In the beginning it feels like the little community on the forest are there, isolated from the world because of some big disaster that they are escaping, something like war or disease. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that they are isolated by choice and that the thing they most want to escape is modern, patriarchal society.
The community sounds perfect, with everyone pitching in and life bobbing gently along, with only one member every venturing out to the world.
However when things go wrong they do very wrong very quickly and suddenly Arty is out of the trees and into the thick of a world she has never seen or experienced.
This is both heart breaking and heart warming at the same time as Arty finds her way, gets taken in by manipulative strangers, discovers vehicles, cinema, phones and social media for the first time all the while trying to reunite with the boy she rescued from the community and with the mysterious Uncle Matthew.
The writing is very clever, sometimes leaving you unsure as to whose story or viewpoint you are hearing.
Ultimately a fascinating read that provokes discussion on the horrors of social media and how invasive it can be.

I thought this was a beautifully written story which really showed the innocence of someone who hasn't had any contact with the outside world and who has been brought up in a close knit matriarchal community, where they are "all gods and goddesses". The sub plot of the basement really had me guessing - I couldn't work out who it was about nor how they had got there. While some elements of the story felt a little far fetched, it didn't spoil what was overall a really engaging and enjoyable story.

I really like Emily Barr's style of writing, I found her last couple of books pretty addictive, but this one just didn't capture me as much. I still enjoyed it, and it was an interesting storyline, but it wasn't my favourite by comparison. It still has Emily's fantastic signature writing style and unique ideas and I will continue to read her books in the future with great interest and excitement.

The story is about Arty who has lived her entire life totally off the grid in India. When a virus decimates her community, she needs to venture into the world to find help. Not knowing who she can trust, Arty has to learn how to survive in a world she knows nothing about. Running in conjunction with Arty’s story, is the story of someone locked in a basement trying to figure out how to escape. I was unsure how the stories fit together but it becomes clear before the end.

An interesting and compelling storyline with several twists which made for an entertaining read.

Crikey. read some very negative reviews about THE GIRL WHO CAME OUT OF THE WOODS, and from my perspective, undeserved. For me, the beginning was a confusing. I think this was more to do with the world building than anything else, I couldn't work out where I was with it, or who I needed to champion, but then it is an unusual setup so is meant to be original. I persevered and I'm really glad I did. There's a lot of heart in the story and who's to say that what happened to Arty wouldn't happen. Let's face it, this is fiction, and yes, there were some improbables, but we get that in most fiction. Her acceptance of the outside world happened very quickly but I felt the book was a tad too long so...I don't know how long it would take someone to get used to things. Arty was smart, had been educated, and knew about most things even if she didn't have a personal connection before she left the clearing. I thought it was an original concept and well executed. Four stars from me, and thank you to Emily Barr, Penguin Random House and Net Galley for my copy.

I love Emily Barr's books so I was really looking forward to this one. I found the start very gripping. I loved the idea of a community voluntarily cut off from the modern world, and of a child growing up without knowing anything about how the 'normal' world works. I was with Arty all the way when she left and began to make her own way. But, the problem with this book is that, because the point of view of the 3rd person narrator is young and naive, it's (necessarily) written in a very young and naive style. After a while this begins to grate a bit. The voice is interspersed with a first person point of view but (I guess in an effort not to give the game away) these sections are short. I think this book would have worked better as a short story.

The blurb for this book sounds great. The beginning few chapters enjoyable but then it slows down I'm 40% in and I'm bored. Sorry I can't finish this book when there are so many more out there to spend my time on.

I read this book in one day and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading about Arty facing her fears of the outside world after life in the Clearing and finding her place in the world. Her feelings of bemusement and her need to understand the modern world were well portrayed.

I felt for her and Zeus as they tried to work out how to mould themselves to this new world and deal emotionally with the loss of all that was familiar to them.

The author develops some difficult themes - addiction (to social media and drugs), social inequalities and family breakdown.

I found the interludes in the basement difficult to read - they did not appear to fit into the narrative but it resolves itself before the end and has pertinent significance.

