27/100: In The Woods

I feel that I should begin this review with two things: first, a spoiler warning; in order for me to fully discuss my thoughts and feelings regarding this book, I gotta drop some big spoilers. Sorry, not sorry :)

Second, I would like to share, word for word, the review I left on Goodreads immediately after finishing In The Woods... "This book MESSED. ME. UP. That is all."


After reading so many books in March, it feels like kind of a let down to have only finished one book in what is now the ending of the first week of April. However, I am in the middle of some rather large books; I might be a fast reader, but there is no way I can tear through the 700-page behemoth that is Goblet of Fire in two days.
That being said, my Kindle hold for In The Woods came in on Sunday, and I felt the complete urge to drop everything I was reading and read it... hey, you only get 14 days!

The premise of the book is this: three children go missing in the Knocknaree woods of Ireland. Later, one boy is found covered in blood, clutching a tree and nearly comatose, with no memory of what had happened to him or his friends. Fast forward 20 or so years later, that boy is Rob Ryan, now a detective within the Dublin Murder Squad. His case is still unsolved, and no one in the department knows who he really is, except for his partner, Cassie Maddox. The two detectives catch a case involving a murdered 12-year old girl. As they delve deeper and deeper into what it takes to solve today's case, they wonder if this case, and the one from twenty years ago, could possibly be related...

This book was a ride, let me tell you. French has beautiful writing; she knows how to describe a setting. This also built suspense, because you could be in the middle of dialogue, reading a confession, and she'd switch right back to description and narrative, and you're sitting there on the edge of your seat waiting to hear the end of the character's story. I think my heart beat irregularly fast for, no joke, 80% of this book.

The answer to the girl's murder ended up being so much more twisted than I ever could have thought; I mean, I agreed with Ryan when he suspected something was wrong with the girl's family, but clearly, even he didn't foresee the eventual outcome. I don't mind the morbid or the slightly disturbing, I think it makes for great fiction, but I think what made this particular mystery so mind-blowing is how human the motives were. I think most of the time, I read a mystery story and I just can't really imagine it playing out that way in real life. In The Woods hits you with a dose of reality in a fantastical kind of way; humans are really capable of anything.

As the novel wore on, I really came to hate Ryan as both a character and a narrator. I will take this book as further proof that men and women can never just be friends. I thought it was interesting to see Cassie and Ryan teamed up, especially when it seemed that French made it clear over and over again that they were 100% platonic co-workers and best friends. Definitely not real-life, but refreshing nonetheless. As soon as Ryan makes that leap over the line, though, the whole relationship disintegrates. And you want to know why? Because Ryan is a big, dumb dude.
Literally, the problem could have been solved if he had an honest, open communication with Cassie, instead of ignoring her, calling her a liar, and treating her like every other girl instead of his best friend. I found it to be possibly the most tragic moment of the book when we are told at the end that they are no longer partners, no longer speaking to each other, and Cassie is now engaged to one of the other detectives. I mean... years of closeness, partnership, and friendship... gone, because Ryan couldn't be a man. Honestly, it was so irritating to read.

Overall I enjoyed my time reading. I actually binge-read the last 30% of it last night. When you get to the climax, you just can't walk away! You can ask my family though, I was moaning and sighing for hours afterward. Regardless of my good feelings towards this book, there was still so much that just utterly messed with me, it's been hard to come down. It took me a good hour to fall asleep last night because I was so hyped. Maybe bedtime is not the place to be finishing a thriller murder mystery...

I would recommend this book to a very niche group of people, if I would even recommend it at all. I think this is one of those books that you should probably come to on your own. It's a heavy book and absolutely made for adults only. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't explicit; sex is "off page" so there's no graphic descriptions. There is language, and while I don't enjoy reading profanity anymore than the next person, I felt that French used it to her advantage. Meaning, cursing was not used for every other word, nor did it feel like they were in there for a token status. Rather, it felt like I was really in a police squad room, where tensions run high, and that is the way they express their frustration. I'm not saying I agree with it either way, just trying to describe what it was like. There is also quite a bit of references to rape and sexual assault; again, not described graphically, but it's in there.

This was a heavy, heavy book ya'll.
I've had this one in the back of my mind to read for awhile, so I'm glad I finally got to it, but I don't know that my feelings will ever be resolved. How could they, when the 20 year old disappearance of the children never gets solved! 

Stats:
Completed: Apr 9
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 592