From Goodreads,"It's a beautiful, sunny day. Callie Velasquez holds hands with her boyfriend Jeremy as they follow Callie's new BFFs Penelope and Lissa up the trail. The four friends are embarking on a camping trip -- a trip that immediately goes awry. They lose their way on the trail, and encounter a charismatic stranger with questionable motives. And when Callie stumbles upon a dead body, it becomes clear that the danger that lies in the woods is deadlier than she could have ever imagined. Tensions mount and friendships are tested as these teenagers try to survive the most sinister of circumstances."
Goodreads - What Waits in the Woods
Awards and Nominations:
- Missouri Truman Readers Award Nominee (2018)
It is finally October which means I can break out all the scary and spooky Halloween movies! When I was younger I never wanted to watch the scary movies. I was worried they would give me nightmares. Then one day I walked in on my brother-in-law watching Saw and was hooked on the horror movie genre. While I have always said I would read any book, I think I may have found a genre that I'm not a fan of: horror/thriller mystery. While this was a good book, I had some mixed opinions on it.
What Waits in the Woods starts with a recovery journal entry by an unknown person. The story then quickly begins with four friends setting off for a five day hiking and camping trip in the woods. The first night three of the seasoned campers tell Chicago native Callie that the skinner murdered some teenagers in the same woods they are in. Callie is obviously freaked out, especially when they all start hearing creepy laughing in the woods. Things go fine for a couple days, but then they veer of course and find themselves face to face with a stranger who says he has a cabin not too far away. All of the teenagers just hope and pray they will all make it back to civilization in one piece.
I did enjoy this book, but I really would have enjoyed it in movie format instead. There are two problems I had with this book. One is the author's fault and the other is my fault because of the author. My first problem is that the book was slow. Super slow. The book started out calm enough, but there wasn't any escalating events throughout the book. People weren't getting attacked and they weren't dying. I was almost to the end of the book before the first death happened and an injury just moments after the dead body was discovered. The book lacked fire and pizazz. If this book was turned into a movie it would have to be really beefed up to make it scary. I felt very bored through the first two-thirds of the book.
My next problem is due to the book being slow. I ruined the book for myself. The book wasn't progressing with exciting events and horror, so I went to the internet. I googled who the killer was and ruined the ending. No one in the book was being attacked or murdered, and frankly there wasn't anyone to point the finger at. I couldn't take it anymore because it was taking so long to form a suspect list, so I just found out who the killer was. It of course made the ending disappointing and then I was looking for signs throughout the entire book, but a decision had to be made. I was either going to stop reading the book or find out who the killer was thanks to Google.
I honestly feel like I was more bored than thrilled with this book. The slow progression was irritating. I like horror movies because I feel like I'm racing to figure out the killer, but with a book it just isn't the same. If you do decide to read this book, DON'T go look up who the killer is. Just read the book and let it play out. I give this 3 stars out of 5. I won't be putting this in my classroom library, but would recommend it to teenagers and fans of the mystery/murder genre.
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