Welcome to Litsy!

Any book involving a disappearance is spooky to me. #sundayfunday

I would not have picked it up if it weren‘t for my book club,but I loved it. I thought it was so well crafted! I mostly listened to the audiobook (excellently narrated by Saskia Maarleveld), & even though the story jumps narrators and timelines, I never had an issue keeping track of where we were. There were definitely some gut wrenching moments, so I don‘t think I would give this a blanket recommendation to everyone, but it was very, very good.

#Hauntedshelf #ScavengerHunt #Atmosphere
@BookwormAHN #BlackCatCrew

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I can understand others' criticisms of especially the ending, but I loved it and couldn't put it down. The little boy made me think so much of my precious 9-year-old girl and what I would do if anything ever happened to her.

Very good! Excited to see her at the book festival Saturday.

This was an overly complex story, with shifting timelines and POVs… for a lacklustre ending. To build up for that long, only to have a meh reaction, I clearly missed something.

Too hyped in my opinion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Super engaging…but not up to all the hype.

The ending gave away too much.

For all the complexity the author built into the first 400 pages, she should have trusted her readers enough to leave them wanting more.

It took me a moment to get into this story with its multiple timelines and broad cast of characters, including 3-4 Peters. Once I became fully absorbed in the parallel mysteries at the book's heart--the disappearance of Bear Van Laar in 1961 and of his sister Barbara 14 years later-- I couldn't put the book down. I'm still not sure whether the answers were completely satisfying, but it was certainly an engrossing read.

Lucky find (I hope!) at my local #LFL

Jumping into this one on Spotify! So far so good, and I‘m at least not sobbing (thanks Backman).

Unpopular opinion, but wasn‘t as big a fan of this one as everyone seems to be. I can see the appeal I guess, but it was long and a bit tedious at times. The jumping around the time line and different perspectives worked, and the last section was tough to put down. But for me didn‘t hit the mark. Two kids from the same well to do family go missing in a fifteen year span. It‘s quite the mystery, but the pay off didn‘t quite deliver for me.

Friday night reading (with wine and a thunderstorm).

This wasn't so much a Thriller but a really sad book. I was hoping there would be more nature and survival being described, but it is what it is.

I am still of the opinion that it would have been better with a clearer outline and fewer POVs; Overall, this is a very slow-burn type mystery with a lot of unnecessary padding. The buildup to the ending turned out to be a disappointment. The writing style itself was interesting and engaging. --

Halfway-ish done with this book, and my main “gripe“ (it isn't really a gripe) is that there are too many narratives/characters that lead to the same plot beat, so they could easily just be combined with other similar plot points into a more concise story.

So we don't have 5 different narratives going on at once that are essentially doing the same thing, leading the POV character from A to B, A to B, A to B. It gets so tediously repetitive.

The bed is empty.
#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

The Van Lars run a prestigious survival camp in their small town, yet 2 of their own children have wound up missing on the grounds. Alice, the mom, is sick with grief after her son Bear mysteriously disappears without a trace at 8. She has Barbara years later who never fills the void in her mom‘s heart. What will the van lars do to cover their family reputation& at what cost? Loved the PI Judyta who was a woman ahead of her time in 1970s.

Everyone loves this. It's a really good mystery and it's written well. I just wasn't into it. Low pick.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I loved this. It does jump around in timelines and characters, so I did have to make myself a cheatsheet in the beginning. Whenever I thought I knew something, it took a turn. I did finally get one thing right near the end. I loved the writing. I was also glad that the ending didn't leave questions unanswered. Funny enough, I watched the TV series another of her books, Long Bright River, was made into. This was a buddy read with my son.

One of the years top reads. Felt transported to that camp and loved the mix of family dynamics, wealth disparity and mystery. great writing!

I picked up The God of the Woods expecting a thriller, but it‘s more of a slow-burn mystery about family secrets, privilege, and class. Set in a 1970s summer camp, the story follows 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar‘s disappearance—echoing her brother‘s vanishing 14 years earlier. Moore‘s multi-perspective, multi-timeline narrative kept me hooked. It‘s thoughtful, atmospheric, and surprisingly gripping.

