Get lost in the pages with this The God of the Woods review. This fast-paced mystery is a five-star page-turner that just may be the book of the year. You’ll learn in this “no spoilers” book review about the characters, timelines, map, setting, and more in this reading guide. Let’s get literary!
Quick Overview of The God of The Woods
- Release Date: July 2, 2024
- Genre: Mystery
- Accolades: Tonight Show Book Club pick, New York Times bestseller, Barack Obama’s reading list pick for summer 2024
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore contains content involving human death, grief, domestic violence, statutory rape, infidelity, graphic animal cruelty/death, drug and alcohol use, mental illness, sexism, and homophobia.
Plot
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is a fictional mystery book about the disappearance of two siblings years apart, set at an Adirondacks camp.
In The God of the Woods, 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from Camp Emerson, which her family owns, in 1975. This disappearance comes after her brother Bear’s mysterious disappearance from the camp 14 years prior and unravels deep secrets and tensions among the camp’s wealthy owners and working-class locals.
The God of the Woods Review
MY REVIEW: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS
PROS:
CONS:
The God of the Woods has been called the book of summer 2024. But, it just may be the book of 2024, period. Before reading The God of the Woods, I wondered if I would ever find a book of the year candidate this year. Now, this is the one to beat for me.
The God of the Woods is, in every sense of the word, an unputdownable book. It offered me the rare and utterly delectable reading experience of simply being unable to stop. I stayed up late. I got up early. And, I devoured all 476 pages in just about two days.
I’m generally not a binge-reader like this. Out of the 100+ books I read every year, The God of the Woods is among a handful of books that have ever driven me to turn the pages so quickly. (Short chapters with cliffhangers also helped!)
Though the novel’s characters and timelines were tough to track at first, once I mastered them, compulsively unraveling this mystery to its breathtaking conclusion was the most “delicious” treat for me as a reader.
And yes, though The God of the Woods may sound like the type of horror story that may be told at a camp like Camp Emerson, I do classify this book as a mystery. It’s not as gratuitous as a thriller and more nuanced than your standard crime fiction narrative. Though it’s about places, times, and people in history, that’s also not the focus.
It’s really about what really happened to Bear and Barbara and what those facts say about the novel’s themes: from class to gender, survival, and beyond.
And, while The God of the Woods may sound plot-driven, it’s also very much character-driven. The characters are incredibly nuanced and fit into the meticulously plotted story like puzzle pieces. The story pushes you to read further and faster, while the details strive to pull you back to indulge in them with steadfast appreciation.
Though not a fantasy, the world-building is just as immersive, as if nothing exists outside Camp Emerson during the given timeframe.
Additionally, so many plot twists keep you guessing along the way. They aren’t random red herrings either! They fit so neatly into the plot as it unfolds, which adds to this novel’s brilliance.
The God of the Woods is atmospheric and chilling not only because of its revelations about what happened to Bear and Barbara but also because of what these truths mean for the people in their lives.
Recommended for: fans of dark mysteries, thrillers, and literary fiction; book clubs; heavier beach reading; chilly outdoor reading; rainy day binge-reading; a fast-paced and immersive reading experience
Reading Tips
HELPFUL TIPS
The God of the Woods has numerous characters, narrators, parts, and timelines, which can be difficult to learn at first. For this reason, I recommend reading the print or digital version of the book.
I tried the audiobook and struggled to keep everything straight. The print version was much easier, as the narrator and time are laid out at the beginning of each chapter. There is also a map, which I’ve captured below for your reference.
Once I started the print version, it was a breeze, but if you need assistance, I’ve laid out the narrators (and a few other main characters) and the timelines, without spoilers, below.
While the novel has even more characters, they are easy to follow once you know the ones I’ve listed below.
The map below is also both helpful and fun to reference while reading.
Reading Guides
Characters
The main characters in Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods are the owners of Camp Emerson, the Van Laar family, particularly Peter III, his wife Alice, his son Bear, and his daughter Barbara. Camp workers, campers, family friends, investigators, and locals are rounding out the cast.
