Arty has spent her whole life in the clearing, with her British mum, Indian dad, and the rest of their international community. They've shunned the outside world, choosing to live without money, without social media, without the war and drugs and evil that Arty believes fills the outside world. She is perfectly happy where she is, thank you very much.

Until one day, she has to leave.

Now, I have to admit, despite the YA tag I was expecting something quite dark and sinister. And yes, there is an element of this book that seems to be like that (I won't say too much because of spoilers). But the reality is, this is actually a book about a girl who has to come to term with living in our world. A noisy world, where not everyone can be trusted, and there are new experiences around every corner.

As a character, I loved Arty. She had real spirit, and I thought her experiences and the way she comes to understand the world were very well written. The suspense element of the novel didn't really work for me personally - the alternative chapters almost felt like reading from two different books, and I think that mystery of it could have been framed slightly better. Also, the ending felt sort of like a cop out, but that might just be me.

But overall, I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed reading about the community, and how it came to be. The descriptions of India were beautiful, and reading about how Arty had to adjust to our world was fascinating. But for me, all in all, it was ok. Not great, not awful, just good.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has not influenced this review, and all opinions are honest and my own.

Arty has lived in The Clearing her whole life with 11 other people, when tragedy strikes Arty has to leave The Clearing an make her way into a world she has never been to before, only read about in books.
An emotionally charged book that I have immensely enjoyed

This is the second book that I've read recently that I was putting off because of low ratings but it is absolutely brilliant.

Arty, who is 16, lives in 'the clearing' which is situated in the woods in India. It is a small community made up of eleven people. She knows nothing of the outside world, except for what her mother told her and what she's read in books. When lots of members of the clearing fall ill, some dying, she and her younger brother Zeus must venture out into the real world (or "the Wasteland", as they call it) to find medical help.

She is soon thrown into a whole new world of electricity and social media and money which is "the root of all evil". The story is told in two parts, Artemis' (Arty) point of view and an unknown point of view but both unwind an tangle together and it's such a lovely story which really makes you think.

A clever twist, a thought-provoking view on the modern world, a dash of feminism is what makes The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods an enjoyable read, if a tad repetitive at times (but that seems to be the author's MO, see The One Memory of Flora Banks).

Loved this book. Kept me reading from page 1 until the end, couldn't put it down.
Loved the story the way it went the twists and turns and finding out about her life, what happened.
Loved the characters the good and the bad.

16 year old Artemis (Arty) lives in a small commune in an Indian forest. She has never known a different life, but is aware of the outside world through the carefully chosen books which she and the other children in the group are allowed to read. This tight knit group of seven adults and four children lives a very loving and peaceful existence which is shattered suddenly and violently by a tragic event which forces Arty out into the real world.

Emily Barr’s love of travel and gap-year backpacking (a staple of her early books) has been developed into a ‘what happened next’ scenario courtesy of Arty’s mother Venus (nee Victoria Jones) who fell in love with India when she travelled there in her youth to escape a troubled home life, and started the commune as a way of escaping from the harsh realities of life back in 90s Britain.

This is a sweet and thoughtful Young Adult read with a very engaging central character. I’m not sure I was totally convinced by how relatively worldly and confident became Arty as soon as she was out in the real world, but that slight niggle aside I really enjoyed the book. It deals with some pretty gritty topics (Arty’s chapters are interspersed with the account of an unnamed person who is being held captive in a basement, and the identity of this person is only revealed towards the end of the book) but at the heart of the story is an innocent girl unsullied by our cynical and mercenary society, and I found Arty’s story an engaging and uplifting read.

Great book. I really invested in the character of Arty and was rooting for her throughout. Well written and a real page turner.

I hadn’t read anything by Emily Barr before but I was drawn into this book on the strength of the concept and I wasn’t disappointed. The twists and turns of Arty’s journey were riveting as was her approach to the upheaval in her idyllic life. It was a joy to have such strong female characters sprinkled through the pages. On the strength of the quality of the writing, I will definitely track down more books by this author.

