Young Adult Book Reviews

Genre: Mystery

Number of pages: 360

Magdalena is still recovering from something terrible that happened in her elite Manhattan private school almost a year ago. Her parents can’t bear to even look at her and have sent her to live with her grandparents for the summer. Lena has been put on several prescriptions to try and curb her depression and anxiety, but she is trying to make a fresh start. She begins volunteering at a women’s shelter and finds she enjoys the hard work. When she’s not volunteering she enjoys hiking in the woods for hours and hours. Eventually she meets a young man whose family has chosen to live in the woods for their entire lives. He is kind and does not trust many things in the western world, including her prescriptions. At the same time a few different women have gone missing from the women’s shelter and even though she didn’t know them, she is very bothered when they show up murdered in the woods. She also doesn’t really like the lead detective working the case. A new friend has confided in her that her grandfather, a retired police detective, has long suspected there is a serial killer in the woods but he was never able to find them. The only difference between the murders from the past and the current ones, is that they seem to be getting more violent. Is there any way her new love interest could be a part of these terrible crimes? He seems to caring and compassionate, but many of the clues point to his family. How can she find the truth without making herself the next victim?

Fans of psychological mysteries will enjoy this title. Lena has been through a lot and blames herself for all of it, which has taken quite a toll on her mind. In the end, she has a hard time deciding what is true and what is in her head, which makes solving the truth of what is happening in the woods that much more difficult. Despite her past, Lena is still determined to make better choices in the future and she is willing to fight to protect those around her that she cares about.