Gruesome, horrifying, unputdownable.
Would recommend this to those macabre ghouls like me who would enjoy reading a chilling nightmare of children lost in the woods dying in horrible ways
The story is short (about 150 pages), and its brevity allows for the satisfaction of getting to the nitty-gritty without any superfluous fluff. Three adults and twelve six-year-olds are on a weekend camping trip deep in the woods and no one lives. That’s not a spoiler. The author also cleverly inserts some philosophical threads about the perspectives of children and uses narrative intrusion to address the reader and remind him that there is no hope for these poor kids.
To say any more would be a disservice, so if this premise causes you to raise an eyebrow and immediately look it up online, this book is for you. If you recoil and say, “Ew,” then move along.
I am loath to say I enjoyed it for fear it may cause others to think me psychotic, so I’ll just say that it was a riveting read.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Coach House Books for the copy in exchange for my review.
