Reading Skywards – Your Friendly Bookshelf

INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July, 2024
Format:  Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook, and ebook
Print length ‏ : ‎ 396 pages
Genre:  Psychological Thriller Fiction

MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “THE GOD OF THE WOODS”

This book has been on my TBR since the middle of last year. I put a hold on it at Libby, which lasted months, and finally, I was able to borrow it four days ago. Yes, it took four days to read this book, which for me is super fast, especially knowing it’s almost 400 pages long. I honestly knew very little about what the book was about, and I am glad I did even though was one of the most talked about books in 2024. This was a rich and unexpected surprise.

The book intersected several characters through time. The two main timelines are both disappearances of the Van Laar’s kids. One in 1961 and the other in 1975, both in the woods surrounding the summer camp.

The characters along the story were paced at the right time, and even though there was a lot of back and forth, it was easy to follow. It was a slow buildup, but it was so enticing that the time went fast, and almost by instinct, I was making up theories of what could have happened, halfway through the book.

As with any thriller, the end is always dramatic and revealing, and this was no different. I have to say, it took me by surprise, but in the best way possible.

PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON / GOODREADS:

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

MY RATING: 4.6

QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

“It was wonderful, thought Tracy, having friends like these, who seemed to see the parts of yourself you worked hardest to hide, and bring them into the light and celebrate them with a sort of tender ribbing that uplifted more than it put down.” 

“Her voice, it seemed, had been continuously decrescendoing since birth, so that by age twelve, she could scarcely be heard.” 

“It’s the Van Laars, and families like them, who have always depended on others.” 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: LIZ MOORE

Liz Moore is the author of five novels: The Words of Every Song, Heft, The Unseen World, the New York Times-bestselling Long Bright River, and The God of the Woods. A winner of the 2014 Rome Prize in Literature, she lives in Philadelphia and teaches in the MFA program in Creative Writing at Temple University.

Bibliography:

• Long Bright River: a Novel
• The Unseen World: a Novel
• Heft: a Novel
• The Words of Every Song: a Novel