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The God of the Woods
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2024)When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.
490 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 2, 2024
58869 people are currently reading
822263 people want to read
About the author
Liz Moore
9 books8,042 followersLiz Moore is the author of the novels THE WORDS OF EVERY SONG (Broadway Books, 2007), HEFT (W.W. Norton, 2012), THE UNSEEN WORLD (W.W. Norton, 2016), and the New York Times-bestselling Long Bright River (Riverhead, 2019). A winner of the Rome Prize in Literature, she lives in Philadelphia with her family, and teaches in the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing at Temple University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71,724 reviews
September 3, 2025
This book!!!!! Such a slooowwww moving story, but the storytelling was done so well!!!
We follow two timelines of disappearances (a brother years ago & his sister present day) at an isolated campsite with multiple povs - and I was hooked! I felt like a detective on the case trying to put all the pieces together & couldn’t stop reading once I was invested (short chapters too, which was great)
The only thing I didn’t love was the ending, it felt a bit unsatisfying BUT it made sense for the story. Not much else to say other than I really enjoyed the writing style, the setting, and the way we were given little pieces at a time. Highly recommend!!!
We follow two timelines of disappearances (a brother years ago & his sister present day) at an isolated campsite with multiple povs - and I was hooked! I felt like a detective on the case trying to put all the pieces together & couldn’t stop reading once I was invested (short chapters too, which was great)
The only thing I didn’t love was the ending, it felt a bit unsatisfying BUT it made sense for the story. Not much else to say other than I really enjoyed the writing style, the setting, and the way we were given little pieces at a time. Highly recommend!!!
August 31, 2025
I think I want to grade, define, declare, and devour this book beyond terms and genres because no other words can weigh my thoughts and adoration! Ladies and gentlemen who appreciate great literature, this book is for us! It is the cure to my depressed soul, restless every July, searching for a good book and often frustrated, finally finding a fountain in the middle of the Sahara! This book is my Bellagio fountain, and I can drink till I burst!
This is a great combination of historical fiction, mystery, crime thriller, and women's fiction with multiple perspectives taking us on a tour through time zones, wandering around the minds of very different characters, seeing the world from their points of view.
The story focuses on 17-year-old Barbara Van Laar, a rebellious, artsy, punk-styled outcast who vanishes from her family’s camp in the Adirondacks in August 1975. Barbara is the only remaining child of the town’s wealthy Van Laar family and the second missing child of the family after her brother Bear disappeared at the age of 8, before she was born. This left behind a psychologically damaged mother, Alice, who is a pill and alcohol addict, a workaholic authoritarian father, Peter, a harsh, relentless grandfather, and his mostly silent, obedient wife. The entire family maintains appearances, giving their social circle and business connections more importance than showing affection to each other.
But Barbara’s vanishing opens up a can of worms, revealing big secrets connected to Bear’s disappearance a decade ago. Did the family wrongly accuse someone for the crime even though they hadn’t found the body? Did the same person take the second child of the family? Is the perpetrator a runaway inmate accused of being a serial killer of several women? Or a scary woman turned into an urban legend lurking around the woods? Or is someone in the camp involved in the crime with a secret partner?
There are several perspectives in this book you can easily connect with, including:
Tracy: a quirky, meek, outcast girl who suffers from her parents’ abrupt breakup, sent to a youth summer camp belonging to the powerful Van Laar family, admiring Barbara’s straightforward, confident attributes, becoming friends and confidantes with her.
Alice: the mentally disturbed, pill-addict mother of Barbara, still trying to connect with her lost son, cutting away her connection with the real world for her own reasons, her unhappy marriage and related issues.
Louise: a 26-year-old camp counselor, trying to take care of her young brother, dealing with her depressed, irresponsible mother, working hard to put a roof over their heads. She is wrongly framed for Barbara’s disappearance by trusting the wrong people, about to be a victim of financial inequality and injustice.
Limb Jacob: who is faking his limp as a disability, escaping from prison as if he is a convicted serial killer, having quiet wild life skills to survive in the woods, hiding in the cabins without getting noticed.
Carl Stoddard: a gardener of the Preserve, taking the job five years ago to afford the expenses of his sick son who couldn’t make it in the end, suffering from his own health issues, finding himself in inappropriate circumstances during Bear’s disappearance.
Judyta Luptack: born in Schenectady, a former first-class female national trooper of Albany, first female investigator at the state at the age of 26, still cannot tell her crowded, traditional family she has to move to her own place instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to make it to her job on time, driving sleeplessly on her way back home. She’s smart, enthusiastic, observant, knowing mansplaining at the workplace firsthand but still doing her best to piece together the puzzle to merge two missing persons’ cases which point fingers at the Van Laar family!
This book is one of the best inspirational women power books, telling unique stories of different women who use their own ways to survive and protect their loved ones. T.J., the camp director, is a tough, self-sufficient, resilient character who runs the place without taking any nonsense, even from the Van Laar family. Louise is an abuse victim, overachiever raising her own brother like her own son. Judyta is an idealistic crime fighter using her wits and logic to see what others cannot decipher. Alice is trying to find her place in the world of the rich, getting lost each day in her own losses, numbing herself into oblivion.
The stories, the portraits, the travel between timelines are perfectly developed, and the conclusion with several twists and surprises is fairly wrapped up!
I enjoyed this book so, so, so, so much! I advise you to read it, read it, and read it! It’s freaking one of the best books of the year! Whatever category it will compete in at the Goodreads Choice Awards, I’ll give my vote without thinking!
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This is a great combination of historical fiction, mystery, crime thriller, and women's fiction with multiple perspectives taking us on a tour through time zones, wandering around the minds of very different characters, seeing the world from their points of view.
The story focuses on 17-year-old Barbara Van Laar, a rebellious, artsy, punk-styled outcast who vanishes from her family’s camp in the Adirondacks in August 1975. Barbara is the only remaining child of the town’s wealthy Van Laar family and the second missing child of the family after her brother Bear disappeared at the age of 8, before she was born. This left behind a psychologically damaged mother, Alice, who is a pill and alcohol addict, a workaholic authoritarian father, Peter, a harsh, relentless grandfather, and his mostly silent, obedient wife. The entire family maintains appearances, giving their social circle and business connections more importance than showing affection to each other.
But Barbara’s vanishing opens up a can of worms, revealing big secrets connected to Bear’s disappearance a decade ago. Did the family wrongly accuse someone for the crime even though they hadn’t found the body? Did the same person take the second child of the family? Is the perpetrator a runaway inmate accused of being a serial killer of several women? Or a scary woman turned into an urban legend lurking around the woods? Or is someone in the camp involved in the crime with a secret partner?
There are several perspectives in this book you can easily connect with, including:
Tracy: a quirky, meek, outcast girl who suffers from her parents’ abrupt breakup, sent to a youth summer camp belonging to the powerful Van Laar family, admiring Barbara’s straightforward, confident attributes, becoming friends and confidantes with her.
Alice: the mentally disturbed, pill-addict mother of Barbara, still trying to connect with her lost son, cutting away her connection with the real world for her own reasons, her unhappy marriage and related issues.
