What the Woods Keep

From the publisher:

What the Woods Keep is the stunning debut of Katya de Becerra, who combines mystery, science fiction, and dark fantasy in a twisty story that will keep you mesmerized right up to the final page.

On her eighteenth birthday, Hayden inherits her childhood home—on the condition that she uncover its dark secrets.

Hayden tried to put the past behind her, and it worked. She’s getting ready for college, living in a Brooklyn apartment, and hanging out with her best friend and roommate Del. But now it’s all catching up with her: her mother’s mysterious disappearance a decade before, her father’s outlandish theories about a lost supernatural race, and Hayden’s own dark dreams of strange symbols and rituals in the Colorado woods where she grew up.

As soon as Hayden arrives at her hometown, her friend Del in tow, it begins: Neighbors whisper secrets about Hayden’s mother; the boy next door is now all grown-up in a very distracting way; and Hayden feels the trees calling to her. And among them, deep in the woods, Hayden will discover something incredible—something that threatens reality itself.

My thoughts:

I did not want to read this book. This was another fantasy book where the teenager is protected or hidden by a guardian or remaining parent and does not know until they hit some "magic" age that they are different and that they have some sort of super power. Does this sound like Harry (Potter)? How about Mortal Instruments, Percy Jackson? What makes this different is this is a one and done compared to most of the other stories that pull in readers with a series. 

One and done, though was not the problem. The problem was that I was not loving the cover. For some reason I kept seeing a face. Do you see it? I then realized that these are feathers, but they should be feathers from a white raven, so I had another problem. One more wondering/problem that really is not for just this book - is there something about virginity that holds "superpowers" tightly in check until they are forced to burst out? I have just been noticing this pattern but I don't have enough data yet. And the ending. I cannot give it away, but I wish I could have chipped in for a little more story line. Did I miss it? Where did her father go? 

What I did like was the pacing of this book. This is a fast-paced action-packed book once it gets started. I found myself reading faster because everything starts imploding, literally. Perhaps that is why I did not know what happened to the father. 

If readers want something shorter than a series, like the genre of fantasy, tween/YA, excitement, adrenaline. . .this is a great book for a long evening at home. 

An advanced copy provided by Net Galley and the publisher for an honest review.