This book was not my usual genre but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The twists and turns were surprising with a great ending. A great book with a few surprises. Highly recommend a read

I greatly enjoyed Emily Barr’s first two young adult novels, and was keen to see what worlds and characters she would introduce us to next. Past books by the author had prepared me for the possibility that narrators, and, indeed, less central characters might be unreliable, and so I took the first person sections with a pinch of salt, even as I tried to figure out whose story they were telling and how that person and story was related to the characters and story of the third person narrative that dominated the book as a whole.

Artemis Jones – Arty – was born in a clearing of an Indian forest, the first of four children born to an experimental community who avoid contact with the outside world as much as possible, and communicate with it only through one adult who ventures beyond the forest to trade for goods they can’t grow or make themselves. Although they have different parents, Arty regards the younger children as her brothers and sisters and takes care of them when the adults are busy, as well as looking after the community’s small library and doing the laundry. When a sudden disease strikes down all those around her, Arty, now sixteen, takes her one surviving brother with her to seek help from the people living beyond the forest.

Although she speaks three languages and has read about the outside world in her books, Arty finds even the smallest village to be a loud and fast-moving place. She is further alarmed when she, her brother, and the first two people to help them are immediately quarantined upon reporting her situation to the authorities. Once released from hospital and placed in the care of temporary foster parents, Arty learns that she and her brother have separate families in France and England respectively – and they are now social media celebrities, thanks to one of her would-be rescuers posting her story all over the internet.

When, after a series of adventures, Arty – now separated from her brother – is reunited with the grandparents she never previously met, her one thought is that her mother told her to avoid the cellar. And we know that the cellar is or was the improvised prison of our unknown first person narrator, whose most telling other connection to Arty is a distinctive teddy bear. As is the way of fairy tale heroines, Arty is unable to resist looking in the cellar, and deeply hidden family secrets are revealed, although new mysteries also open up to her.

I loved Arty, and also her adventures for the most part. I found some of the revelations connected to the cellar to be anticlimactic after the big buildup of the early chapters, and the ending was a little too sugar-coated for my liking. On the other hand, some of Arty’s attempts to interact with a world she didn’t fully understand made me smile, and I enjoyed the commentary on the influence of social media and celebrity from those who refused to engage with it, as well as from those who were deeply immersed in it. Not my favourite of the author’s books, but a treat nonetheless.

Arty has always lived in the Clearing, a small settlement in the forests of south India. But their happy life, hidden from the rest of the world, is shattered by a terrible accident. For the first time in her sixteen years, Arty must leave the only place she's ever known, into the outside world she's been taught to fear.

The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods has such an interesting premise, following a young girl who has grown up in a secluded utopia far away from the sins of capitalism, war and patriarchy. In her sixteen years alive, Arty has only met ten other people. However, Arty is soon jolted out of her idyllic childhood as she is forced to leave her commune to the outside 'Wastelands' to find help for her family. I really enjoyed her perspective as an innocent and sheltered young woman coming face-to-face for the first time with many of the twenty-first century excesses that is today's world. Many of her thoughts on such timely topics are insightful and effective, providing an interesting social commentary to the novel. While her voice came across as quite child-like and naive, at points, she also displays a great deal of emotional strength and intelligence as she proves resourceful in an alien world. Barr has crafted a very compelling protagonist as she feels so grounded and, despite her extraordinary circumstances, like a real teenage girl.

This novel has been billed as a thriller, much like the rest of Barr's publications, which I think is somewhat a misnomer. The majority of the novel follows a young woman recovering from trauma and does not hold many of the usual characteristics and tropes of a genre novel. Much of the suspense or mystery in the novel relates to the two different timelines present in the novel: one in the present day from Arty's perspective interspersed with a mysterious first person narrative in which someone is being held captive in a room. I am not typically a fan of such devices as I often feel that they are quite gimmicky but the plot twist is powerful and used effectively, complimenting the main narrative perfectly. It was honestly cleverly done and did not feel cheap at all.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this novel, and found it a moving coming of age tale of an extraordinary young woman.

