The God of the Woods: A Novel

It is an intricate account of many characters.

*God of the Woods* by Liz Moore offers an intriguing premise but ultimately left me underwhelmed. The characters, though interesting, felt underdeveloped, leaving me disconnected from their emotional journeys. The lack of explanation for their actions and motivations made it hard to fully invest in their stories. The ending, while attempting a twist, felt unbelievable and out of place, disrupting the narrative’s tone and undermining the emotional buildup. However, everyone at our book club discussion enjoyed the female police character, finding her portrayal compelling and complex. The writing itself is rich and atmospheric, with strong themes around loss and identity. Despite these strengths, the weak character development and implausible conclusion left me unsatisfied overall. While the book has potential, it didn’t quite hit the mark.

This book held my attention (pretty hard), but I also found that I was overly “set-up-y”, spending almost all of the book just building up and setting plot for then two very separate conclusions in the last few pages (it would have been more impressive to see the two disappearances wound together a bit better perhaps). In the end, while the conclusion was interesting, it didn’t feel super inspired or beautiful (as I think it could have). I also found it a little distracting how much it jumped around different people and different timelines - it was easy to get occasionally muddled. But it read well and was hard to put down.

2.5/5 what's the hype. A mess.

This book kept me wanting to know more about I could really envision the camp and the family.