Book Review: After the Woods by Kim Savage

Release Date: February 23rd, 2016
Read: February 11th- 13th, 2016
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Series: N/A
Format: ARC, 304 pages
Source: McNally Robinson/ Two Thumbs Up Program

Description from GoodReads:

   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.

Review:

   What happened in the woods?
   YA thrillers have become a trend in the publishing world lately, from fall 2015 to now, and from what I've seen, we're going to be getting a lot more in 2016. Being not a huge contemporary fan,  I didn't know what to feel about thrillers at first but after loving the first one I read, I hopped on the bandwagon to thrillville. I thought After the Woods would have the same excitement and would leave me sitting on the edge of my seat like many others did, unfortunately that wasn't the case.
   The first thing I noticed when I started the book, was that the summery didn't give off the same vibe as the book did, or rather you didn't get what you expected when going into the book. Especially when it came to Liv and Julia.
   Liv was just a terrible person, the fact that Julia would sacrifice so much for this girl made me feel disappointed. The two were described as best friends, and when you think best friends, a person thinks of a close connection between two people that love and care for each other, to me the girls had a one sided relationship. Julia was the only one that really cared for the friendship, Liv was an abusive friend. In the novel Savage wanted to showcase the horrible relationship between Liv and her mother, but really the foul relationship was between Liv and Julia.
   I never really understood why the body of the other girl was necessary in After the Woods, was it to bring back the original investigation? Why was she relevant? The girl left me with more questions than what I started with.
   Finally one thing that stood out positively for me was Julia's family situation. It's not often that you read a book were the main characters father was a sperm donor. Or that the sperm donor is actually still close with the family. It was a first time experience for me while reading After the Woods, and I think it would be interesting to see again.
   After the Woods was not the thriller I was looking for, to someone else it might be, but for now I look forward to the future 2016 thriller releases.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"What do you do with the girl who comes back?"

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Thriller, Contemporary, Mystery Triller, Psychological Thriller