How to Survive in the Woods - Kat Rosenfield

HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE WOODS

KAT ROSENFIELD

****

NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU.

Raised by her doomsday-fearing father and hardened by the startup world, Emma Sharp has learned how to endure - especially in her marriage to Logan Grant, a charismatic tyrant who keeps her under tight control. To Emma, her marriage is a cage: it keeps you in, but it also keeps you safe. Until it doesn't.

When Emma forms an unexpected bond with Logan's former girlfriend, the two women form a plan to help Emma take her life back. Destination: the punishing final stretch of the Appalachian Trail known as the Hundred Mile Wilderness.

After all, bad things happen in the woods all the time.

As the three venture deeper into Maine's backcountry, desire and dread curdle into something unpredictable, dark and deadly.

Someone is lying. Someone is watching. And in the remote heart of the forest, someone is about to be lost . . . or found.

How to Survive in the Woods is a heart-stopping knockout of a novel, by turns smart, psychologically rich and deliciously dark. In her masterful hands, Kat Rosenfield asks us to consider what it means to be a survivor - and what, or who, you would sacrifice to stay alive.

MY REVIEW

****

I enjoy thrillers set on hiking trails which can be the perfect backdrop for character drama and high-stakes tension, so I was excited to read How to Survive in the Woods.

Emma is the daughter of a doomsday prepper and knows what it takes to survive in the wilderness. When a trip is planned with her abusive husband and his ex-partner on the Appalachian Trail, she sees a unique opportunity…

How to Survive in the Woods is a well-paced tale which kept my interest from the start. Emma is a layered and interesting character, we start by meeting her in flashback at her lowest moment, then skip ahead to her life with husband Logan before going on the hiking trip. There are quite a few difficult subjects here – with a suicide attempt, domestic violence and an abusive marriage right from the outset. These themes continue all the way through the plot so if this is triggering for you, I would avoid reading.

I enjoyed the setting of the Hundred Mile Wilderness, which is part of the Appalachian Trail - the claustrophobic nature of the paths and the ease with which is easy to get lost if not properly prepared. Although I was hooked enough to keep reading, it does feel a little predictable in places and I felt as if I had seen or read the basic storyline before. It doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the table.

I did get confused at one of the character’s motivations, I don’t want to reveal who for fear of spoilers, but I was confused about what their endgame plan was – they didn’t seem to have one. I also found Emma quite a hard character to empathise with – perhaps because a lot of her past which motivates how she acts in the present is left until the end to use as a big reveal, rather than being integrated from the start. As her husband is also an awful character, this left very little for a reader to latch on to and root for.

Overall, How to Survive in the Woods is a claustrophobic thriller, but a lack of relatable characters and a predictable plot let it down in places. Thank you to NetGalley & Bonnier Books – Zaffre for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

Amazon UK

Waterstones