After the Woods by Kim Savage Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on 2/23/16
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mysteries
Pages: 320
Source: Blog Tour
My rating:
Would you risk your life to save your best friend?
Julia did. When a paroled predator attacked Liv in the woods, Julia fought back and got caught. Liv ran, leaving Julia in the woods for a terrifying 48 hours that she remembers only in flashbacks. One year later, Liv seems bent on self-destruction, starving herself, doing drugs, and hooking up with a violent new boyfriend. A dead girl turns up in those same woods, and Julia’s memories resurface alongside clues unearthed by an ambitious reporter that link the girl to Julia’s abductor. As the devastating truth becomes clear, Julia realizes that after the woods was just the beginning.
This was the most fun I’ve ever had with a blog tour! The traveling ARC idea is phenomenal, especially with a book with a central mystery like this one. Take a look at the map above to see where this ARC went for the tour! (The big book shows the path that it took after it left me.)
It was so much fun to read the comments that had been left by the bloggers before me! Plus, usually with a book like this, I don’t have any way of discussing all of my predictions about how everything’s going to unfold. But, for the traveling ARC, it was great fun to document those predictions and let someone else know how close I was! So, at the end of the book, I wrote bullet points showing what I thought was going to happen (and then I hid them and told the next blogger not to peek until after she finished the book!). I was right in some cases, but definitely missed some key points that made for an enthralling ending – a fantastic combination for a mystery, in my opinion.
Now on to my actual review of the book.
After the Woods was an intriguing mystery that held my attention from start to finish. Julia has blocked out much of the harrowing experience of being abducted when she tried to save her best friend, and she would do anything to put the pieces back together. Everyone seems to think that she should try to put the experience behind her and move on with her life, but Julia can’t just let it go without answers. But what she discovers is more shocking than she ever imagined.
What Fed My Addiction:
- Julia. I LOVED Julia! She was the perfect blend of smart and snarky. And she never came off as being irritating because her sometimes snide attitude was so well-earned. Everyone seemed to want her to move past her kidnapping, but how could she? How could she simply act like her life wasn’t completely changed in that moment? I was fascinated by Julia’s altered perspective on life after her abduction – how moments that would seem easy and innocent to most of us took on a dark and threatening tone to Julia. How casual conversation could turn awkward so quickly. I truly felt for Julia, and I connected with her because I could understand her motivation.
- The romance. While this book wasn’t primarily about the romance, it was an additional element that added to overall story, and I was a big fan of Kellan and Julia together. They had a natural sort of chemistry that made me grin and I thought that they complemented each other perfectly!
- The mystery. As you can see from my long list of notes in the picture above, I was having great fun making predictions about this book. For a little while I was nervous that I was going to have it all figured out way too early in the game, but there were some HUGE surprises toward the end that completely threw me! Sure, I had deduced a few things about Julia’s mysterious abduction, but certainly not everything. To me, that’s the perfect mixture, and it’s the type of mystery that keeps me flipping the pages!
What Left Me Wanting More:
- Liv. Honestly, I had to think for a while before I could even come up with a negative about this book, but I guess if I had to list something it would be that Liv’s actions didn’t make complete sense to me. Even once I knew her motivations, I wasn’t completely clear on how she expected things to work. And, as best friends go, she was NOT winning any awards. That’s all I’ll say, though, because otherwise I’d be spoiling things. (UPDATE: Savage informed me via FB that we “may hear Liv’s side of things in the very near future!” I look forward to it!)
If you’re looking for an exciting YA mystery packed with intrigue and surprises, I highly recommend this book! I know I’ll be watching for more of Savage’s books in the future because this was a fantastic debut! I give it 5/5 stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Favorite Quotes:
I thought I’d feature a couple of quotes that highlighted Julia’s snarkiness. These two quotes take place when Julia is talking to her psych. I’m putting in pictures of the actual book, so you can see our underlines and notes.
And a few more fun pics I took:
READ A SNEAK PEAK FROM THE PROLOGUE OF AFTER THE WOODS
About the Author
Kim Savage is the author of AFTER THE WOODS, a debut psychological thriller for young adults coming on Feb 23, 2016 with Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan. Her second thriller for young adults comes from FSG is 2017. Before writing fiction, she worked as business journalist, pitching stories along the lines of “Stigmatized Properties: When Murder Kills Property Values”. You get the idea
Oh how cool! I’ve always wanted to send a favourite book out all over the world and have the readers write, anoint, highlight, discuss the book amongst the receivers. I think it’s pretty nifty! It’ll be interesting to see the state of this ARC after the tour is done. 😀
…oh! and this book sounds cool as well. Lol!
Yes – I wish that I got the book back at the end so I could see everything. I’ve been following the tour so I can see what other people say about the traveling ARC!
This is such a fun idea. I love the traveling ARC thing. This book sounds so good. I am glad to hear you enjoyed it Nicole. Now I need to read it for myself.
