After the Woods

by Kim Savage

On the eve of the year anniversary of the Shiverton Abduction, two former best friends grapple with the consequences of that event.

• ISBN10: 0374300550
• ISBN13: 9780374300555
• Publish Date: 23 February 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 12 May 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[cornerfolds]

After the Woods first caught my attention with it's absolutely stunning cover. Although contemporary fiction is not my usual forte, I love a good survival story and I thought that After the Woods might be my kind of book after all. Coming out on the other side, I can confidently say that this is not a survival story (and maybe that's my fault for misinterpreting the synopsis).

This book is really about Julia learning to cope with her life after the woods. She doesn't quite feel like she fits in as she used to and even finds her best friend to be oddly aloof when she should be supportive and even thankful. Julia is my absolute favorite part of After the Woods. It isn't often that I adore a YA heroine, but Julia was amazing! She is tough but realistic, sarcastic but sympathetic. So often characters in YA are unbelievably badass and way too intelligent for their age. I can also really identify Julia's need to make sense of things. I cannot imagine how I would handle going through what Julia had, but Julia was believable as a teenager who had been traumatized, even if she did make occasional dumb decisions. I even enjoyed the romance, although I know that a lot of people found it unnecessary.

Liv was the character I really didn't understand in After the Woods. It was obvious from early on that something was just off with her, though it wasn't clear what it was. There were some big issues explored with Liv's character and it was done in a way that made sense, which I appreciated. What I didn't quite buy was her reasoning some of the things that were explored. Not all of it made a lot of sense and I was honestly left confused by some of her actions, which brings me to the plot of After the Woods.

A lot of mystery surrounds a lot of different things in this book. Unfortunately, I was able to piece together a fairly accurate theory pretty early on. The strangest thing to me was that none of the events and none of the mysteries felt especially... urgent? I'm not quite sure how to explain the experience I had while reading After the Woods, but the best way I can think to put it is that I felt nonchalant about the whole thing. I like my mystery with a sense of imminent doom hanging over it. In this book, we know from the very beginning that the kidnapper is gone, so Julia is just kind of meandering through facts and theories. Even the big reveal at the end seemed very anticlimactic.

I did enjoy After the Woods. The atmosphere was just the right shade of unsettling and creepy and, like I said, I loved Julia! Getting to know her better and experiencing her recovery alongside her was the best part of this book, for sure. This book also kept me turning pages to see if my suspicions were true. I just wish the mystery had been a little more mysterious and exciting. I would recommend this book to fans of slow-burn mystery and great main characters!

//I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review//

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
After the Woods was actually different than I thought it would be, but I assure you it's in a good way. It's very psychologically and character driven, while still maintaining the mystery aspect.

Since it's aptly titled, After the Woods takes place, you know, after Julia was kidnapped in the woods (see what they did there?), we know she's physically okay in this moment. But as you'd imagine, she's having trouble dealing with the mental and emotional healing process. It doesn't help that she can't remember most of it. Some people were like "ohh, that's good, you don't have to relive it!", but Julia didn't want to hear any of that. She wanted to know what happened to her, and I think that's why I connected to her so quickly- I would have had to know all the things too.

Julia's quite intelligent, and inquisitive, and at times, a total smart-ass, which is very fun. I like that there are bits of humor in a book that could otherwise be too dark. She's clearly beyond loyal, since she saved her best friend Liv's life that day in the woods. She's also worried about her mom, and how she's dealing with it. They have a really nice relationship, which was also refreshing.

What about Liv? She's eternally grateful for Julia's heroism, and hugs her every day until the end of time? Not even almost. She's annoyed that Julia even still cares about it. If Julia mentions some concern she has about being kidnapped? Liv rolls her eyes and brushes it off. Julia feels bad for Liv because Liv's mom is the actual worst. Like, if you looked up "terrible human being", I swear her description would be there. And I get it- Liv's mom treats her terribly, but I still don't see that as an excuse to, in turn, treat the friend that saved your life like rubbish. And while I did not like Liv as a character, I think her storyline was fabulously developed. Because I have to assume we aren't meant to like her, basically.

So with the anniversary of Julia's disappearance coming up and a new body found that could be connected to the kidnapper, the media is all over the place. Julia's mom doesn't really want her to get involved of course, and Liv's mom... dyes her hair, just in case the cameras come. Well then. See what I mean about her being the worst? But Liv doesn't want to talk to the media- and Julia will use any tools at her disposal to find answers. She's resourceful like that.

This is hard to review because I don't want to say much about the plot. I will say that I absolutely enjoyed the direction it went in. I will also say that I did know where things were heading by around the halfway mark, but that was okay, it didn't really affect my enjoyment of the book much. One of my favorite things about the book was that everyone had such different outlooks on this awful situation. And most people were perfectly happy to voice their opinions, even though in truth, Julia's kidnapper was the only one who knew all those answers- answers that Julia needed to move on.

There's a touch of romance that works well, because it didn't get in the way of the actual story at hand- and definitely added some much needed support for Julia.

The writing was really great, and I enjoyed the pacing and the story, and especially how well each character was developed. I felt like I really got a sense of who the characters were, even some of the side characters. They felt authentic, and their reactions to some of these circumstances felt very authentic too. (Yes, that's vague. Blame potential spoilers.)

Bottom Line: I really enjoyed this book! I loved Julia's character and her quest for answers. I loved that she stood by her decision to save Liv, even when Liv wasn't so likable. I loved that there were secrets, and lies, and all kinds of mysteries behind the mystery of the kidnapping. Overall, it was a really solid debut, and I will be eagerly anticipating the author's next book!