Reading anything about abducted kids literally takes my breath away, but I am like a moth to a flame with these storylines! Why??? I don’t know…. The Memory Wood was creepy, chilling and heartbreaking, but let me first tell you what the book is about before I start the review in the introduction!

What is The Memory Wood about?

Elijah has lived in the Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. It’s the only home he’s ever known.

Elissa has only just arrived. And she’ll do everything she can to escape.

When Elijah stumbles across thirteen-year-old Elissa, in the woods where her abductor is hiding her, he refuses to alert the police. Because in his twelve years, Elijah has never had a proper friend. And he doesn’t want Elissa to leave.

Not only that, Elijah knows how this can end. After all, Elissa isn’t the first girl he’s found inside the Memory Wood.

As her abductor’s behaviour grows more erratic, Elissa realises that outwitting strange, lonely Elijah is her only hope of survival. Their cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal will determine both their fates, and whether either of them will ever leave the Memory Wood . . .

My Review

Characters and Storyline

The book centers around Elissa and Elijah…. Elissa being the kidnapped girl and Elijah, the boy who finds her. Elijah is lonely and looking to strike up a friendship. Elissa is trying to use Elijah’s loneliness to help her escape her captor.

Elijah’s character was so conflicting…I really felt for him, but there were so much that was confusing around him. Elissa is a lovely character, so determined, so smart….but it was hard to picture her as a 13yr old. She seemed a bit too mature for the age the book was portraying her at.

The storyline was so interesting and something I haven’t read before…so I appreciated the originality of this book.

My Thoughts

The Memory Wood is so chilling and atmospheric….I was glad I opted to read this during the day. If I read it at night, I think I would have been looking around me and out the window every 5 minutes. I felt like I was there, in the room, in the woods….it was such an immersive reading experience. This was a real page turner for me and there were plot twists I saw coming and plot twists that totally blindsided me.

My only critique would be around the last 100 pages or so, I found it to be incredibly repetitive and drawn out.

My rating

The Memory Wood has a Goodreads rating of 4.2 stars. I am rating it at a solid 3.5 stars. You would not regret reading this book as you’d experience all the emotions…. If not for the repetitive 2nd part of the book, and one unanswered question….I’d definitely have rated it closer to 4 stars. Also, I believe this is a debut novel, so I’m very interested to see what Sam Lloyd has up his sleeve for us next!

If you are a thriller lover like me, I think you’d definitely this one. The Memory Wood is available at all leading book retailers. For more book reviews, check out some of my other reviews, like The Boy from the Woods, The Recovery of Rose Gold and The Whisper Man.

The Memory Wood was sent to me by Penguin Random House SA in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.