Review: The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher is an addicting read, full of suspense, shrouded in mystery, and paired with danger. Lucy Christopher has written a teen murder mystery novel that will leave you breathless-- and that's a fun and ironic choice of words.

A modern who-dunnit tale of a group of teenagers who play a dangerous version of Hide-and-Seek in the woods, The Killing Woods explores tough subjects like drugs, alcohol, and PTSD. It's about teens who make wrong choices and about teens who have to deal with the death of a fellow student and friend. It's about uncovering the truth, no matter how terrible it might be. It's about bad things that happen alone in the woods.

I normally shy away from anything scary. I'll admit it: I'm a huge chicken. I'm not a fan of horror movies and I very, very rarely read mystery, crime, or horror novels. I'm just far too jumpy to be able to appreciate them. Fortunately, Lucy Christopher's novel was nothing like I expected--it was far better. The murder of a young girl in the woods did not set off a chilling murder mystery story as I expected. While the murder is the central incident of the book, Lucy Christopher's story takes a hard look at the characters and at tough subjects of grieving, psychological and emotional distress, as well as illegal substances. I only lost sleep because I could not put this book down.

I am recommending this book to anyone who enjoys teen books with a dark twist, mystery stories, or danger. This book will really hit home as the characters are so realistic to what teenagers are now. Everyone knows someone who makes wrong choices with substance abuse. It is sad that most people now attend a high school where a death has occurred.

The Killing Woods is one of the best teen books I've read this year. The writing is addictive and the characters are so relatable to young people today. I love that PTSD and the psychological and emotional aspects of this murder mystery are a huge part of this story, because a lot of time, authors ignore these issues, or at least they don't understand that they can play a huge role in a tragedy like this. The idea that the truth isn't being withheld because there's a criminal hiding it--but because the human brain has literally repressed it [for one reason or another] is realistic and a startling real truth.

The Killing Woods will be published on January 1st, 2014. This is a must-read for 2014. Pre-order your copy now!