Louise: a 26-year-old camp counselor, trying to take care of her young brother, dealing with her depressed, irresponsible mother, working hard to put a roof over their heads. She is wrongly framed for Barbara’s disappearance by trusting the wrong people, about to be a victim of financial inequality and injustice.
Limb Jacob: who is faking his limp as a disability, escaping from prison as if he is a convicted serial killer, having quiet wild life skills to survive in the woods, hiding in the cabins without getting noticed.
Carl Stoddard: a gardener of the Preserve, taking the job five years ago to afford the expenses of his sick son who couldn’t make it in the end, suffering from his own health issues, finding himself in inappropriate circumstances during Bear’s disappearance.
Judyta Luptack: born in Schenectady, a former first-class female national trooper of Albany, first female investigator at the state at the age of 26, still cannot tell her crowded, traditional family she has to move to her own place instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to make it to her job on time, driving sleeplessly on her way back home. She’s smart, enthusiastic, observant, knowing mansplaining at the workplace firsthand but still doing her best to piece together the puzzle to merge two missing persons’ cases which point fingers at the Van Laar family!
This book is one of the best inspirational women power books, telling unique stories of different women who use their own ways to survive and protect their loved ones. T.J., the camp director, is a tough, self-sufficient, resilient character who runs the place without taking any nonsense, even from the Van Laar family. Louise is an abuse victim, overachiever raising her own brother like her own son. Judyta is an idealistic crime fighter using her wits and logic to see what others cannot decipher. Alice is trying to find her place in the world of the rich, getting lost each day in her own losses, numbing herself into oblivion.
The stories, the portraits, the travel between timelines are perfectly developed, and the conclusion with several twists and surprises is fairly wrapped up!
I enjoyed this book so, so, so, so much! I advise you to read it, read it, and read it! It’s freaking one of the best books of the year! Whatever category it will compete in at the Goodreads Choice Awards, I’ll give my vote without thinking!
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April 16, 2025
Okay, lots of thoughts on this one. Going to try to unpack them all here.
The God of the Woods starts out really well. I found the beginning to be compelling, with lots of interesting characters and perspectives. But then as the investigation into Barbara's disappearance heats up, a few things started to really bother me, and it went a bit downhill from there.
When it comes to verbosity in a book, readers generally fall into two camps. For some, if they love a story, then stretching it out an extra hundred pages by filling it with lots of beautiful writing but no additional content makes it even better. But for me, my motto is always shorter is better, and fluffing it out to pad the page count doesn't do it for me. So you see where I'm going with this.
What starts out as compelling quickly turns meandering for me. The longer the story went on, the more unfocused it seemed. There are a lot of perspectives in here—I count seven—and every time something was about to happen, we immediately switched to a different perspective, effectively losing the momentum. And when we come back to the original one, the exciting scene had already happened off-page and it's mostly glossed over.
But it isn't just the perspectives, which I honestly don't mind that much. It's also how unnecessarily convoluted the mystery was, in large part due to the way it was written. Every time the police needed to talk to a witness, that person would inevitably end up missing. So we would have to spend time tracking them down just to have a conversation with them. In addition to the two disappearances which are central to this story, I counted no less than six other characters who disappeared at one time or another. It was exhausting.
Surely though, once these witnesses are found, they would be able to answer some simple questions, right? Well, no. Everyone in here lied every chance they had, often for no reason that I could discern and against their best interests. It felt like drama for drama's sake, making the mystery feel even more tortuous and chaotic. You know, just in case the reader thought it was too easy or there weren't enough pages in this book.
My other big issue is that the author has a real knack for writing dumb female characters. It drove me a bit nuts in Long Bright River and here it is again. This time, we have Alice and Louise, two of our main characters, both being portrayed as spineless fools. You guys know I love my female characters to be strong and smart, so to have to read about women who let people walk all over them while making one bad decision after another got old real quick.
Then after all of that (almost 500 pages), this mystery had to be one of the most unsatisfying I've ever come across. Clues were laid out seemingly to point to one direction or another, but then the story disregards almost everything it had said before and ends on something completely different. And some of the clues were never addressed at all, as if they've served their purpose to mislead us and now we can just forget about them.
Still, for all my complaints, I did find this to be a fairly engrossing read. There were many moments I got really into it, and the pages just melted away. But there were also many moments where I could not believe yet another character has disappeared or Alice and Louise are yet again being dumb and weak, and I could just feel my eyeballs rolling around in exasperation.
Clearly I'm in the minority here. Everyone else is loving this, so you shouldn't take what I say too seriously. Sometimes there is just a mismatch between a reader and a book, and that's probably what happened here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Long Bright River
~~~~~~~~~~~~
✧ Connect with me ✧ Instagram ✧
✧ This was a pick for my BOTM box. Get your first book for $5 here.
The God of the Woods starts out really well. I found the beginning to be compelling, with lots of interesting characters and perspectives. But then as the investigation into Barbara's disappearance heats up, a few things started to really bother me, and it went a bit downhill from there.
When it comes to verbosity in a book, readers generally fall into two camps. For some, if they love a story, then stretching it out an extra hundred pages by filling it with lots of beautiful writing but no additional content makes it even better. But for me, my motto is always shorter is better, and fluffing it out to pad the page count doesn't do it for me. So you see where I'm going with this.
What starts out as compelling quickly turns meandering for me. The longer the story went on, the more unfocused it seemed. There are a lot of perspectives in here—I count seven—and every time something was about to happen, we immediately switched to a different perspective, effectively losing the momentum. And when we come back to the original one, the exciting scene had already happened off-page and it's mostly glossed over.
But it isn't just the perspectives, which I honestly don't mind that much. It's also how unnecessarily convoluted the mystery was, in large part due to the way it was written. Every time the police needed to talk to a witness, that person would inevitably end up missing. So we would have to spend time tracking them down just to have a conversation with them. In addition to the two disappearances which are central to this story, I counted no less than six other characters who disappeared at one time or another. It was exhausting.
Surely though, once these witnesses are found, they would be able to answer some simple questions, right? Well, no. Everyone in here lied every chance they had, often for no reason that I could discern and against their best interests. It felt like drama for drama's sake, making the mystery feel even more tortuous and chaotic. You know, just in case the reader thought it was too easy or there weren't enough pages in this book.
My other big issue is that the author has a real knack for writing dumb female characters. It drove me a bit nuts in Long Bright River and here it is again. This time, we have Alice and Louise, two of our main characters, both being portrayed as spineless fools. You guys know I love my female characters to be strong and smart, so to have to read about women who let people walk all over them while making one bad decision after another got old real quick.
Then after all of that (almost 500 pages), this mystery had to be one of the most unsatisfying I've ever come across. Clues were laid out seemingly to point to one direction or another, but then the story disregards almost everything it had said before and ends on something completely different. And some of the clues were never addressed at all, as if they've served their purpose to mislead us and now we can just forget about them.
Still, for all my complaints, I did find this to be a fairly engrossing read. There were many moments I got really into it, and the pages just melted away. But there were also many moments where I could not believe yet another character has disappeared or Alice and Louise are yet again being dumb and weak, and I could just feel my eyeballs rolling around in exasperation.
