading because I just couldn't put it down. I didn't even mind the 3rd person POV, which is normally a deal breaker for me.

Each of the main characters in What the Woods Took had so much depth and complexity. They all shared the commonality of past traumas and mistakes, now labeled as troubled teens. Adolescents that were out of control and who's guardians thought they'd be scared straight by being thrown into a survialist type endeavor.

The start of the book was a little slow and I struggled to get through the first few chapters, mostly due to the fact that it involved a lot of backstory for each of the main characters and the setup for the wilderness camp experience. Once the teens were thrown into the woods and had to start learning to work together, problem solve and address their behavioral issues, the speed of the story picked up. I never really cared for the two adult guides that were the teens' caretakers and felt their characters were purposefully not detailed, making them almost irrelevant to the overall story.

Gould did an incredible job of slowly creating doubt and suspicion within the relationships of the characters and the environment they were surrounded by. A little unease here, a little noise there. Nothing obvious but just enough to get the hairs on the back of your neck on end. The slow burn of the thriller aspect of the plot was what I loved most about this book. You just couldn't put it down until you knew what was happening and got answers!

The mythical component was so unique and eery. The more the characters discovered about their surroundings, the more worried I became for each of them and their survival. This book put your emotions through the ringer over and over. Not only were they dealing with personal trauma, they were fighting for their lives due to a circumstances completely out of their hands. Their trust was constantly tested, for one another and for their own thoughts.

I was left slightly unfullfilled at the end of the book. I was grappling for more answers and wished the author would have given a little more explantion / closure given the severity of what the teens experienced. The ending did have its positives, seeing some of the characters fight for what they wanted out of life and going after it. The growth and character development was stellar. It was like night and day from the beginning of the book to the end.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this book for review.