Bionic Jean's Reviews > These Silent Woods

Not for me.

I was looking forward to “a mesmerising novel of suspense”, as the blurb promised, and the writing style seemed good to begin with. But suspense needs building, to engage the reader. Otherwise it’s just horror. I’m not sure there was anywhere to go for me, after a brutal bludgeoning of a wild animal in the first few pages, before we know why. (Yes, I know an animal in the “wrong” place at the wrong time is classed by humans as vermin. I wonder how the animal feels about human invasion into its territory.) So that put me off a bit.

It now occurs to me that this is the third contemporary novel I’ve read about a dark “cabin in the woods” in just a few months. Maybe it’s an American horror subgenre … oh no, one was Polish (and very good!) It could be another trope, such as tales from yesteryear set in creepy European castles, perhaps. Oddly I usually enjoy those, yet I have neither stayed in a cabin nor a castle.

Please read others’ reviews, which are mostly complimentary. These notes are really a reminder to myself not to try this one again!