Clearly I'm in the minority here. Everyone else is loving this, so you shouldn't take what I say too seriously. Sometimes there is just a mismatch between a reader and a book, and that's probably what happened here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Long Bright River
~~~~~~~~~~~~
✧ Connect with me ✧ Instagram ✧
✧ This was a pick for my BOTM box. Get your first book for $5 here.
January 15, 2025
After some thought, I've decided to round down my rating on this one. I think I was swayed by the positive ratings of others, but this book just wasn't as impressive as I was expecting given all the starred reviews bestowed on it (Kirkus; Publisher's Weekly).
The mystery is pretty good and well-layered. By that I mean there isn't one big twist, but lots of little puzzles to be solved to reveal the bigger picture of what actually happened, both in the present of the novel (1975) and years earlier when a young boy disappeared (1961). You can suspect everyone and yet still not figure out the whole story. So, that's good.
But where this story was lacking, for me, was in the characters. Three out of four of the main perspectives were completely forgettable, and almost all the side characters failed to shine too. Maybe T.J. could have, but we got so little page time with her that she couldn't carry the book on her own.
There is a large cast of characters here, with four main perspectives-- Louise, Alice, Tracy and Judyta --as well as other minor perspectives that appear throughout. I'd argue that this could be part of the problem, but I recently read All the Colors of the Dark, which is also a mystery with a large cast of characters, and Whittaker managed to juggle them just fine.
No, it's just that all the characters here are either rich assholes with zero redeeming qualities or... completely beige. That's how I feel about Louise, Tracy and Judyta, whose perspectives make up the majority of the book. Completely uninteresting. Tracy, especially, offers so little to this book.
I am an emotional reader, and the only characters who elicited any kind of emotion in me here were Alice and Bear. That, plus the clever layers of mystery, is worth three stars. But I cannot rate higher when I spent so much of this book not really caring what would happen.
The mystery is pretty good and well-layered. By that I mean there isn't one big twist, but lots of little puzzles to be solved to reveal the bigger picture of what actually happened, both in the present of the novel (1975) and years earlier when a young boy disappeared (1961). You can suspect everyone and yet still not figure out the whole story. So, that's good.
But where this story was lacking, for me, was in the characters. Three out of four of the main perspectives were completely forgettable, and almost all the side characters failed to shine too. Maybe T.J. could have, but we got so little page time with her that she couldn't carry the book on her own.
There is a large cast of characters here, with four main perspectives-- Louise, Alice, Tracy and Judyta --as well as other minor perspectives that appear throughout. I'd argue that this could be part of the problem, but I recently read All the Colors of the Dark, which is also a mystery with a large cast of characters, and Whittaker managed to juggle them just fine.
No, it's just that all the characters here are either rich assholes with zero redeeming qualities or... completely beige. That's how I feel about Louise, Tracy and Judyta, whose perspectives make up the majority of the book. Completely uninteresting. Tracy, especially, offers so little to this book.
I am an emotional reader, and the only characters who elicited any kind of emotion in me here were Alice and Bear. That, plus the clever layers of mystery, is worth three stars. But I cannot rate higher when I spent so much of this book not really caring what would happen.
August 12, 2024
So boring.
Too many people to keep track of ( some with multiple names)
Jumping timeline that confuses you as well
I was hoping the end would have shocked me but, negative, I was annoyed.
I could summarize it in a few paragraphs, not hours of reading
SPOILERS:
Alice is depressed and over medicated. Asks her 8 year old, Bear, to take a ride in a boat. A storm comes, boat capsized with boy in it. He passes. The family covers it up. Blames someone else for killing the boy. They have another kid, a girl Brenda, she’s not Bear so they treat her like garbage. She goes to the local camp. She goes “missing”. Lots of detective work, blah, blah, the detective is new and a woman so nobody trusts or listens to her. She has 3 names you have to keep straight. Jumping back and forth with timelines….. the men are rich jerks, the wives are oppressed and belittled. There’s a murder who escaped prison on the loose…. I was hoping he would do something, nope. He has 2 names too. End of the story the detective figures out Brenda is alive and living in the woods. She escaped her awful family who thinks she’s fat. The detective wants her to stay happy so she doesn’t tell anyone. The End. Don’t read it. 🤣
Too many people to keep track of ( some with multiple names)
Jumping timeline that confuses you as well
I was hoping the end would have shocked me but, negative, I was annoyed.
I could summarize it in a few paragraphs, not hours of reading
SPOILERS:
Alice is depressed and over medicated. Asks her 8 year old, Bear, to take a ride in a boat. A storm comes, boat capsized with boy in it. He passes. The family covers it up. Blames someone else for killing the boy. They have another kid, a girl Brenda, she’s not Bear so they treat her like garbage. She goes to the local camp. She goes “missing”. Lots of detective work, blah, blah, the detective is new and a woman so nobody trusts or listens to her. She has 3 names you have to keep straight. Jumping back and forth with timelines….. the men are rich jerks, the wives are oppressed and belittled. There’s a murder who escaped prison on the loose…. I was hoping he would do something, nope. He has 2 names too. End of the story the detective figures out Brenda is alive and living in the woods. She escaped her awful family who thinks she’s fat. The detective wants her to stay happy so she doesn’t tell anyone. The End. Don’t read it. 🤣
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2024
Not gonna lie, they really had me on the first half (first 10% actually). Writing style, ambiance, all good. Then it lost me. I didn't care about anyone. Let her be lost; let all of them be lost, actually.
I'll just go take a nap at one of the other cabins.
I'll just go take a nap at one of the other cabins.
August 18, 2024
Finallyyyyyyy. Worth almost 500 pages? No. But I am glad I pushed through and finished! A mystery at a summer camp was exactly what I needed to finish out my summer reading. If you dnf’d, you can read the last like 15-25 pages to see how it ends/ish lol
February 1, 2024
I think I would be a great detective and then I read something like this and realise that I would be immediately demoted to traffic
April 13, 2024
Tragic
The God of the Woods is a quiet mystery/drama about the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl at a summer camp in 1975.
Barbara Van Laar, the daughter of the prominent Van Laar family of Albany, New York, disappeared from her cabin one morning in a summer camp founded by her family. In connection with her disappearance, her counselor, Louise, her bunkmate, Tracy, her mother, Alice, and a young female detective, Judyta, share their stories. All are flawed, honest, and complex characters; each of their stories is impactful.
The plot slowly unfolds. Piece by piece, bits of the lives of the main characters intersect, coming together in profound ways. The timeline is non-linear, alternating between the past in the 1950s and the present in the 1970s; the non-linearity adds to the drama and trauma of searching for a missing child.
This is a rich, multilayered novel with multidimensional characters. Through exceptional characterization, especially the women, themes of motherhood, gender roles, sexuality, identity, and class are explored.
The setting is lush and vibrant, especially in the scenes in the woods surrounding Camp Emerson.