The ending perhaps felt a little too good but I enjoyed it and it was good to finish on a ‘feel good’ moment.

I've actually given this 3.5 stars. I was really looking forward to this book and unfortunately it did disappoint me a little. It wasn't until around the 60% mark of the book that it actually got interesting and then I felt that after the plot twist (which to be fair was a pretty good twist which I didn't see coming) everything just seemed a little, I'm not sure I would say boring but it's the only word I can think of to describe the end part of the book.

Having said that I've got to say the research has very clearly been done for this book and the extensiveness of the research is brilliant. I really liked how Arty had no clue about the outside world, other than what she had gathered from books she had read. Overall I liked how Arty tackled the outside world and I loved the twist, but I don't think I would read it again.

A girl drags a young lad through the Indian jungle, when a lethal disease decimates the hippie commune they'd been living at. Never having even met ten people before, the new world outside is certainly that – new. She's heartbroken when authorities find his relatives, and he is flown to France for his new life. She's adamant she can make her own mind up about what happens to her – after all, she would appear to be sixteen. But what legacy has her stunted background left her with – and why is every second chapter a first-person narrative of someone wanting to break out of the basement they're kept a prisoner in?

This is certainly a distinctive thriller, albeit not as good as the author's first YA book (but then, little is). Its attempts to be 'about' things grated at times, so when we get heavy-handed lessons about how bad social media is you feel like throttling the author and saying "yeah, uh-huh, we know – now, person in basement?!". It certainly is a little too long. And, despite one or two lovely call-back styled surprises later on, the big twist is far too guessable. I think for the teenage audience that might not always be so, and they will be left with many vivid visuals from the Indian side of things, but for me it didn't feel quite as fresh as needed. A slightly generous three and a half stars.

Arty lives in a commune in woods of India. She is happy and has never wanted to know about the world outside.
Life suddenly changes and she is forced outside trying to find her uncle and a friend of her mother's.
Can she survive and who can she trust? And what is the significance of the basement she is not to go into?
This is a beautifully written story which will keep you enthralled to the last page.

I have noticed that this book has a wide range of reviews. Personally I loved it! The unfolding of the story giving us just a little more information at each turn was captivating. I liked Arty's character and found the people she meets on her voyage of discovery interesting, if not always realistic. I would particularly recommended this read to the teens I work with as it includes much which will interest their generation. Great read!

Wow! This novel will capture your heart and run riot with it. I absolutely loved Arty's story of survival and discovery. Emily Barr has done a stunning job of creating a story that not only pulls and the heart strings but leaves you guessing every step of the way.

This book is about Arty, who has always lived in rural South India, totally off the grid. When a virus kills all her family, her life entirely changes. And she has to face The Real World for the first time in 17 years..
I really loved the concept and premise of this book. It's very interesting to follow someone who faces the real world at the age of 17. It was a good, easy going read.
However, there were 2 things that prevented this book from being very good. The pace was just so off, it was very boring at times. And it got so unrealistic sometimes.
It's just a shame because Emily Barr is a very good writer who has imagination. I just wish the potential of the story has been more utilized by this good author.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Um well wowzer what a great book, the twists that you need for a great thriller, there's suspense that is obviously required but it's not so much edge of your seat as opposed to escape from reality and a fantastic read, I loved it
Arty has lived her whole life in the clearing with a eco family with no outside influences the only real that the monkey's in the forest. After the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the group's in the clearing all changes and it couldn't be a bigger change for Arty who was born their to Venus formerly Victoria (Vicky). No give aways so you will need to read it but there are great characters and all very believable even if at first you may question that.
There is a honesty about this book that adds to the experience but doesn't rob you of escaping the real world that if part of the job of a great thriller, and a rare gift that Emily Barr displays displays with incredible skill.
How could this book not be highly recommended.

