Wishlist | What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

What Lives in the Woods is a mystery/thriller novel by Kate Alice Marshall.

They were eleven when they sent a killer to prison . . .
They were heroes . . . but they were liars.

Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.

And they were liars.

For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods—no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.

I'm just here to fan girl about another Kate Alice Marshall book coming soon. I think this is an adult mystery/thriller! I've loved Marshall's YA books, and I've loved her MG books. Yes, please, to an adult thriller! But I'll read anything she writes at this point.

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This post is being shared as part of Can't-Wait Wednesday over at Wishful Endings.

Book Review | Thirteens by Kate Alice Marshall

 Thirteens is a middle grade horror novel by Kate Alice Marshall.

Neil Gaiman's Coraline meets Stranger Things in a dark and twisted story about a sleepy town with a dark secret--and the three kids brave enough to uncover it.

Twelve-year-old Eleanor has just moved to Eden Eld to live with her aunt and uncle after her mother was killed in a fire. Her birthday, which falls on Halloween, is just around the corner, and she hopes that this year will be a fresh start at a new life. But then one morning, an ancient grandfather clock counting down thirteen hours appears outside of her bedroom. And then she spots a large black dog with glowing red eyes prowling the grounds of her school. A book of fairytales she's never heard of almost willingly drops in front of her, as if asking to be read. Something is wrong in the town of Eden Eld.

Eleanor and her new classmates, Pip and Otto, are the only ones who see these "wrong things," and they also all happen to share a Halloween birthday. Bonded by these odd similarities, the trio uncovers a centuries-old pact the town has with a mysterious figure known as Mr. January: every thirteen years, three thirteen-year-olds disappear, sacrificed in exchange for the town's unending good fortune. This Halloween, Mr. January is back to collect his payment and Eleanor, Pip, and Otto are to be his next offering...unless they can break the curse before the clock strikes thirteen.

I read Kate Alice Marshall's Rules for Vanishing last year, and I loved it. I completely missed the release of Thirteens. I know why. It was marketed as mystery and fantasy instead of horror. I get why publishers do that. I don't like it, but I get it. Unfortunately, those of us seeking horror can easily miss books that should be marketed straight to us. Enough of this rant, though. Let's talk about Thirteens!

I adored this book. It's strange, and it has the perfect amount of unsettling that kids would really understand. There are "wrong things" in this world that parents don't really see. Or if they do, their brains make up for it and make them forget.

There's a huge fairy tale aspect to Thirteens. If you dig dark fairy tales, this is definitely one you should put on your radar.

My burning question is is this a series? If this is a series, I'm really excited to pick up the next one. I can't wait to see what happens next. If this isn't a series, then my opinion on the ending will change completely. While there was an ending to Rules for Vanishing, I had no idea what it meant. It was left up to the reader's interpretation. The ending to Thirteens is either a great setup for the sequel or it's a classic case of cheater, cheater pumpkin eater there's no ending to this one either. Fingers crossed!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
4.5/5 stars

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Book Review | Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Rules for Vanishing is a young adult horror novel by Kate Alice Marshall.

In the faux-documentary style of The Blair Witch Project comes the campfire story of a missing girl, a vengeful ghost, and the girl who is determined to find her sister--at all costs.

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her--and who won't make it out of the woods?

It's been exactly one year since Sara's sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn't know whether her former friends no longer like her...or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to "play the game" and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara is sure this is the only way to find Becca--before she's lost forever. And even though she's hardly spoken with them for a year, Sara finds herself deep in the darkness of the forest, her friends--and their cameras--following her down the path. Together, they will have to draw on all of their strengths to survive. The road is rarely forgiving, and no one will be the same on the other side.

I'm writing this review three months after having read Rules for Vanishing. Sometimes this can be a tough thing to do, but sometimes it helps me narrow down the things that really struck me and stayed with me.

In reading Rules for Vanishing, I was most excited for the creepy horrors. It reminded me a lot of when I read Kim Liggett's The Last Harvest. I love finding truly horrific scenes in a young adult book.

I also remember the ending being left up to interpretation. There was a definite ending, but it was an ambiguous one. Rules for Vanishing would make an excellent book club read. I wish I had been buddy reading it when I read it!

Rules for Vanishing is going on my list of automatic young adult horror recommendations. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, I recommend you pick it up!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
4.5/5 stars