I could visualize the characters, the setting, the house named Self-Reliance, the camp, nature, and the fine details. Moore didn't just write a novel that takes place in the 1970s, she transports her reader to this time and place. There are a few flaws, but this novel is exquisitely written and emotionally impactful. My heart shattered as the events culminated in a tragically sad and painful revelation.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead in exchange for an honest review.
The God of the Woods is a quiet mystery/drama about the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl at a summer camp in 1975.
Barbara Van Laar, the daughter of the prominent Van Laar family of Albany, New York, disappeared from her cabin one morning in a summer camp founded by her family. In connection with her disappearance, her counselor, Louise, her bunkmate, Tracy, her mother, Alice, and a young female detective, Judyta, share their stories. All are flawed, honest, and complex characters; each of their stories is impactful.
The plot slowly unfolds. Piece by piece, bits of the lives of the main characters intersect, coming together in profound ways. The timeline is non-linear, alternating between the past in the 1950s and the present in the 1970s; the non-linearity adds to the drama and trauma of searching for a missing child.
This is a rich, multilayered novel with multidimensional characters. Through exceptional characterization, especially the women, themes of motherhood, gender roles, sexuality, identity, and class are explored.
The setting is lush and vibrant, especially in the scenes in the woods surrounding Camp Emerson.
I could visualize the characters, the setting, the house named Self-Reliance, the camp, nature, and the fine details. Moore didn't just write a novel that takes place in the 1970s, she transports her reader to this time and place. There are a few flaws, but this novel is exquisitely written and emotionally impactful. My heart shattered as the events culminated in a tragically sad and painful revelation.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Penguin Group Riverhead in exchange for an honest review.
July 26, 2025
i'm constantly running behind bandwagons, approximately 4-12 months late.
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
this one was a fun ride. (get it? because i finally managed to catch the wagon? so then i was riding on it? and also there's the expression of "fun ride"? whatever. i'm wasted on you people.)
i read this during a weekend in boston, a time i tend to spend in its entirety walking or eating or both, and still i managed to read this whole book.
on my phone.
i hate to read on my phone.
shoutout to my flight home for chilling on the tarmac for 3 hours, i assume exclusively to maximize my reading time.
i also read this for a substack post in which i let people on goodreads and instagram choose what i read, at the same time that my long-held virtual library loan of it came through. presumably a sign from the universe.
ultimately i wasn't FULLY satisfied by its strange conclusion, but the camp vibes and the eerie questions and the rich freaks made for a good time.
bottom line: finally, a book everyone read and liked that i can say i've read and liked too.
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
this one was a fun ride. (get it? because i finally managed to catch the wagon? so then i was riding on it? and also there's the expression of "fun ride"? whatever. i'm wasted on you people.)
i read this during a weekend in boston, a time i tend to spend in its entirety walking or eating or both, and still i managed to read this whole book.
on my phone.
i hate to read on my phone.
shoutout to my flight home for chilling on the tarmac for 3 hours, i assume exclusively to maximize my reading time.
i also read this for a substack post in which i let people on goodreads and instagram choose what i read, at the same time that my long-held virtual library loan of it came through. presumably a sign from the universe.
ultimately i wasn't FULLY satisfied by its strange conclusion, but the camp vibes and the eerie questions and the rich freaks made for a good time.
bottom line: finally, a book everyone read and liked that i can say i've read and liked too.
July 13, 2024
Giving up at 14%. Hard to believe that this book has received so many glowing reviews. There are so many characters that I’ve already lost track of who’s who. Hope the missing camper Barbara is okay but actually, I don’t even care all that much. Moving on.
August 17, 2024
this isn’t something i would typically pick up but the pink paint drip on the cover just did something for me. (i initially saw this book featured on the barnes & noble website as their book pick for july and just had to buy it.) then i read the synopsis and a summer camp mystery just felt like it would hit the spot. (which it pretty much did.)
3 stars✨
themes:
☑️ summer camp vibes!!!!
☑️ dysfunctional families
☑️ missing siblings
☑️ 1960s-70s era
☑️ multiple pov
☑️ timeline switches
☑️ character driven story
☑️ slowwwww burn mystery
pros:
✅ solid writing
✅ short chapters!!!
✅ unique characters
✅ camp vibes, once again!! 🌲⛺️
✅ some badass women
✅ makes you realize how NOT screwed up your real life family is
criticisms???:
➖ not THRILLING, necessarily (i’d just classify this as a slow mystery. it actuall reads like literary fiction at times.)
➖ slightly too long
➖ kinda depressing in parts?! (family dysfunction, poorer people getting treated as less than, etc… but this could just be me)
➖ SLOW (don’t say i didn’t warn you) 🤭
overall, really good reading experience. i always feel a little pride when i branch out of my comfort zone & i’m glad i picked this one up. 🌲💕
3 stars✨
themes:
☑️ summer camp vibes!!!!
☑️ dysfunctional families
☑️ missing siblings
☑️ 1960s-70s era
☑️ multiple pov
☑️ timeline switches
☑️ character driven story
☑️ slowwwww burn mystery
pros:
✅ solid writing
✅ short chapters!!!
✅ unique characters
✅ camp vibes, once again!! 🌲⛺️
✅ some badass women
✅ makes you realize how NOT screwed up your real life family is
criticisms???:
➖ not THRILLING, necessarily (i’d just classify this as a slow mystery. it actuall reads like literary fiction at times.)
➖ slightly too long
➖ kinda depressing in parts?! (family dysfunction, poorer people getting treated as less than, etc… but this could just be me)
➖ SLOW (don’t say i didn’t warn you) 🤭
overall, really good reading experience. i always feel a little pride when i branch out of my comfort zone & i’m glad i picked this one up. 🌲💕
June 28, 2024
This is THE book of the summer. Easy 5 stars. Will write a full review later but definitely check this out when it releases next week!! A perfect literary mystery thriller.
September 2, 2024
I had really high hopes for this one, unfortunately it dragged on for so long in several parts. There’s nothing wrong with the book as a whole, it just wasn’t for me. I wouldn’t tell anyone to put it at the top of their TBR.
November 28, 2024
Loved the writing and the alternating perspectives, but I think switching between POVs AND timelines every chapter was too much. The build up to the big reveal was so slow and gradual that by the time things became clear I almost didn’t care. Good poolside read nonetheless.
August 4, 2024
This was a mind boggler.
A mystery twofer told in dual timelines. One child who has gone missing in 1961; another 1975. Both are from the prestigious Van Laar family and owners of the camp.
The setting is in the wooded area of the Adirondacks. But don’t be fooled by the beauty of the landscape. Something ugly is happening in these woods.
This story is stacked with multiple characters, multiple scenarios and multiple suspects.
Believe the hype. 5⭐️
A mystery twofer told in dual timelines. One child who has gone missing in 1961; another 1975. Both are from the prestigious Van Laar family and owners of the camp.
The setting is in the wooded area of the Adirondacks. But don’t be fooled by the beauty of the landscape. Something ugly is happening in these woods.
This story is stacked with multiple characters, multiple scenarios and multiple suspects.
Believe the hype. 5⭐️
August 17, 2024
Split timelines, multiple narrators, info dumps, descriptions and background details for almost every character we encounter… To what end? Get in the page count? The prose is overworked and meandering, the pacing mind-numbingly slow and therefore a chore to get through, especially when there’s a supposed mystery involved. I found the ending predictably anticlimactic.
