First Impressions: I've been waiting to get my `eyes' on this book since I first heard of it. My anticipation was well rewarded! The Wicked Woods is all I hoped it would be and more! It is eerie and haunting and mysterious, suspenseful with a dash of sweet romance on the side! The writing is so rich with wonderful characters and a powerful storyline. This is the Debut series of the year!

My Reflections: Wicked, is a quaint tourist town set in Massachusetts. One of its main attractions the Wicked Woods, is a large area of forest so large and dense that those who've lived in Wicked most of their lives haven't seen the heart of it. In fact, most seem to avoid the woods, there's something not quite right about them--something inherently creepy and almost, well--Wicked.
Sixteen year old Briony has lost her family to those woods, both her parents and her little brother Jake. She would have been with them had she not been insistent on going to cheerleading camp rather than a family vacation. Now, Briony is staying with her Aunt Sophie at the Edge Inn Bed & Breakfast which is at the very edge of the Wicked Woods; the very same woods where Briony lost her family and Aunt Sophie lost her husband, Briony's Uncle Pete, in the same incident. Their bodies were never recovered. It has been about a month when the story starts and Briony is doing her best to control her grief and not lose hope that maybe, just maybe--her family is still out there.
Briony meets new friends and enemies in the short time she has been in Wicked. Among those is Fallon, a gorgeous blue-eyed blonde who is sweet and shy and Kevin, also gorgeous but where Fallon is light and shy, Kevin is dark and nowhere near shy!

After a few Wicked incidences occur, Aunt Sophie tells Briony that she is a member of The Wicked Woods Preservation Society. A society that keeps the member's and tourist's of Wicked safe. Safe from what you ask? Well, if I tell you it will ruin the book and I so don't want to do that! What I will say is this: there is another population living in Wicked Woods-one that exists solely to decrease the population of Wicked proper and all that visit it. The things that go bump in the night couldn't be truer in the town of Wicked and if you ever visit there---wear a crucifix, preferably one of silver.

Summary: The Wicked Woods is mysterious, suspenseful and most of all, downright scary! After reading The Wicked Woods I found that it left me wanting more! More of the town of Wicked and more of the Wicked Woods and what hides inside its deepest recesses! But most of all, I want to read more of what happens to Briony, her friends, her family and her enemies!
Kailin Gow has created the most realistic heroine-Briony has the same insecurities, fears and doubts that all young women have but the message she sends is this: be true to yourself and others, do what you know in your heart is right and rely on your inner instincts. I think that most of us can relate to Briony at a base level which makes her an instant `friend' and someone we root for throughout the book. She is, after all, one of us