Alice Ward Van Laar: mother of Bear and Barbara Van Laar; wife of Peter Van Laar III; sister of Delphine
Barbara Van Laar: a rebellious 13-year-old camper at her parents’ Camp Emerson
Louise Donnadieu: Barbara’s 23-year-old counselor at Camp Emerson; a working-class local engaged to John Paul McLellan, a godson of the Van Laar’s whose father is a business partner and lawyer for the Van Laar’s
Tracy Jewell: Barbara’s bunkmate at Camp Emerson
Victor “Vic” Hewitt: former groundskeeper/director of Camp Emerson, which is now directed by his daughter, Tessie Jo “T.J.” Hewitt
Carl Stoddard: a gardener at Camp Emerson at the time of Bear’s disappearance
Judyta “Judy” Luptack: (pronounced Yoo-DIT-ah ) a 26-year-old state trooper investigating Barbara’s disappearance
Jacob “Slitter” Sluitter: an escaped convicted serial killer in the area
Timeline
- 1950s: Peter Van Laar III and Alice meet and start a family
- 1961: Bear Van Laar’s disappearance
- 1962: Barbara Van Laar’s birth
- 1973: Louise Donnadieu dates John Paul McLellan
- 1975: (various months) before, during, and after Barbara Van Laar’s disappearance
Map
Themes
- Class: the “haves” and the “have nots” in a small American town
- Gender: extremely nuanced, from women’s roles to their treatment, their sexuality, and beyond
- Secrets: who you keep them for and the toll of keeping them
- Survival: both literally and figuratively
- Self-Reliance: what it means both in reality and in one’s mind
- Justice: what it means, who gets it, how, and when
While class is clearly at the forefront of The God of the Woods, I thought the author’s more subtle treatment of gender throughout the novel was absolutely brilliant. There is so much there about how women are treated versus men and also about their sexualities.
The character of Judyta was my personal favorite representation of gender. She was so daring in her rare female role as a young investigator in 1975, yet she was also both vulnerable and strong in ways different (and more effective) than the men around her, who still attempted to control her actions.
I also loved the explicit and ironic wordplay about “Self-Reliance,” the theme that also happened to be the name of the Van Laar family’s chalet on the Preserve.
Books Like The God of the Woods
The God of the Woods is a unique book. It’s best labeled as a thrilling mystery that makes thematic statements. It’s not “just” a whodunnit or even a “whydunnit.” Two similar books I recommend to those looking for books similar to The God of the Woods are:
Long Bright River by Liz Moore: Moore’s prior novel tackles another thrilling mystery involving a missing person. In it, an opioid-addicted Philadelphia woman and her police officer sister search for her. The novel makes statements on the opioid crisis. It’s an exceptional read that, years later, I still think about it.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt: This “modern classic” dark academia novel shares an atmospheric New England setting and an immersive literary fiction writing style that is both character and plot-driven. There, a university student is “gone” “and his friends carry dark secrets as they spiral into madness in the aftermath. This is another exceptional read that, years later, I still think about.
About Author Liz Moore
about
Liz Moore is an American author with an MFA from Hunter College. She was awarded the University of Pennsylvania’s ArtsEdge residency in 2009. She has also won the Medici Book Club Prize, Philadelphia’s Athenaeum Literary Award, and the 2014 Rome Prize in Literature. She lives in Philadelphia and teaches at Temple University’s MFA program in Creative Writing.
She is most well-known for her New York Times bestselling book Long Bright River, which was a Good Morning America book club pick and one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year.
Final Thoughts
This The God of the Woods review detailed a five-star read that just may be the year’s finest. This mystery about the disappearance of two siblings, fourteen years apart, is chilling — not just as a crime novel but also as one that makes statements on class, theme, and so much more.
I recommend you read it in print or digital format to best track the many narrators, characters, timelines, and locations.
It’s one of my best book recommendations for anyone who wants a really immersive, page-turning read, and it offers a lot for book clubs to talk about too.
I read it and it was great!