My second Liz Moore novel and I have to say that her writing doesn’t work for me. On any level. I am putting her on the two-trick-writer shelf with Kate Morton, leaving them to their convoluted narrative puzzles!
My second Liz Moore novel and I have to say that her writing doesn’t work for me. On any level. I am putting her on the two-trick-writer shelf with Kate Morton, leaving them to their convoluted narrative puzzles!
April 14, 2024
Moore is very good at pulling you in, at slowly opening up a story for you piece by piece. What she is not so good at in this book is the second half, at taking all these pieces and bringing them together in a way that is satisfying. It is not entirely her fault, in a story with a mystery you inevitably move from many possibilities to just one. It is often an exercise in organization, in the removal of entropy, taking chaos and ending up with one simple answer. Sometimes that is satisfying and sometimes it isn't. And this book, for me, wasn't.
The hook is strong. A girl at a camp is missing. A girl whose brother disappeared in the same woods years earlier. It is the kind of story where our focus isn't on the center as much as the edges: the girl's new best friend at camp, the girl's camp counselor, the lone female investigator on the case. And this story, of missing Barbara, has lots of questions and good pacing and really comes to life. Unfortunately it all gets bogged down by this older story, of Barbara's brother who disappeared and is presumed dead and all of it happened before she was even born. Of the wealthy Van Laar family, of Barbara's mistreated and troubled mother, of the conflict between this rich family and the fading town nearby full of people whose ancestors sold their land to the Van Laar's generations before. The pieces are all there in this story, too, and somehow they never come together. In fact, Barbara's story is solved for all intents and purposes so quickly that we are left with this other one, which apparently is the more important one but is also the much less interesting one.
Moore does give a lot of life to Tracy, Louise, and Judyta, the non-Van-Laar protagonists, but their stories inevitably wind down as we lose focus on Barbara's story. It all ends in ways that are predictable and also kind of ridiculous. The book thinks the ending is happy but I found it to be rather fantastical, when the rest of the book had been so practical and straightforward. It felt like there were clearer ways to reach this end point, but it's a quibble, really.
The hook is strong. A girl at a camp is missing. A girl whose brother disappeared in the same woods years earlier. It is the kind of story where our focus isn't on the center as much as the edges: the girl's new best friend at camp, the girl's camp counselor, the lone female investigator on the case. And this story, of missing Barbara, has lots of questions and good pacing and really comes to life. Unfortunately it all gets bogged down by this older story, of Barbara's brother who disappeared and is presumed dead and all of it happened before she was even born. Of the wealthy Van Laar family, of Barbara's mistreated and troubled mother, of the conflict between this rich family and the fading town nearby full of people whose ancestors sold their land to the Van Laar's generations before. The pieces are all there in this story, too, and somehow they never come together. In fact, Barbara's story is solved for all intents and purposes so quickly that we are left with this other one, which apparently is the more important one but is also the much less interesting one.
Moore does give a lot of life to Tracy, Louise, and Judyta, the non-Van-Laar protagonists, but their stories inevitably wind down as we lose focus on Barbara's story. It all ends in ways that are predictable and also kind of ridiculous. The book thinks the ending is happy but I found it to be rather fantastical, when the rest of the book had been so practical and straightforward. It felt like there were clearer ways to reach this end point, but it's a quibble, really.
March 28, 2024
4.5 rounded up
This is the greatly anticipated follow up to the bestseller “Long Bright River”, a novel I also thoroughly enjoy. In this one, Liz Moore transports us to the Adirondacks, specifically the Van Laar Preserve, within which is Camp Emerson. In August 1975, camp counsellor Louise discovers that Barbara Van Laar, the thirteen year old daughter of the owners, is missing from the cabin she shares with other girls, including Tracy, with whom Barbara has formed a friendship. As if it isn’t bad enough that she’s missing, this isn't the first Van Laar child to disappear. Sixteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother Bear vanishes and is never seen again although a deceased local man is presumed to be his killer. This ambitious novel is told in two timelines, the first is 1950’s-1961 which centres on Bears story and from 1975 which focuses on both siblings and the Van Laar family. It’s fair to say that many lives are affected and changed by their story.
There is no question in my mind that the author has pulled off her intentions with this novel and as it progresses the multiple layers are peeled back allowing us to witness the dark heart at the centre of this. The story gives us not one intriguing mystery to unravel but two and along the route to the surprising conclusion it includes family dynamics, social hierarchy and commentary such as the status of women, abuse and misogyny that takes your breath away. There’s deeply rooted toxicity and prejudice but to counterbalance this there’s also a strong element of friendship which shines like a beacon amongst the less savoury elements.
It’s a well constructed slow burner plot which speeds up after a while and has short, sharp chapters which increases the tension. The two alternating timelines are seamlessly woven together, revealing a multitude of secrets, an accumulation of lies in order to cover them up, creating a suspenseful whole. There’s a range of complex characters who are well portrayed from the deeply unlikeable to the damaged and betrayed and some who are very likeable especially Judyta Luptack the young investigator in the ‘75 timeline.
The novel twists and turns, taking you through a range of emotions, breaking your heart when the darker aspects are revealed. I certainly don’t see the end coming but it makes me cheer, loudly.
Overall, it’s a powerful and intense read which shines a spotlight on many things especially the attitudes of the time. The setting is fantastic and beautifully described so you can visualise it easily. I have little doubt this will be another bestseller for the talented Liz Moore.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
This is the greatly anticipated follow up to the bestseller “Long Bright River”, a novel I also thoroughly enjoy. In this one, Liz Moore transports us to the Adirondacks, specifically the Van Laar Preserve, within which is Camp Emerson. In August 1975, camp counsellor Louise discovers that Barbara Van Laar, the thirteen year old daughter of the owners, is missing from the cabin she shares with other girls, including Tracy, with whom Barbara has formed a friendship. As if it isn’t bad enough that she’s missing, this isn't the first Van Laar child to disappear. Sixteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother Bear vanishes and is never seen again although a deceased local man is presumed to be his killer. This ambitious novel is told in two timelines, the first is 1950’s-1961 which centres on Bears story and from 1975 which focuses on both siblings and the Van Laar family. It’s fair to say that many lives are affected and changed by their story.
There is no question in my mind that the author has pulled off her intentions with this novel and as it progresses the multiple layers are peeled back allowing us to witness the dark heart at the centre of this. The story gives us not one intriguing mystery to unravel but two and along the route to the surprising conclusion it includes family dynamics, social hierarchy and commentary such as the status of women, abuse and misogyny that takes your breath away. There’s deeply rooted toxicity and prejudice but to counterbalance this there’s also a strong element of friendship which shines like a beacon amongst the less savoury elements.
It’s a well constructed slow burner plot which speeds up after a while and has short, sharp chapters which increases the tension. The two alternating timelines are seamlessly woven together, revealing a multitude of secrets, an accumulation of lies in order to cover them up, creating a suspenseful whole. There’s a range of complex characters who are well portrayed from the deeply unlikeable to the damaged and betrayed and some who are very likeable especially Judyta Luptack the young investigator in the ‘75 timeline.
