The Woman in the Woods by J.E. Rowney review: A little too predictable
For those on the hunt for a new mystery novel, The Woman in the Woods by J.E. Rowney is now available. Here’s my honest review of the book.
Just to get the disclaimer out of the way, I got a free copy of The Woman in the woods via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.
The novel is described as a psychological thriller. And while I can see where that comes from, much of the book doesn’t quite meet the potential. It all starts with making the lead character, Seb, one of the most unlikeable guys going. Honestly, the real star of the book is Dexter the dog.
However, it’s a novel that I wouldn’t completely write off. There are some good elements to it, and that’s what I’ll get into during the review.
Characters I just couldn’t care too much about
Seb and Katie are on a last chance getaway. And it’s clear why it’s the last chance. The two just don’t seem right for each other.
Seb is too bothered about his “job” playing poker and Katie clearly isn’t happy with what he’s done in life. She is emotional but there’s a reason for that, although she could learn to be a little less self-absorbed. Seb just doesn’t really care enough to get to the bottom of it until partway through the getaway.
We don’t get to know much about their lives together before they started to fall apart. There’s a tiny little mention here and there, but not enough for me to even want this couple to still be together by the end!
Dexter the dog is the character I connected to the most. Okay, I’m more of an animal person than a people person, but Dexter was just so loyal. He’s also adventurous and nosy, which gets him into trouble a little.
When characters are in peril, I need to care about them. If I don’t, then I’m going to spend the novel just waiting for them to break up, get hurt, or even get killed.
Seb gets himself into the danger in The Woman in the Woods
Let me be honest; while I know blaming the victim is wrong, Seb does himself no favors. He spends the entire vacation looking at the lines he’s found. He wants to follow them and figure out what they’re for.
Even when he has a theory, he still gets so hyper-focused on these lines that he doesn’t pay too much attention to what’s going on around him. It’s no wonder he ends up in some trouble.
At the same time, the novel is on the predictable side. Seb and Katie head to the local village pub, where everybody seems to be annoyed that they’re even there. The owner of the pub for some odd reason kicks everyone out before closing and tells Seb and Katie to stay so she can tell them all about her sister who went missing in the woods decades earlier.
Of course, it had to happen. This is a big part of the story. It’s the title of the novel! However, the idea that Carla would just tell two strangers this all because one regular mentioned the ghost story that goes around seems absurd.
As soon as I’d heard the story, though, I figured out what had happened. Maybe I’ve read too many thrillers or I’ve watched too many crime dramas. Either way, the storyline was pretty easy to guess. I’ll admit that I didn’t guess what happened to Katie, but I could have told you the Woman in the Woods story immediately.
Yet, knowing how it was going to end didn’t take away from my enjoyment. Part of me was curious about whether I’d figured it out so early on.
Should you read The Woman in the Woods
It didn’t quite meet the potential I expected. With the title The Woman in the Woods, I did expect more focus on an actual woman in the woods. If this was a TV show or a movie, it would be filled with jump scares just to get the adrenaline pumping. Everything turned out to be something normal and not even that creepy because at no point did the woman come up until the mention of the story and the very end, which was disappointing.
Is this a novel for you? It is going to depend on what you like from psychological thrillers. This didn’t quite hit the mark for me in the genre, but it was a light and entertaining read. There could have been a little more suspense, maybe more mentions of Seb seeing a woman in the woods.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Next. LIfe After Death by Sister Souljah review. dark