What’s it About? Arty has alway lived in a totally off the grid clearing somewhere in South India. When some weird virus takes down her entire family she has to venture out into The Real World for the first time in 17 years...
What I liked A bit like when I read The One Memory of Flora Banks, I loved the concept of this - the whole living off the grid thing in what could be described as a 'cult-like' community and never having known anything else, ever, is fascinating to me. I liked the concept, I liked the story, I liked the stuff set at The Clearing, I liked the twist although I did see it coming, I liked Arty. I flew through this book also, which is a good sign. It's an easy read.
What I liked Less It was so unrealistic I just couldn't handle it. My eyes rolled so far into the back of my head that I gave myself a migraine. Arty has lived in a clearing for 17 years. She's never seen a car, or a television or used a mobile phone and somehow I'm supposed to believe that within days of leaving - days after, also watching her entire family die - she's picked up on the foibles of the modern world so well that she's ordering herself a coke in a cafe and knowing how to pay for it, she's catching trains and planning to catch planes and she's throwing around words like selfie and it's just so unlikely. Also she got herself a convenient celebrity friend who conveniently solved all her problems and just...no. Also the ending tied everything up way too nicely to be realistic and THAT ONE THING at the end, again: no. May I suggest Lisa Heathfield's Seed instead?

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book but I don’t think I can finish it, so first I was just greatly confused by where or even what this story is fully about. As soon as I began reading this I just felt myself having to force myself to carry this on and to me a book shouldn’t feel that way, it should be effortless and I should want to read this but unfortunately I don’t. Maybe one day I’ll give it another shot at reading this book but right now I’m going to have to stop.

If someone had told me how my life could change so drastically in one moment I would never had believed them.
Arty has lived in the clearing all her life a small setting in India with her family around her, she was happy and loved by all at sixteen her life changed forevermore.
After a dramatic event that takes place Arty has to leave the clearing and entre the world for the very first time.
Even though Arty knew about the outside world from reading books she wasn't prepared for her life to change so drastically.
The girl who came out of the woods has gone viral how will she be able to cope.

I was very surprised, on finishing this book, to read some pretty negative advance reviews, because I completely loved it. I’ve read most if not all of Emily Barr’s books, and I think this is up there with her best.

Artemis has grown up in a tiny community of eleven people, cut off from the outside world, in a clearing in a forest sixty miles from Mumbai. It’s a matriarchal society, close to nature, where the inhabitants have all taken the names of gods and goddesses. She has never left, nor wanted to. But when something almost incomprehensibly terrible happens, Artemis, now aged “about sixteen”, is forced out of the woods and into the world the adults referred to as “the Wasteland”. (This sounds a bit post-apocalyptic but it’s just our world, and it’s not an entirely inaccurate description.)

Meanwhile, running alongside Artemis’s story is a first person narrative from a person, clearly not doing very well mentally, who appears to be being held prisoner in a basement and plots escape. While there was clearly more to this than met the eye, it was an intriguing strand which I had various ideas about as the story progressed.

(With nothing to read in the basement except a Jeremy Clarkson book, hitting oneself on the head with it instead and later setting fire to it seems reasonable, by the way.)

I loved Arty’s character - although completely new to the outside world, with little idea about how things work and deeply traumatised by her recent experiences, she proves incredibly resourceful and resilient, though is also helped along by a fair bit of luck. (Turns out there are good, kind people even out there in the Wasteland.) As Arty, separated from her last link to the world of the clearing, sets out to follow the barest of instructions from her mother, even a Bollywood superstar known as AMK has a part to play. (I could only picture Amitabh Bachchan...)

I really adored reading The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods. It was incredibly enjoyable and something totally unexpected near the end brought tears to my eyes. It’s not a thriller, so some readers
may be disappointed by that, although there are definitely elements of mystery involved. For me it was a brilliantly engaging read. The ending is maybe a bit too neat, but what the hell, I loved it.

I'm so sorry to netgalley, the author and the publisher. Thank you so much for my advance copy but I'm now a third in and I honestly can't stand to read anymore. It's honestly not like me to give up on a book but I am so, so bored of it that I can feel my life ticking away!! I don't think I've ever given up on a book before but life is much too short to continue reading this rubbish!! Come on editors, let's move the story along! I'm sure there is a great idea here, but I'm wading through treacle. Needs serious editing!