The novel twists and turns, taking you through a range of emotions, breaking your heart when the darker aspects are revealed. I certainly don’t see the end coming but it makes me cheer, loudly.
Overall, it’s a powerful and intense read which shines a spotlight on many things especially the attitudes of the time. The setting is fantastic and beautifully described so you can visualise it easily. I have little doubt this will be another bestseller for the talented Liz Moore.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction, The Borough Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
August 11, 2024
"The God of the Woods" has to be among the smartest, surprising, most literate mysteries I've read in a while. The setting is an Adirondack summer camp in the 1960s and 1970s, and not one but two children of monied New York State royalty disappear there: a boy in 1961 and a girl in 1975. Part police procedural -- and what a great cop Liz Moore has given us, a smart young woman whom the old male detectives don't take seriously -- and part character study of a wealthy family with an awful lot of skeletons in their rambling, walk-in closets, I really did stay up one until two in the morning to finish this treasure of a tale. And because I am writing this on the last day of the Olympics, let me add: wowza, does Moore stick the landing.
October 23, 2024
no questions asked … 6 ★’s. is it dramatic to say this book will be with me the rest of my life? this might be a top 5 of all time?????
August 23, 2025
Pretty Decent Mystery
One day at summer camp, one of the campers, Barabara Van Laars, is discovered missing. However, this isn’t any ordinary girl—a few years earlier her brother also disappeared from this same summer camp. What happened to these two?
This mystery is relatively well paced with a couple of rather intriguing suspects. This book rotates between various characters, and some of the sections seemed to be a bit bloated (particularly Judyta and Alice).
Haha. Am I evil for wanting a John Paul section?
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text – $10 on eBay
Audiobook – Free on Libby
Connect With Me!
Blog Threads BookTube Facebook Insta My Bookstore at Pango
One day at summer camp, one of the campers, Barabara Van Laars, is discovered missing. However, this isn’t any ordinary girl—a few years earlier her brother also disappeared from this same summer camp. What happened to these two?
This mystery is relatively well paced with a couple of rather intriguing suspects. This book rotates between various characters, and some of the sections seemed to be a bit bloated (particularly Judyta and Alice).
Haha. Am I evil for wanting a John Paul section?
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text – $10 on eBay
Audiobook – Free on Libby
Connect With Me!
Blog Threads BookTube Facebook Insta My Bookstore at Pango
November 15, 2024
Have you ever read over one hundred pages in less than ten minutes?
I have. Just now.
There’s a rural camping ground, owned by a rich and very dislikable family, several generations of detestables. Many years ago, one of their young boys went missing, this time it’s a young girl of the same family. The camp hosts summer camps for kids. (Aside: Why is this such a big thing in the US? I spent my summer holidays playing with mates, riding bicycles, stealing fruit off trees, picking my nose, teasing my little brother, and arguing with mum and dad – thank heavens I didn’t have to go away every year, it sounds awful). Anyway, there is a massive cast here of horrible family members, friends of the horrible family, kids on camp, their supervisors and assistants, other camp staff, staff in the horrible family’s house and more. In other words – many, many suspects.
We jump back and forth in time from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. We jump around a lot.
There’s also many characters investigating the case – we jump back and forth with them too.
I read this studiously, for around three hundred and thirty pages. I realised well before then, I could not give a tinker’s cuss about any of the characters, and whatever ‘reveal’ would occur, I would not give a toss about that either. As it happened, my speed-reading effort after I lost the plot (literally), proved my predictions true.
Too long, too many superfluous characters, too much time travel, too much unnecessary writing.
2 Stars
I have. Just now.
There’s a rural camping ground, owned by a rich and very dislikable family, several generations of detestables. Many years ago, one of their young boys went missing, this time it’s a young girl of the same family. The camp hosts summer camps for kids. (Aside: Why is this such a big thing in the US? I spent my summer holidays playing with mates, riding bicycles, stealing fruit off trees, picking my nose, teasing my little brother, and arguing with mum and dad – thank heavens I didn’t have to go away every year, it sounds awful). Anyway, there is a massive cast here of horrible family members, friends of the horrible family, kids on camp, their supervisors and assistants, other camp staff, staff in the horrible family’s house and more. In other words – many, many suspects.
We jump back and forth in time from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. We jump around a lot.
There’s also many characters investigating the case – we jump back and forth with them too.
I read this studiously, for around three hundred and thirty pages. I realised well before then, I could not give a tinker’s cuss about any of the characters, and whatever ‘reveal’ would occur, I would not give a toss about that either. As it happened, my speed-reading effort after I lost the plot (literally), proved my predictions true.
Too long, too many superfluous characters, too much time travel, too much unnecessary writing.
2 Stars
February 12, 2025
For thriller novels, I generally only read those with high ratings, or from a select few authors I trust, or those that have won awards, because I’ve DNF’d too many of this genre. I’ve been let down too many times and have become cautious.
As for The God in the Woods, I didn’t have high expectations going into it, but it really didn’t disappoint.
The book is set in 1975 at a summer camp called Camp Emerson in the Adirondack. It blends family drama with suspenseful thriller elements, telling the story of 2 children who go missing in the Adirondack Mountains. The plot is intricate, with many characters and spans across multiple generations and social circles, keeping me tense and uneasy on every page.
I’d describe it as a rich and layered novel, portraying multidimensional characters. While it has a suspenseful investigative framework, at its core it deeply explores themes like motherhood, identity, class, and feminism. The pacing is slow but not dragging or boring, providing an immersive experience.
What I loved most was how Liz Moore wrote the female characters, showing both their vulnerabilities and strength, and fully depicting the struggles and power of 1970s American women facing societal expectations and self-awareness in a patriarchal society.
Rather than calling it a thriller, I’d prefer to label it a profound literary work exploring female power and social structures. While reading it, I couldn’t help but think of the series Mare of Easttown, and the first season of True Detective. It has that kind of steady, unraveling narrative art and the perspective of reflecting broader societal environments through the struggles of ordinary people, slowly unveiling the tragedy of an entire generation through a sudden tragic event.
If you're a fan of those series, I believe you'll love this novel.
3.9 / 5 stars
As for The God in the Woods, I didn’t have high expectations going into it, but it really didn’t disappoint.
The book is set in 1975 at a summer camp called Camp Emerson in the Adirondack. It blends family drama with suspenseful thriller elements, telling the story of 2 children who go missing in the Adirondack Mountains. The plot is intricate, with many characters and spans across multiple generations and social circles, keeping me tense and uneasy on every page.
I’d describe it as a rich and layered novel, portraying multidimensional characters. While it has a suspenseful investigative framework, at its core it deeply explores themes like motherhood, identity, class, and feminism. The pacing is slow but not dragging or boring, providing an immersive experience.
What I loved most was how Liz Moore wrote the female characters, showing both their vulnerabilities and strength, and fully depicting the struggles and power of 1970s American women facing societal expectations and self-awareness in a patriarchal society.
