THE WOMAN IN THE WOODS - Lisa Hall


 Allie and her husband Rav and their two small children have moved into the picture-perfect little cottage on the outskirts of some woods in the British community of Pluckley. This promises to be the beginning of a long, happy life together.

But Pluckley has a reputation - it is known as the most haunted village in all of England. 

Shortly after the birth of their son, Allie begins to notice strange things - from scratching noises coming from the chimney and a ghostly white figure moving through the woods behind the house. Allie, alone with the children throughout the day as Rav goes to work, explores the history of the area and of their home and learns of a history of witchcraft that might still exist today.

Slowly, Allie loses control of herself and her senses.  Is this that witchcraft pulling her in, or is it, as the local doctors claim, just a case of post-partum depression? And what is Rav up to through all of this?

There is definitely a nice, creepy sense to this book, giving it the spooky atmosphere that you want in this kind of book. The mystery of who's behind all this - is she crazy or is there a supernatural element behind everything? - is a bit overworked.

 By the end of the book, I was tired. I was tired of what seemed like a constant 'maybe she's just crazy' infusion in the book.  Every time Allie would start feeling something supernatural, we'd get someone (Allie, Rav, or friends) suggesting she's just not herself.  I wish I had counted how many times this occurred, but I was nearing the end of the book when I actually said aloud, "Again? Just get on with the it!"

Some of this also has to do with the character of Allie. We're never really given the chance to understand her, or (which would be better yet) to like her.  Her relationships with others, even her own kids, seems really impersonal so it's difficult to rally behind her.

I was definitely expecting some stronger story-building and not a reliance on the same trope over and over.

Looking for a good book? In a bookstore filled with mysteries and supernatural stories, Lisa Hall's The Woman in the Woods does not not stack up well. 

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars

* * * * * *

The Woman in the Woods

author: Lisa Hall

publisher: HQ

ISBN: 0008356483

hardcover, 368 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in...
Read more

THE WALLED CITY - Ryan Graudin

Image
  Jin and her sister, Mei Yee, were taken and sold and then sent to the lawless Walled City to serve as prostitutes or slaves to anyone willing to pay. Jin managed to escape her captivity, but not the Walled City and she now lurks about, disguised as a boy and is trying to track down the brothel where her sister is still captive. Jin will work odd delivery jobs to earn a small bit of money and hopefully have a legitimate means of coming in contact with her sister's captors.  This is how she meets up with Dai, a mysterious boy who has somehow managed to avoid running with any of the gangs in the city but he seems to have his own unusual connections, which Jon could desperately use if she has any hope of finding Mei Yee. But Dai has his own desperate needs.  The story is told from the different perspectives of each character and we do bounce around quite a bit as the chapters are generally short. This never bothered me, which is slightly unusual as often I find this techni...
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - ...
Read more