The Body in the Woods by April Henry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Body In The Woods (Point Last Seen #1) by April Henry is an enjoyable read.

I received an ARC copy from Net Galley of this book, and the moment I started to read it, I was engaged.

There will be no spoilers given in this review, so let me tell you why I love this so much, and look forward to the future books in the series.

1. Young adults are the protagonists in this story. High School kids who have opted to volunteer for the Portland Search and Rescue team represent a range of regular, everyday kids. [Portland, Oregon]

2. This is the beginning of adventures, dangers and trials shared by teens and tweens. They go out on their first call-out to find a lost hiker. The hiker has autism and is at great risk as night falls.

3. The facts of search and rescue are complicated. In the spirit of Patricia Cornwell, rescue and search procedures are explained with excellent writing throughout the activities of the SAR Teen Volunteers, during the scope of the story.

4. I love when young people are heroic, and given the opportunity to solve problems that would overwhelm an adult. The Body In The Woods; Point Last Seen #1 does this over and over again.

5. Many of us are crime buffs, and love to read mysteries, and also learn, this tale has moments of sadness, success, danger and disappointment and it leaves me wanting more.

6. Their first night out, they do not find the lost hiker, but a dead body.

7. The story is believable and I am recommending it for purchase for our Library, into our YA Genre collection.

8. Content is GP13 in my opinion.

9. The writing is good, flows well and is easy to follow.

10.I wait impatiently for #2.



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3.5 Stars... it was interesting, but not memorable

Ruby, Alexis, and Nick are all high school students and new members of Portland's SAR... that's Search and Rescue. Ruby is awkward, not sure of social cues, not sure how to make friends. She joined SAR because she loves watching true-crime and studying detective work. Alexis is desparately trying to make everything on the surface appear okay. She doesn't want people to get close to her for fear they will learn how bad things are at home. Her mom is mentally ill and off her meds... and Alexis never knows what will go on at her house on any given day. Nick doesn't remember much of his dad. He died in Iraq when he was quite young. Now all Nick wants to do is prove to himself and his dad that he's brave and can do great things.

When they get called out on a search, they aren't supposed to be put on a team together without a veteran leader, but thanks to a mix up, that's exactly what happens. They get sent to a location where it is very unlikely they will find the missing man. And they don't find the man, but they DO find the body of a girl... a dead girl. Soon Ruby realized that more bodies are piling up and becomes convinced they are all connected. She convinces Alexis and Nick that they need to investigate this themselves so that the police will be forced to listen.

My Thoughts:
Kind of underwhelmed. I decided to read this book because I had read [b:The Night She Disappeared|12013031|The Night She Disappeared|April Henry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334406165s/12013031.jpg|16978071] and really loved it. This book ended up being very similar to that one. The plot was totally different of course, but it definitely used the same formula. I was expecting this book to be a little different, so that was disappointing, but overall I did like the book.

I liked that the 3 teens in the book had different story lines and went their own ways much of the time. It was cool to read about the mystery along with the personal lives of the 3 main characters. They all had completely different issues going on, but no issue seemed any less important than the others. My favorite character was Ruby because I know people IRL that have trouble with social situations and it can be tough. Why are some people unable to pick up on social cues and why are people so impatient with people that are like this?? I mean clearly there is no real answer to those questions, but reading about Ruby it made me think. (Sidenote: I was not super impressed with a girl with red hair being named Ruby... how original).

I don't have a ton to say about this book because it was a fairly short, straight forward book. It definitely brought me back to my Fear Street/Christopher Pike days because it's a fairly generic murder/mystery which I will probably be forgetting about after a few days. Not to say those books don't serve purposes! They are very entertaining while you're reading them, but they just don't tend to IMPACT you. And if you don't write down who the killer ends up being, you'll probably forget.

OVERALL: I didn't like it as much as the other April Henry book I read, but I still found it to be a quick entertaining read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a mystery that doesn't make you think too much.

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Received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in one afternoon. Three teens from three different high schools from three different backgrounds form an unlikely friendship through their work on a search and rescue team. Oh yeah and they chase a serial killer too. I'm interested to see where the author takes the series. I feel like a lot of this book was character introduction and background to set up for stories later on as the series continues. I will say I had a huge issue with the way the story ended but that's just the ethical counselor part of my brain screaming. I calmed her down... I'm curious about Henry's other works. ( )

A good try at a twist and a surprise ending, though it seemed to wrap up a little too quickly and neatly. This is probably a good one for reluctant readers interested in this type of story as it moved quickly and had decent character development for a fast moving novel.

A great readalike for Henry's other novels. I will be watching for more from her. ( )

It was a fast read because it made you want to keep reading to find out who the killer was. ( )