The hook:
Two girls go camping in the woods, hoping to repair the unraveling threads of their fraying friendship. Unbeknownst to them, there are worse things lingering in the woods than just bears.
My impressions:
I was pleasantly surprised that this book was quite a bit less slasher-y than Perkins’s last book I’d read, “Someone is in Your House.” I like her writing style, but I wasn’t keen on another slasher. This, however, was far more in the suspense and thriller vein, which I feel lends itself better to character development and audience investment.
One of my favorite things about this book is that it managed to have humor and levity despite the incredibly disturbing content, which made the book feel quite a bit less heavy than it might have otherwise.
I do think the aforementioned disturbing content perhaps should’ve warranted a trigger warning from the publisher. I know that’s not a standard thing in the book industry, but I think if a YA novel is going to have a level of violence that would absolutely be rated R if it were a movie, there should be some kind of warning for younger readers. As someone who often read above my age range as a kid, I tend to notice when I come across something that would’ve likely freaked me the hell out as a kid. I do think it would be useful if books had a system like movie ratings or ESRB ratings, not to prohibit kids from reading what they want, but to give them an idea of what to expect in terms of how explicit something will be.
Ok I’ll get off my soap box now. All in all I think this was a really interesting read with a satisfying conclusion. If you enjoy classic campfire stories and 80s horror movies, you’ll probably enjoy this book as well.
Happy Reading!
Kat Pollock 