This is the first book that I have read by Barr and it most certainly won't be the last!

We meet Artemis (or Arty) who lives with her mother Venus in The Clearing - a small commune of just 12 people in India. Arty has only ever met 11 other people and has never been to the outside world.

When her small world is shattered Arty has to leave her sanctuary and go into the world she has always feared and never wanted enter. Her mission is to find a woman in London called Tania who used to live in The Clearing.

As Arty makes her way into the huge scary (and noisy) world she realises that she can't trust everyone...

Alongside Arty's narrative, we are given very short chapters of someone who is trapped in a basement and has been locked away for some time. Whilst it's immediately apparent that this person has some mental health issues, there is something more sinister at play...

I absolutely loved this book! I adored Arty and her beautiful simplistic way of seeing the world. She was kind, thoughtful, generous and gentle. Also very naïve when it came to dealing with people and transactions. She wore her heart on her sleeve and had to learn that other people aren't the same and can be disingenuous (and that they can and will take advantage). At times I felt so worried for Arty, wondering if she was going to be ok and if anyone would harm her. Although she was very traumatised from her experiences of leaving The Clearing she had a strength and resilience that couldn't be broken and you will find yourself cheering her on.

Barr also showed some of humanity's wonders however. I loved Cherry and her immediate bond with Arty and how she took her under her wing and showed her kindness in a place that could have broken a young woman who didn't have much social awareness.

There have been some mixed reviews of the basement plot. I don't want to go into too much details but I had many guesses as to what was going on and I was completely wrong! It all tied together at the end and I felt gave the story even more depth.

Arty made me think about many things we all use so often (and some in an unhealthy way) in a capitalist society. The dependence we have on our technology, the addiction of social media and the lack of focus on being present in our life is very thought provoking. I do however share her love of books and devouring the written word.

I read this book in 3 sittings and cannot recommend it highly enough.

A sparkling 5 star read for me.

WOW! Is the first thing I should say about this book. I absolutely LOVED IT! I have read all of Emily Barr's other works of YA Fiction but I have to say The Girl Who Came Out Of The Woods is by far my favourite. It is truly faultless and had everything you could want in a YA Thriller/Mystery. To be honest I am still thinking about it to this day and I finished reading it a few weeks ago - that's how good it was!

The overall plot, in my eyes was pure perfection. I feel that a lot of research must have been done regarding the setting of South India and also regarding some topics raised within the story such as drugs, fostering and loneliness. With regards to these types of topics you have to tread carefully and this was definitely done within The Girl Who Came Out Of The Woods. Nothing was glamourised and was all explained in a respectful way.

Everything within the story flowed together so very nicely and nothing felt like it shouldn't be there. There's a dual narrative within the plot and one of these had me on the edge of my seat for definite! There were twists, turns, shocks and moments that just made you gasp. I could feel my adrenaline pumping through most of the story and this, in turn, made me want to carry on reading. It's a certain page turner I'll tell you that.

All the characters within The Girl Who Came Out Of The Woods were incredible but Arty was on a whole other level. She was such a bright, confident girl who despite hesitation was determined to do what she could to find out the truth. Having not been into the outside world before she certainly managed to come into her own and make friends along the way. I'll admit at times she could be a bit too trusting but that could be expected from someone who hasn't had contact with many people before. Arty really comes into her own come the end of the book and she is an example of excellent character development.

The Girl Who Came Out Of The Woods was a gripping, thrilling, page turning read that had you wanting to know more and more throughout. It had me captivated from the first page and I can honestly say this is going to be one of my top reads of 2019. Emily Barr has excelled herself and I can't wait to read what she writes next.

