Title: The Woods Are Always WatchingAuthor: Stephanie Perkins
Publication: September 2nd 2021 by Macmillan Children’s Books
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Young Adult
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | iBooks | Kobo
Rating: 4/5★
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.
The Woods Are Always Watching features best friends Josie and Neena who have decided to go on a three-day hike and camping trip to say goodbye to their high school years before they go off to different colleges. They are very much camping newbies but seem to have prepared everything well. At least that’s what they’re thinking at first. They have no idea what lurks in these shadowy woods.
The very best thing about this book was the writing. It’s my first book by this author but I absolutely loved her writing. It was dark, chilled me to the bone and made me so scared for Josie and Neena because you just know something bad is going to happen. I definitely want to read more of Stephanie Perkins’ work now.
The story had a slow start but that only gave it more time to build the tension up until it was very hard to put the book down. There wasn’t just the tension of the woods but also between the Josie and Neena, things they have left unsaid until the frustrations start to boil over the deeper they get on their hike. This gave the story another layer of distress that I appreciated in a nervous sort of way. I was really anxious for these two girls, and rightfully so!
I’m not a big horror or thriller reader in general but The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins is one of the most tension filled and darkly atmospheric books I’ve read lately. Absolutely perfect for spooky season! It’s true that it scared me off from every going camping but that’s what I loved about this story, that it was so chilling and creepy.
About the author:
Stephanie Perkins is an American author, known for her books Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, The New York Times bestseller Isla and the Happily Ever After and There’s Someone Inside Your House, the latter of which was adapted into a film of the same name and was released on Netflix.
Ooh, this sounds so creepy! It’s amazing when an author can craft such a scary story!
I love stories like this, and you just know bad things will happen to these inexperienced hikers! I’ve never read Stephanie Perkins before, but I’ll definitely check her out😁
Everytime I read something about hiking or camping now I feel triggered 😂
My husband and I are avid hikers, and we also backpack occasionally. I think I might be too scared to read this one. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Usually I’d tell you to read it but since you hike and backpack I don’t think I would but that says a lot about how much this book freaked me out haha
My husband has been trying to get me to go camping with him for ages and me reading this probably wouldn’t help his case haha 🙂 I’m still intrigued though (by the book, not the camping 😉 )
This looks pretty good, and definitely hits the Halloween mark! And I had to wrack my brains a bit, trying to remember where I’d heard of Perkins before. I looked up her Goodreads page, and now I do — she also wrote Anna and the French Kiss! I highly recommend Anna… even though YA is not my go-to genre anymore. If you can get the audiobook, recommend that too!
Ooh I love how eerie this sounds! I was a tad bit disappointed in her last book I read but this totally sounds fun!
I thought the ending was too abrupt but I agree that Perkins wrote some amazing tension here!
Whew. Not something I would read, but I can appreciate the spookiness of it!
I’m so glad that you liked this one! After reading There’s Someone Inside Your House, I’ve really been wanting to read this!