CW: Violence, gun-use, violence against animals (hunting), drug use - recreational and medicinal, mental health downward spiral.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publishers/author via Netgalley.

Magdalena is running away from a glamorous NYC life that has turned sour and is staying with her grandparents for the summer. It doesn't take long for Magda to fall in with the old crown of rich kids she knew as a child, but she also meets a stranger in the woods one day while out hiking. As Magda begins to learn about Bo and his strange upbringing in the forest, bodies begin to be found in the wilderness.

This book did end up surprising me, and really hooked me in from the get go. I actually wasn't too sure of the plot of the book going into it and this worked out well for me because as soon as Magda met Bo, and we found out he was from some sort of bohemian, survivalist family living in the wild, all those buzz receptors went off in my brain. I love stories that focus on survival (particularly surviving in the woods) and love anything to do with survivalist gangs/cults/families so I knew this was going to be a book for me!

Magda/Lena is a strange character and not a character I can wholeheartedly say I liked. She was definitely intriguing and I really liked the mystery of her and why she had to leave her old life behind and come stay with her grandparents (also this book suffers HEAVILY from absentee parents/family - laughably so). It was intense to see the downward spiral Magda takes when she stops taking her meds properly, and I'm not sure if this would be triggering for some people so just a warning for those that might find it hard. I did like that though Magda did come off her meds against a (hospital) doctor's orders, she does stress in the book that this wasn't a healthy thing to do and it did go against all the medical knowledge she knew.

Magda's journal was a really great addition to this story - to the point where it almost became its own character due to its omnipresence and the hidden danger/secrets it always seemed to hold.

The reveals in the end didn't really shock me too much as I had put some stuff together in my head but I still think it was all really well done, and did leave me on the edge reading it as fast as I could so I knew everything that happened.

I think this was a strong YA thriller that will leave people feeling gripped. Definitely different to other Josephine Angelini books I've read in the end, but I loved it.