Not bad for spooky season!

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jeny Avatar

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I usually don’t read horror or thrillers but this book seemed perfect for spooky season but it wasn't exactly spooky as it was tense and shocking at times. Front the start, even when the content of the pages was mostly an introduction of best friends Neena and Josie, there was a lot of tension (which I think is a credit to the writing chops of the author). From there, the story unfolds into a deep-dive into the friendship, each girls' history, and their motivations and flasw as they delve deeper into the forest. Their lack of outdoor skills and in backpacking in particular drives up the tension as both friends vacillate between nostalgia and feelings of resentment about the future of their friendship. The author spends a significant amount of the story on the development and testing of this friendship. Their packs are heavy, they're hungry and thirsty and exhausted, and things don't go their way. So there's a lot of complaining and bickering, which can be off-putting, but the physical and emotional strain is such a good mirror to what the girls are experiencing in their lives and friendship outside of that forest, so I appreciated this! But when the twist/horror element entered the story, I was thrown into a much faster-paced thriller than the first half of the book and while the character development and motivation helped me to feel invested in the girls, there wasn't enough depth in the villain for me to fully believe the second half or feel satisfied with the ending.