Book Club April Review: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

For my birthday month, I was eager to try something different, a book whose themes would grip me so hard that I would still feel their effects long after finishing the story. When I looked through the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards and found Liz Moore's The God of the Woods, I was convinced that this was going to be different to the usual mystery-crime books that I gravitate towards. It won the Mystery & Thriller category, after all. I don't always believe what online reviews say, but something in my gut told me that this would hit the mark.

The God of the Woods spans multiple timelines, and focuses on the Van Laar family and the sudden disappearance of their daughter, Barbara, from summer camp. Reminiscent of the tragedy that befell the family thirteen years earlier - when their son, Bear, vanished - the mystery of what happened to the Van Laar children slowly unravels through the perspectives of various characters.

The Good Stuff

In the first half of the book, I had this overall sensation that I'd made a good choice, and that my meticulous search for a good read would finally pay off. I was right. The God of the Woods stands apart from the usual mystery-thriller books on my shelves or in my TBR. The multiple perspectives added to the intrigue, and Moore managed to make each of them distinct through subtle nuances, such as a character being referred to by their childhood name rather than the one they use as an adult. (Everyone should know by now how much I dislike when two different perspectives sound like the exact same person...) It's a small thing, but as a writer myself, I notice such intentional choices, and I admire the author's craft all the more because of it.

This isn't your usual fast-paced thriller, but I was still invested from the beginning, turning page after page to uncover the truth behind Barbara's disappearance and what happened to her older brother. No doubt, this was due to Moore's ability to pace the story well by only revealing enough to keep me intrigued. There were so many layers to the mystery, and I could tell from the puzzle pieces that slowly fell into place that she had put a lot of thought into the narrative.

In many thriller books, I tend to dislike the main character because they often act in insufferable ways. But in this case, there wasn't one main protagonist. Instead, multiple characters offered insight into the mystery with their limited views and vastly different perspectives, and it was through this that I found myself rooting for most of them.

The Mediocre Stuff

Whilst the nonlinear narrative was interesting, the sudden change in format in Part Two - from explicitly stating the date in the chapter heading (e.g. August 1975) to listing all the timelines and highlighting the one in question in bold (e.g. 1950s • 1961 • Winter 1973, etc.) - was slightly jarring. It's a matter of preference. I didn't particularly mind it, but Kay felt it would have been better to stick with the same format throughout.

Still, this is just a minor issue.

The bigger problem for both of us was the ending. It was a bit of a let-down. Moore had built such a strong foundation for the mystery, but the reveal of what happened to Bear felt anticlimactic. It just didn't do the rest of the book justice and came across as a wasted opportunity in an otherwise strong story. In a similar vein, the resolution of Barbara's disappearance was not surprising in the least. Maybe this says more about my taste in thrillers, but I wanted the twist to be gruesome or, at the very least, shocking. Unfortunately, it was neither.

Rating

CY - It had a lot of potential to be a 5-star read, but the ending unfortunately fell flat. 3/5.

Kay - Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the plot gripped me, but the ending was a bit of a disappointment. 3.5/5.

What did you think of the book? Do you enjoy slow-paced thrillers such as this one, or do you prefer a page-turner with more gore and disturbing endings?

We would like to hear your thoughts in the comments.