Arty's idyllic life in a commune in India is shattered and she is thrust into the modern world. But are her English relatives helpful or harmful? and what's the secret of the basement?

Gripping and a really different take on a story.

I received a digital advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I enjoyed this book, after never reading anything by Emily Barr I wasn't sure what to expect.

It tells the story of Arty a half English / half Indian girl who grows up in a forest community in India, after her mother decides to leave her life behind and start a matriarchal community. The story focuses on Arty's simple, unfussy life where joy is a bar of dairy milk had once a year.

The narrative then switches to someone locked in a basement room which hints at objects Arty has in her life, so you begin to wonder is it Arty in the basement?

When illness plague's the community and there are deaths, Arty is forced to go into the outside world and learn to survive all over again.

I won't give any of the spoilers away, but the story was very rich and interesting with well developed characters and great description of both India and England and thought provoking about how to learn about life after being sheltered for so long. Arty seems to get to grips with everything so quickly, which I found a little strange so that's why only 4 stars.

This book sounded amazing when I first read the synopsis, I couldn't wait to get stuck in and then I picked it up and I'm going to be honest although it was a quick read when I got to 30% and I still wasn't invested in the book so I DNF'd posted my thoughts on netgalley and then decided to see if it was just me and checked the ratings and reviews on goodreads, there were a couple that said they found the beginning slow and a little boring, but once they got to about 40% they were hooked.

I decided to pick it back up and give it another go and I'm really glad I did.

The story is about Artemis (Arty) who was born and raised in a clearing in the woods with 10 other people, something tragic happens and Arty leaves the clearing with one of the other children in search of help on the advice of her mother.

The story soon develops into a journey of self discovery for Arty, having to learn the 'modern ways' this story does an amazing job of showing the good and bad sides to social media and the internet in general, as well as showing that not
everyone who seems like a friend can be trusted.

I adored reading about Arty meeting new people and learning to open up about her past whilst also trying to accept her new future.

It was a rollercoaster of emotions, it had me laughing, crying, cringing and also really relating to Arty in places.
I cannot recommenced this book enough to EVERYONE.

Artemis — Arty — has grown up in a matriarchal settlement in the forests of South India never having any contact with the outside world. When something terrible happens Arty has no choice but to leave the forest and venture into a world she knows very little about where not everyone can be trusted.

Oh this book was magic. Such a sad but thoroughly human story. Arty is a real gem, she has so much heart and her innocence was endearing. Her journey is not an easy one but she stumbled through it with determination and fearlessness. I adore her.

The dual point of views worked really well and I was well over half way through the book before I had a feeling what the twist was going to be.

Arty encountered some real characters and I love the way each of them challenged her. The only negative for me was that the ending was a little too perfect and unrealistic but maybe that’s just me being a grumpy cynic 😂

Great storytelling, I really feel like I went on a important journey with Arty. Fantastic read.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the free review copy.

Emily Barr strikes gold again, with The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods. I've really enjoyed Barr's previous coming of age YA titles, so really was looking forward to reading this. I wasn't disappointed. As with her previous books, we're treated to an insightful cultural tour of a foreign country - this time, it's India, and the girl coming out of the woods is Artemis - Arty to her friends. Arty has grown up in 'the clearing'; a tight knit, matriarchal society, but a devastating incident means she has to leave her beloved home.. As Arty makes her own way in the world she meets a variety of characters and learns the salutary lesson that not everyone is as they first appear. Some people can be trusted and some can't. no matter how much we'd like to. As with Barr's other books, there are sad moments and lessons to learn, but ultimately this is a truly life affirming read and one that is most definitely not just for a YA audience.

Not really my cup of tea, found it quite slow, quite often confused, just found it disappointing and wanted so much more from the book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Not my usual type of book but this was still exciting and kept me turning the pages. Well written and made me feel like I really knew the main characters