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deliberate_dreamer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
• Gone Girl-style regionalism/pacing (minus, thankfully, the depths of sadism),
• Baby Sitters’ Club Mystery girl-power nostalgia (leveled up for their original fans now grown),
• Thoreau references to appreciate & chuckle at, and
• multi-decade elite entourages & class commentary à la The Great Gatsby’s Buchanans.
In The God of the Woods, Liz Moore cinematically carries out a solid, multi-perspective, multi-timeline organizational style. Character development balances intentional voice-building with ownership of its clichés. The God of the Woods also nicely works to subvert expectations of the semi-thriller/mystery genre while intuitively exploring generational submission vs. empowerment, as well as issues of patriarchy vs. matriarchy, legacy, classism, mental health, instinct, and closure. I found at least 90% page-turning and worth 4.5+ stars — but at times longed for the author to take more chances or make things messier even more.
Are all of the characters likable? At times, all them I detest; other times, all of them, I appreciate in their own way. All of them earn their keep. As I read, I chuckled often to think to one GoodReads review noting so much dislike for the characters that they declared “Let her be lost; let all of them be lost, actually” (@brend). In answer to that review, I sense this aggravation was intentionally part of Moore’s goal: to generate in us Gatsby-level disgust for the whole lot, yet challenge is to preserve their humanity, too.
All in all, I found this to be an engaging, mostly-satisfying read. It was also the first time my library surprised me a rare “skip-the-line loan” of an e-book, so cool!
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
karaokestar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Alcohol
fanni_ambr_'s review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Loss of a child, 1950s housewife blues, behaviour of menladybug12793's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Dementia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Classism
daepyonimst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Confinement, Pedophilia, and Rape
regnistegra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Blood, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness
yogomagpie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Pedophilia and Rape
sebnebula's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Overall, it was still an incredibly well-written book that I really enjoyed reading, but I despised the way the mystery resolved, and felt that it undid a lot of the book’s strong points.
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
To panic, said T.J., was to make an enemy of the forest. To stay calm was to be its friend.
I had high hopes for this book. I saw it being recommended all over the place this summer by people whose book recommendations I typically enjoy. Plus I liked Moore’s first book, Long Bright River, so I figured I would enjoy this one too. BONUS: Reading it the week of Halloween? A slam dunk, surely.
NOPE.
To be fair, I think a lot of this was due to the fact I listened to this book instead of physically reading it. As a voracious audiobook listener, there aren’t many audiobook experiences where I will gladly admit the physical form of the book is better. This is one of those times.
Please, just pick it up. Sure, there’s a map at the beginning, but more importantly, as the book goes on, at the beginning of each chapter, it outlines where at in the story you are. There are so many timelines to keep track of and honestly, it became a little overwhelming and confusing. I relistened to so much of this book to try and figure out where I was and I finally just gave up and hoped for the best. This truly impacted my enjoyment of the book and I think I would have liked this book so much more if I actually read it.
On a separate note, for a book that was sold to me as a mystery worth reading, I found the ending of both mysteries (two siblings disappearing many years apart) to be so much of a let down. I don’t want to say too much more than that for fear of spoiling the book, but dang. Not at all what I was looking for when I signed up to read this one.
One character I really liked was Judyta (Judy). What a strong female character and a strong woman in a time when women weren’t respected for doing their jobs correctly and doing their jobs well. She also was so incredibly brave when it came to standing up for herself and her independence with her parents. I loved every single chapter I got to read where we followed Judy’s journey as an investigator looking into Barbara’s disappearance. There’s just something about strong female characters, especially set in a historical time where they aren’t seen as equal, that makes me love a book.
Fingers crossed you’ll like this book more if you physically read it. 🤞🏼
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
gwenswoons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I will say that I somehow loved the ending, and found it so beautiful, with such a light touch — odd after this book that felt so heavy-handed to me. It was absolutely not worth it for me but I somehow was still quite enchanted by it even as I was so ready to be done. So the writing is definitely remarkable in some way, even though for me this is not going to be a writer I return to again.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism