whitneydaniell

by: Kate Alice Marshall
Published: Jan 17, 2023
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction
322 Pages, Hardback from Book of the Month
GoodReads Link

I was very annoyed with these girls in the damn woods. Were there no playgrounds they could play at in this town? With all the characters, let me go through them.

Cassidy – Something is off with her. She comes off as very unlikeable and desiring to have friends; like she gives very much so, ‘pick me’ energy, and yet, she doesn’t ever get picked.

Olivia – I wish Kate would write a book just about her and her story because I have so many unanswered questions as to how we got here.

Naomi – Emotionally inept and stunted. She needs continual therapy badly.

Ethan – So obvious and yet, Naomi is so naive.

Oscar – Why is he even here? Why is this story even being brought up?

Cody – He’s got too much to lose, of course, he also has things to hide.

This isn’t even the end of all the side characters of this story but, there are enough to keep you guessing and often changing your mind on who is and, who is not involved. Is the whole town in on it?

As the story unfolds and the ending becomes evident, I believe the plot was oversold because reading between the lines made the conclusion much easier to get to. Along the way to figuring it all out, Naomi makes a series of more bad decisions – drinking, driving, and having aimless unnecessary sex, all to numb her but it makes her look weak, fragile, and vulnerable. She frustrated me the most because everything was staring her in the face.

In the end, the story picked up – it was definitely a slow burn in the beginning. The story kept me guessing so, that’s a plus. I added a star just for that alone.

One-Word Summary: Wild