Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: January 17th, 2023
Pages: 336
Publisher: Flatiron Books
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“They were eleven when they sent a killer to prison . . .
They were heroes . . . but they were liars.
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.
And they were liars.
For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods—no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.”
My Review:
WOW, this book! I loved every minute of reading it and I can’t say enough good things. The story is dark and full of creeping tension. The incidents of trauma and the journey to recovery is emotional and heart-breaking.
All of the lies and secrets build into a twisting puzzle. The author gives us a trail of breadcrumbs to follow, with so many red herrings that I never knew which direction the plot was going to go.
As we learn more and more about what happened in the past, we begin to understand how it has all culminated into the present events.
There’s a deep exploration into childhood imagination, how we see the world differently in our innocence, and how those memories can become distorted over time.
The story examines the stark realities of grief, abuse, mental illness, and broken families.
This is an exquisitely crafted experience. Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, another bombshell implodes everything you thought you knew, pointing you in new and equally believable directions.
This story is everything; it deserves all the hype and all the stars. I’m officially obsessed with this author’s writing and I will be sure to pick up anything they publish next.
I’m so thankful for the opportunity to read and review this title. I will be getting a physical copy for my shelves as I could definitely see myself re-reading it in the future.
If you like the dark, twisty, psychological thrillers, then you should absolutely read this one!
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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