What She Saw in the Woods is a book about Magdalena, who was a super-popular girl back at her elite high school in New York. After an event that left her in the hospital for months and turned her life upside down, she is sent to live with her grandparents in their sleepy, west coast town. Overcome with guilt and disgust at her former self, she spends her days in a medicine-induced daze, wandering aimlessly in a nearby forest. Then, she finds someone in the woods who makes her alive again, and gives her life meaning again. Slowly, she starts to live once more, and sees the world around her in better focus. She starts to realize the sinister side of her town, and the secrets it holds.
Overall, this book was pretty breathtaking. The author described everything flawlessly, making the action-scenes come to life while speeding up your heart rate. As the reader, I learned more about Magda and what happened, the story became more and more intense. Slowly, the mysteries started unraveling one by one and coming into focus. The plot twists were completely unexpected, and often led the reader shaking their head in disbelief. I also liked the author’s writing style in this book, and how everything started off somewhat calm, but ended on a completely different note.
One memorable thing about this book was the flashbacks to Magda’s life before everything happened. They really helped the reader understand how her life was before, and how much she changed since the incident. Additionally, each of the characters slowly evolved and became more human and realistic as the book went on, which really added to the story’s overall effect.
Reviewed by Heena, Twin Hickory Library
HCPL TeenScene's Read + Review 