Yes – I’d heard of a traveling ARC before, but never thought of the idea that people would write notes in it for the next person. It was so much fun!
Oooh nice! Hearing good things about this one! I love a good YA thriller/mystery and this sounds so incredible! I already have it on my wishlist so winning a copy would be awesome! Great review!!
For some reason, I’ve never been interested in thriller/mysteries, but I seem to like YA books in that genre. Go figure!
How cool does this book sound? honestly the blurb had me intrigued and then your review really got me eager to get my hands on a copy! Thriller and mystery is YA is a favourite of mine and the plot sounds so exciting!!
I hope you have a chance to read it!!
Fantastic review! I really want to read this one because I love psychological thrillers, especially in the YA genre because there aren’t as many. This touring ARC sounds fun; that’s great you were able to share thoughts with the next reader!
-Lauren
It was lots of fun!! I’d never heard of a tour like this before, but I really enjoyed it!
Liv was horrible! I enjoyed this book, and the mystery surrounding the kidnapping. I really enjoyed the MC! I am very much looking forward to reading another book by this author!
Yes, the MC was my favorite, as well – I was a big fan of her somewhat snarky wit!
Sounds like an amazing book! Like you said, mysteries are always fun to try and figure out. (And I especially love that gorgeous cover!!) Thanks for the review, Nicole. 🙂
It IS a fantastic cover! That was the first thing that caught my eye.
Wow what a cover! It totally had me intrigued from the get-go and the blurb sounds great! The blog tour sounds like it would’ve bee so fun and I’m glad you enjoyed!
Yes, a great book and the tour was tons of fun!!
omg a TRAVELLING ARC?!?!?! And you all wrote stuff in it?! THAT IS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD!! *flails* And that awesomeness aside, I think the book sounds fantastic too! I kind of knew about it but hadn’t focused very much on it? But that cover = love. And this review = I need this book. XDXD
Yes, I’d never heard of such a thing, but it was SO much fun!!
This book looks so good! I really love the concept of the traveling ARC. What fun it must have been to read the notes that the others wrote. Great post!
Yes – check out the post at the end of the tour (on the Fierce Reads blog) and you can see what some people wrote – and some fun doodles!!
I have this book on my TBR because it just sounds so cool! I love the pictures you took by the way – very fitting for this one. The idea of all reading this book and leaving notes and so on all over the book is such a cool interactive way of reading this together!
My recent post: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2016/02/dear-malala.html
Thanks for the compliments on my pictures – I always WANT to take pretty bookish pictures, but I don’t have a lot of photography skills yet. I was very happy with how these turned out, though!
I tried to do this with a friend and then life happened, and I sat on the book for months. I’m so glad she chose to stay my friend lol. I definitely want to try something like this again. AND a YA mystery worthy of five stars, definitely count me in!
Ha! I’m glad you’re still friends, too. I think it’s the type of thing that works better with a deadline. 🙂
I absolutely agree with your love for this one! I really enjoyed it. It was different than I thought it was going to be, but it didn’t matter, it was fabulous. But seriously,Liv is the actual worst. The traveling ARC thing… I did it once. And it made me sad. Because I didn’t get to keep the book, and I have issues with not having access to the book for reviews, and it was just sad making all around. So the situation is, I am too greedy for that, I think? ::Nods::
Ha! Okay, Shannon, well, I won’t try to make you do any traveling ARCs. Maybe you and I can just do some together sometime and you can have the book last! LOL!
A traveling arc is such a fabulous idea! It’s almost like a buddy read, being able to see what others have highlighted and their comments! Plus you get to leave your comments for the next person who gets the arc. Awwww, this is so neat! I’m so glad you had a lot of fun reading this book. The synopsis sounds terrifying to me *hides under blanket*, but that’s because my husband is traveling this week and I’m home alone with the boys. This book would make me hear noises in the middle of the night lol, but I’ll remember it for down the road!
Since most of this book took place after the abduction itself it wasn’t as creepy as it sounds – but it was a bit intense at times!
Great to know! Thank you, Nicole!
This sounds so awesome! The mystery sounds like something I’d really like, and the traveling ARC is such a fun idea! I would love to see other people’s favorite quotes and thoughts as they read 🙂
Yes, this is the most fun I’ve had on a blog tour!
I loooove me some mysteries and this sounds like an AWESOME one!! I can’t wait to read it!!
I loved your blog post about your ARC review of After the Woods. It was so much fun to read the comments that had been left by the bloggers before you. Plus, it was so much fun to see that you had been able to enjoy yourself throughout the whole blog tour! orthodontics willoughby
Put your thoughts comfy with questions you’ve got on your mind. Sometimes just gaining insights can do away with the tension and the tension out of your scenario. It is in uncertainty where assumptions are made and the wrong movement is taken or no action at all.phi phi island tour from phuket