One of my favorite mystery yet true crime books (not based on real story as far as I know).

Below is my rant/review over the book via YouTube
https://youtu.be/lbPYmnOu3BI

My current #botm TBR, featuring the books currently on my shelf that would count towards my 2025 reading challenge! Which do you guys think I need to prioritize??

This was excellent! It‘s not really about the central mystery as much as it‘s an examination of the relationship between the “haves” and “have-nots” of small communities.

Reading outside has begun! Kiki likes it when I hang in the yard with her. It turns out my favorite black tea is also great iced.

The hype is real, y'all. A tense, multiple timeline thriller that had me suspecting every character who was not an inspector of being responsible for Bear's and Barbara's disappearances.

Good book + good pup = excellent Sunday evening.

“We can do as we please, if we only learn not to care so much about what people think.”
#April2025

I understand why this book is so well received. It deserves all the hype. Well written and totally engaging.

My son picked this for our buddy read. I don't read many mysteries, but this looks good. A 13 year old child goes missing from a summer camp. 14 years prior, their sibling also went missing. (Though not from the camp.) So far I'm really enjoying this.

Me: I have to finish this by Tuesday because not only is it book club, but I picked the book. And I‘m enjoying it!
Also me: Ooh what‘s new on the internet?!?
I wish Amelia would confiscate my devices 😝

Chunkier book than I meant to choose. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I really enjoyed this book. The mystery, the characters, the setting of the story all made this story engaging. There are a few characters to keep up with and a jumping timeline but I liked how all the little pieces of the story that were revealed all fit together in the end. It was kind of reminiscent of All the Colors of The Dark which I thought was great as well. Definitely recommend!

“For knowing too much, rather than too little. For a woman, neither was an acceptable way to be.”

⭐️3/5
I really wanted to like this more than I did and this rating feels unfair. While reading, I really enjoyed the story. I was swept right into the mystery and intrigue and appreciated the non linear story telling with multiple POVs. However, I think because this isn‘t my usual genre, I didn‘t enjoy the ending and it left it more a middling book for me.

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #thegodofthewoods #lizmoore #bookbeast #bookbuds #bookchat #libby #letsread

#TheGodoftheWoods #LizMoore

I‘m glad you finally got the book that I mailed the last week of February. I was expecting to get it back in the mail as I thought I might have made a mistake addressing it. Hope your move goes well. You will have to give me your new address. Enjoy the book!

#coverstories from #BOTM highlighting two very different kind of #trees

I'm not that far into March #bookspin but can already feel it will be good!

@TheAromaofBooks

These are my picks for #BOTM and #Aardvark The God of the Woods won #BOTM's book of the year award and I liked almost all of #Aardvark's choices. It was hard just picking three. What did y'all pick?

Great story that keeps you hooked until the very end. An excellent finish reveals everything to the reader that was hiding in plain sight.

In 1975 Barbara vanishes from the summer camp on her family‘s property.In 1961 her brother disappeared in the same woods&was never found.Told through the eyes of several mostly female characters&jumping back&forth in time could have been confusing but is done so well that it adds to the suspense.I love that Moore wrote both an engaging story with an unexpected (sad) ending&created characters the reader can relate to.Her criticism of sexism

I never considered bailing on the book, so I have to give it three stars, but the ending has made it a super low pick for me. There were parts of the narrative never resolved, I couldn't stand the Jutya storyline (why are women cops always written so poorly?) and while the pacing was good and the dueling timelines ratcheted up tension, the ending fell so flat as to nearly ruin the good parts of the book.

Thanks, I hated it! Maybe my timing is off, but reading about a bunch of snobby elites blame everyone around them and hating on women was not helping this week 🫠
The #literallymycharacter challenge was fun though, thanks @TheBookHippie even the Amazon ads (not pictured) were entertaining and pretty accurate tbh! I AM a sleepy insomniac judgy hot mess who's glued to her phone/camera.

I hope you‘re getting what you want from this life, too 🏕️🛶🌲

WOAH NELLY!! This was an intricately-woven mystery that had me guessing til the very end. Really satisfying and really clever. The author set a hard task for herself with bouncing back and forth amongst sooo many timelines, but it totally worked. The hype is real!!!