Rather than calling it a thriller, I’d prefer to label it a profound literary work exploring female power and social structures. While reading it, I couldn’t help but think of the series Mare of Easttown, and the first season of True Detective. It has that kind of steady, unraveling narrative art and the perspective of reflecting broader societal environments through the struggles of ordinary people, slowly unveiling the tragedy of an entire generation through a sudden tragic event.
If you're a fan of those series, I believe you'll love this novel.
3.9 / 5 stars
July 22, 2025
me thinks there was a glitch I finished this days ago…
September 8, 2024
I lost hours of sleep because of The God of the Woods. Liz Moore’s latest mystery is so gripping, so absorbing that no matter how tired I was at night, I chose the book over my bed whenever I picked it up to read.
In it, Moore gives us two mysteries to be solved, set 14 years apart in the Adirondack Mountains, the disappearance of a brother and sister from the Van Laar family preserve and the adjacent Camp Emerson. Bear Van Laar is the first to go missing, disappearing from the family estate in 1961, with Barbara then vanishing from the camp in 1975.
There’s a lot of jumping back and forth in time as Moore unwinds both stories, while also switching between character viewpoints. It’s not difficult to keep up with her, though, because both of the story threads and the respective players in each are distinct. Plus, there’s a handy timeline at the beginning of each chapter, which helps to keep your footing in the story. It’s a genius addition, really.
Though I found both mysteries compelling, I can see why some reviewers are saying they lost interest in the second half. There’s a noticeable downshift in action that occurs when the story transforms into more of a family saga, but it’s a short-lived blip because Moore then kicks back into high gear for the final act, with the book becoming unputdownable once again.
The God of the Woods isn’t perfect, but, for me, it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Moore’s writing is excellent, the story is propulsive, and the narrative is plotted so well.
There are other small nitpicks I can point out, like how the end of Barbara’s story feels abrupt and almost like wishful thinking, because I’m not sure if what happens would’ve really happened in real life. But I found the conclusion satisfying, nonetheless, so I’ll take it.
In it, Moore gives us two mysteries to be solved, set 14 years apart in the Adirondack Mountains, the disappearance of a brother and sister from the Van Laar family preserve and the adjacent Camp Emerson. Bear Van Laar is the first to go missing, disappearing from the family estate in 1961, with Barbara then vanishing from the camp in 1975.
There’s a lot of jumping back and forth in time as Moore unwinds both stories, while also switching between character viewpoints. It’s not difficult to keep up with her, though, because both of the story threads and the respective players in each are distinct. Plus, there’s a handy timeline at the beginning of each chapter, which helps to keep your footing in the story. It’s a genius addition, really.
Though I found both mysteries compelling, I can see why some reviewers are saying they lost interest in the second half. There’s a noticeable downshift in action that occurs when the story transforms into more of a family saga, but it’s a short-lived blip because Moore then kicks back into high gear for the final act, with the book becoming unputdownable once again.
The God of the Woods isn’t perfect, but, for me, it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Moore’s writing is excellent, the story is propulsive, and the narrative is plotted so well.
There are other small nitpicks I can point out, like how the end of Barbara’s story feels abrupt and almost like wishful thinking, because I’m not sure if what happens would’ve really happened in real life. But I found the conclusion satisfying, nonetheless, so I’ll take it.
July 8, 2024
The third rule of Camp Emerson is the most important, ‘When lost sit down and yell.’
Just like the battle cry of Pan: The Greek God of the Woods.
Situated in the Adirondack Mountains is the Van Laar Preserve. Atop its ridge is the Van Laar’s colossal summer home, named Self-Reliance. Far below, is the camp they own, Camp Emerson, which is open to campers eight weeks of the year (June to August).
July 1961: 8-year-old, Peter “Bear” Van Laar the fourth (the only child of Peter the third and his wife Alice) vanishes without a trace while hiking with his grandfather (Peter II) in the Adirondacks near the family home Self-Reliance. Following an extensive search no trace of him is ever found.
August 1975: The girls in Balsam cabin, Camp Emerson, awaken to find 13-year-old Barbara’s bunk bed empty. Barbara’s surname is also Van Laar – she’s Bear’s younger sister, born after his disappearance, to replace the void he left.
Is the Van Laar line cursed?
Surely it can’t be a coincidence that they’re two children from the same privileged family!
Or are they simply two separate unrelated tragedies?
What happened to Bear, and then Barbara?
If I could rate The God of the Woods 14 stars (for the 14 cabins of Camp Emerson) then I absolutely positivity would, but I guess 5 stars is enough to convey just how immersive, momentous, and affecting it was. A flawlessly written epic masterpiece of literary suspense fiction, and deep dive character study. There were twists that left me reeling over how shockingly clever they were, and Liz Moore’s use of misdirection and carefully concealed clues were meticulously placed. Every once and a while there is a book that comes along that is so special that I find myself taking much longer than normal to read it, inhaling every word, and taking frequent breaks to reflect on the plot, and characters, to prolong the experience, and The God of the Woods was one such example.
The story contained many gothic elements which increased my sense of unease and claustrophobia tenfold. A prickling sensation at the back of my neck permeated the novel from the very first page. First up, was the secluded setting, far enough away from the nearest town of Shattuck to be isolating, surrounded by endless wilderness and the looming Hunt Mountain, with Lake Joan cutting them off even further. Then there were the dilapidated log cabins, once used for hunting parties, complete with unused fireplaces, whose chimneys were occasionally inhabited by bats. Not to mention the origins of Self-Reliance – there was something off-putting and out-of-place about it previously being a Chalet in Switzerland, transported by ship to New York piece-by-piece and then reassembled on the Van Laar Preserve. As expected, there were numerous campfire style legends circulating – whispered stories warning of Slitter, of Scary Mary, and Old John. And last but not least, the plot was built around not one, but two disturbing enthralling mysteries.
Those who know me are aware that I love a summer camp setting and this novel contained everything I wanted in one – new friendships, secretive and untrustworthy behaviour, counsellors and campers sneaking around after dark, campfires, sing-a-longs, swimming, hiking, a camper survival trip in the woods, and an end of summer dance. The vivid and intricate descriptions of the campgrounds really brought Camp Emerson to life. There was also a handy map included at the front of the book, showing the layout of the grounds and buildings.
And I was thrilled that the author chose to set the camp story arc in the 70's – I adored the nostalgic trip, the slang, and pop culture references. The 1950’s/1960’s timelines were equally compelling. Instead of Camp Emerson, that plot focused on Self-Reliance and Peter and Alice's marriage within its walls, and of course, Bear's disappearance, and what lead up to it, and the fallout resulting from it.
The majority of the POV’s were pre-teen/teenage girls and twenty-something women (with the exception of Alice in 1975. She was 41 by this stage), and most of them were damaged or broken (and given what they'd been dealt in life I'm not surprised), beaten down and trapped by their circumstances. Back then women were considered inferior – utterly dependent on the men in their lives to make decisions for them regarding how to look, act, and behave. And a lot of the male characters in this book took advantage of this – were dismissive, controlling and abusive. Not only that when female characters were abused by men, they saw it as their failure, and thought it was them who needed to change, who needed to be more compliant. And those who did take a stand were belittled, mocked, and shunned, by both men and women, for not conforming to the norm.
