pickIt 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.
Jumping into this one on Spotify! So far so good, and I‘m at least not sobbing (thanks Backman).
panUnpopular 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).
so-soThis 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.
pickThe 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.
pickEveryone loves this. It's a really good mystery and it's written well. I just wasn't into it. Low pick.
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
pickI 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.
pickOne of the years top reads. Felt transported to that camp and loved the mix of family dynamics, wealth disparity and mystery. great writing!
so-soI 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.
pickOne 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
pickThis 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.
pickThe 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.
“We can do as we please, if we only learn not to care so much about what people think.”
#April2025
pickI 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 😝
pickI 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.”
so-so⭐️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
pick#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!
pickGreat story that keeps you hooked until the very end. An excellent finish reveals everything to the reader that was hiding in plain sight.
pickIn 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
pickI 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.
bailedThanks, 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 🏕️🛶🌲
pickWOAH 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!!!
pickOh my god this book was so good?? Like stayed up way too late last night finishing it even though I had to be in office today good??? Excellent atmosphere, mystery, characters, the whole shebang. Easy 5 stars!!
pickI devoured this book in 2 days: My fast reading via the audiobook definitely helped me to keep track of events as the many points of view and a dual timeline could have otherwise been confusing. However the story pacing really ratcheted up the tension. The end was a bit of a letdown, but it was well worth the journey. So may great characters! A young boy disappears in 1961, never to be found. His sibling disappears 14 years later…. 😱
pickThanks to library holds I‘m finally getting to read some of last year‘s top books. This one was maybe a bit over complicated but definitely worthy of the hype. At first I struggled a little because there were so many characters to keep up with and two timelines, but it all came together well. I liked that almost all of the POV characters were women, especially Judyta and Louise.
pickI enjoyed this mystery about two missing children years apart from the same camp. Lots of interesting characters and the setting was perfect and atmospheric! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickThis was so good! What a fantastic story about a train wreck of a family
pickThis was quite the story! Somewhat hard to follow as an audiobook given all the characters and the back and forth timelines, nevertheless it kept my attention and made me need to know what really happened with all these characters. You‘ve got two children, years apart, going missing at the same camp…what could have happened? I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story! 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The God of the Woods | 
