In the Woods (2007) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 0 stars

“Set in Ireland, hard to put down.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Spoilers are in this review in case the reader hasn't read it. If the previous sentence does not pertain to you, then read on!


It was an amazing book, but the ending was disappointed me. I think it would have been better if Cassie and Rob had at least stayed some kind of friends. Plus, I started reading the sequel, but Rob wasn't even in it! I want to know what happened to him after the case, and if he ever found out what really happened to him in the woods. That really made me frustrated! The dynamic between Rob and Cassie was really fun to read, up until they did "something together". I really hope that in another book in this series uses Cassie and Rob as the main characters again; they made the gruesome, disturbing, and twisted story funny, real, and heartfelt without being cheesy. Well, that is my very long winded review, I hope I got my point across if not, here is a condensed version: this is one of those books that is great, and is great even though the ending is disappointing. Sometimes things don't happen the way you want them to, but that's life, and that's what made the book readable, and real.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Excellent. I am so excited to find this new, great author! I literally could not put this book down. Just the right amount of suspense, a little dark foreboding, a hint of romance, edgy humor, and well-developed characters. I will definitely being reading more and recommending this author.”

• Rated 5 stars

“The first of Tana French's books that I've read and I was hooked!”

• Rated 5 stars

“Tana French quickly became one of my favorite authors. The narrator of this book enhanced the story, although the novel definitely will stand on it's own as an awesome read, I'm sure! Ms. French has a great talent with twists and turns, making this one a real page turner! ”

• Rated 5 stars

“Spellbinging story and complex characters. Chapter 3 has a great commentary on death in the modern world. "To my mind the defininf characteristic of our era is spin,... But death is described as "stubbornly unspinnable". Also in Chap 3 Ryan talks about how he hasn't lived the years since his two friends were abducted while the 3 of them played in the woods together as children thinking constantly about the event...no night terrors, etc. Last paragraph of Chap 10: Ryan talks about electrifying moments in life and then says 'I tell you that was nothing, nothing at all, beside the power of putting your lives, simply and daily, into each other's hands.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Really good mystery. Can hardly put it down. Will read the whole series.”

• Rated 4 stars

“This novel was an engrossing crime mystery that's a step above all of the pulp novel crime stories out there. The characters are compelling and the story is convincing and keeps you turning the pages. Tana French won the Edgar Award for best first novel for this one. Check out my plot summary off this very good book here: http://theplotspot.net/BookPages/In-the-Woods/In-the-Woods.html”

• Rated 4 stars

“I read French's Faithful Place first and absolutely fell in love with the quirky characters and her amazing ability to write plot twist after twist. So i was very interested to read one of her earlier novels.

In the Woods also had interesting characters and engaging plot, but lacked her incredible talent of her third book, which only makes sense. I plan on reading the second novel and am eagerly awaiting her 4th which will be released soon.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Very good, but I disliked the perp right from the start, even though the identity wasn't revealed until quite late in the story. Can't comment fully or I'll give away too much. I'll just say that while I was sympathetic with the main character from the start, it took time for me to warm to him, and then I found his behavior inexplicable at times. But these aren't my characters, they are the creation of the author, so I just go with whatever an author writes. I will either enjoy it or not. I enjoyed this one. So I will be reading book two in this series.”