Magdalena has had a rough time. She’s spending the summer at her grandparents’ house in the Pacific Northwest while she tries to get her head back on straight. She’s still on a lot of meds, strong psychiatric meds, because of what happened in New York. But she’s trying to take care of herself and stay faithful to her medication, to keep her hallucinations at bay.
Although she’d spent the last few years with friends in the Hamptons, she’d spent summers with her grandparents before that. So this summer give her a chance to reunite with old friends. And to meet new ones, like Bo, a wild teenaged boy who showed up one day when she was trying to read. He chased a deer over her blanket, stumbling over her with an apology and an introduction. Magda was intrigued by his wildness, and his kindness, and they agree to meet again.
Magda falls into a routine at her grandmother’s, volunteering at a local women’s shelter and hiking in the woods. At the shelter, doing food prep and cleaning in the kitchen, she meets cook and former addict Gina who keeps her moving in the right direction. And in the woods, she spends time with Bo. He’s smart and well read, and he teaches her about survival in the woods.
The days go by, with her falling in love with Bo and enjoying her work at the shelter. She feels so good, she decides to stop taking her medications. She is happy in the woods. But she also hears rumors about a drug dealer with a meth lab in the woods, and three women go missing.
But when she has a bad episode and has to rescued by a friend, she no longer knows for sure what’s real. She thought she’d been in the woods when her friend had found her but he tells her that’s not true. And even though she doesn’t remember writing in her journal, the pages are filled with her handwriting. And in her closet is three outfits with blood on them.
Is it possible that her mental illness caused Magda more hallucinations? Could she have imagined Bo that whole time? And what happened to those three women? Is it possible that Magda had done something bad?
What She Found in the Woods is a tense thriller about the thin line between the truth and lies, between mental health and a break with reality. Author Josephine Angelini has drafted a nail-biter of a story with memorable characters, an unreliable narrator, psychological struggles, secrets, lies, gaslighting, and forgiveness.
I loved this book and devoured it quickly. It’s a fascinating story of a young woman with an intelligent mind, who has trouble knowing what is real. I highly recommend What She Found in the Woods for anyone who loves a good thriller and for those wanting to get a better understanding of mental illness. Magda may not be the most likeable character, but she is honest, as much as she can be. Loved it, recommend it, can’t wait to read more from Angelini!
Egalleys for What She Found in the Woods were provided by Sourcebooks Fire through NetGalley, with many thanks.
