Review | The Woods by Vanessa Savage

Ten years ago, Tess’s sister Bella died in an accident. Tess was with her but lost her memories of that night. Now, a family emergency forces Tess to come home, back into the woods. As her dreams worsen, her memories begin to return. Would she ever know the truth of that fateful night?

Come on, she says, beckoning me into the trees. Come into the woods. Let’s finish the story. I shake my head and back away, turning and running back towards the house. No, I can’t do it. Not the woods, not the woods, never the woods.

A dark psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator and the shadow of an old mystery. I thought The Woods portrays Tess’s mental deterioration quite well. The trauma of her sister’s death affects her memories and she has strange dreams of that night. A large part of the book is in the form of flashbacks to show the sisters’ relationship and I thought this is also handled well. It establishes the emotional crux of Tess’s feelings towards Bella and all their complicated secrets. The setting of the woods interspersed with Tess’s dreams of Bella is atmospheric and haunting.

However, I’m not a fan of information being kept from the readers for plot purposes, and that happens here. As a protagonist, I found Tess quite annoying and the conflicts between her and other characters feel manufactured. The final third of the book is repetitive with the same instances being repeated. I also saw the ending coming so it was slightly disappointing though ultimately it didn’t hinder my reading experience.

Overall, The Woods would be a good choice for readers looking for a dark psychological thriller about families and memories.

I received a copy for review purposes from the publisher and Netgalley.

About the author: Vanessa Savage

Photo by Sebastian Unrau