Class, prejudice, injustice, and resentment was another prominent theme. With the Van Laar family and their rich, entitled friends on one side, and the locals from Shattuck (including camp staff, counsellors, household staff, and caretakers) on the other. Self-Reliance, sat high on the hill, on prominent display, lording it over everyone, literally and figuratively, looking down on people. Even its name, Self-Reliance, was an exclusion, a slap in the face for the townspeople, implying that the Van Laar’s had build it themselves with no assistance, when it had been the entire eligible male population of Shattuck who had done so, with no help from the Van Laar’s. And even the fact that the camp staff quarters were situated way down lake from Self-Reliance in the farthest south corner possible, placed in the half of the camp separated by a creek, spoke volumes.
The God of the Woods was in my opinion a smash-hit and I strongly urge everyone to read it and experience the magic for themselves. My top read for 2024 so far. Actually, a top read full stop.
Just like the battle cry of Pan: The Greek God of the Woods.
Situated in the Adirondack Mountains is the Van Laar Preserve. Atop its ridge is the Van Laar’s colossal summer home, named Self-Reliance. Far below, is the camp they own, Camp Emerson, which is open to campers eight weeks of the year (June to August).
July 1961: 8-year-old, Peter “Bear” Van Laar the fourth (the only child of Peter the third and his wife Alice) vanishes without a trace while hiking with his grandfather (Peter II) in the Adirondacks near the family home Self-Reliance. Following an extensive search no trace of him is ever found.
August 1975: The girls in Balsam cabin, Camp Emerson, awaken to find 13-year-old Barbara’s bunk bed empty. Barbara’s surname is also Van Laar – she’s Bear’s younger sister, born after his disappearance, to replace the void he left.
Is the Van Laar line cursed?
Surely it can’t be a coincidence that they’re two children from the same privileged family!
Or are they simply two separate unrelated tragedies?
What happened to Bear, and then Barbara?
If I could rate The God of the Woods 14 stars (for the 14 cabins of Camp Emerson) then I absolutely positivity would, but I guess 5 stars is enough to convey just how immersive, momentous, and affecting it was. A flawlessly written epic masterpiece of literary suspense fiction, and deep dive character study. There were twists that left me reeling over how shockingly clever they were, and Liz Moore’s use of misdirection and carefully concealed clues were meticulously placed. Every once and a while there is a book that comes along that is so special that I find myself taking much longer than normal to read it, inhaling every word, and taking frequent breaks to reflect on the plot, and characters, to prolong the experience, and The God of the Woods was one such example.
The story contained many gothic elements which increased my sense of unease and claustrophobia tenfold. A prickling sensation at the back of my neck permeated the novel from the very first page. First up, was the secluded setting, far enough away from the nearest town of Shattuck to be isolating, surrounded by endless wilderness and the looming Hunt Mountain, with Lake Joan cutting them off even further. Then there were the dilapidated log cabins, once used for hunting parties, complete with unused fireplaces, whose chimneys were occasionally inhabited by bats. Not to mention the origins of Self-Reliance – there was something off-putting and out-of-place about it previously being a Chalet in Switzerland, transported by ship to New York piece-by-piece and then reassembled on the Van Laar Preserve. As expected, there were numerous campfire style legends circulating – whispered stories warning of Slitter, of Scary Mary, and Old John. And last but not least, the plot was built around not one, but two disturbing enthralling mysteries.
Those who know me are aware that I love a summer camp setting and this novel contained everything I wanted in one – new friendships, secretive and untrustworthy behaviour, counsellors and campers sneaking around after dark, campfires, sing-a-longs, swimming, hiking, a camper survival trip in the woods, and an end of summer dance. The vivid and intricate descriptions of the campgrounds really brought Camp Emerson to life. There was also a handy map included at the front of the book, showing the layout of the grounds and buildings.
And I was thrilled that the author chose to set the camp story arc in the 70's – I adored the nostalgic trip, the slang, and pop culture references. The 1950’s/1960’s timelines were equally compelling. Instead of Camp Emerson, that plot focused on Self-Reliance and Peter and Alice's marriage within its walls, and of course, Bear's disappearance, and what lead up to it, and the fallout resulting from it.
The majority of the POV’s were pre-teen/teenage girls and twenty-something women (with the exception of Alice in 1975. She was 41 by this stage), and most of them were damaged or broken (and given what they'd been dealt in life I'm not surprised), beaten down and trapped by their circumstances. Back then women were considered inferior – utterly dependent on the men in their lives to make decisions for them regarding how to look, act, and behave. And a lot of the male characters in this book took advantage of this – were dismissive, controlling and abusive. Not only that when female characters were abused by men, they saw it as their failure, and thought it was them who needed to change, who needed to be more compliant. And those who did take a stand were belittled, mocked, and shunned, by both men and women, for not conforming to the norm.
Class, prejudice, injustice, and resentment was another prominent theme. With the Van Laar family and their rich, entitled friends on one side, and the locals from Shattuck (including camp staff, counsellors, household staff, and caretakers) on the other. Self-Reliance, sat high on the hill, on prominent display, lording it over everyone, literally and figuratively, looking down on people. Even its name, Self-Reliance, was an exclusion, a slap in the face for the townspeople, implying that the Van Laar’s had build it themselves with no assistance, when it had been the entire eligible male population of Shattuck who had done so, with no help from the Van Laar’s. And even the fact that the camp staff quarters were situated way down lake from Self-Reliance in the farthest south corner possible, placed in the half of the camp separated by a creek, spoke volumes.
The God of the Woods was in my opinion a smash-hit and I strongly urge everyone to read it and experience the magic for themselves. My top read for 2024 so far. Actually, a top read full stop.
July 20, 2024
I’m an outlier, I didn’t like it. It seemed like it was trying to be literary crime (which I love) but it didn’t feel literary at all and it lacked the buildup/urgency of a thriller.
This book had no business being 500 pages long. It dragged so much. There’s a lot of jumping POVs which I normally love but the characters felt flat. There aren’t any clever or profound observations that allude to who this person is - the kinda thing you’d normally find in stories structured this way. It was difficult for me to care about what was going on with each person and the overall mystery.
I was interested in everyone’s story briefly at various times throughout the book but would quickly lose interest, without compelling prose every segment just felt long.
I finished it because with all the rave reviews I figured there would be some crazy pay-off but the explanations for the disappearances were dull and predictable.
This book had no business being 500 pages long. It dragged so much. There’s a lot of jumping POVs which I normally love but the characters felt flat. There aren’t any clever or profound observations that allude to who this person is - the kinda thing you’d normally find in stories structured this way. It was difficult for me to care about what was going on with each person and the overall mystery.
I was interested in everyone’s story briefly at various times throughout the book but would quickly lose interest, without compelling prose every segment just felt long.
I finished it because with all the rave reviews I figured there would be some crazy pay-off but the explanations for the disappearances were dull and predictable.
June 19, 2025
I can’t say what I want to say without spoiling so all I’ll say is WTF
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