What the Woods Took Summary, Characters and Themes

What The Woods Took is a tense, character-driven survival thriller by Courtney Gould about teens forced into a wilderness-therapy program that becomes far more threatening than anything they imagined. 

The story follows Devin, a foster teen whose life is upended when she’s seized from her home and taken to a remote camp called REVIVE. There, she and several other teens endure strict routines, emotional pressure, and the creeping sense that something in the forest is very wrong. As relationships within the group shift and trust becomes scarce, the teens confront creatures that echo the darkest parts of their pasts. The book blends mystery, psychological tension, and the fierce will to survive.

Summary

Devin is taken from her foster home in the middle of the night by two men who claim to be acting with her guardians’ permission. Thrown into a transport van, she meets Ollie, another teen whose guardian signed the same consent forms. 

The two are driven deep into the wilderness, where they discover they’ve been enrolled in a fifty-day rehabilitation program called REVIVE. Coaches Ethan and Liv present the program as a chance for growth, but the teens quickly sense the situation is far from safe. Alongside Devin and Ollie are Aidan, Hannah, and Sheridan, each carrying private wounds and resentment about being forced into the trek.

The early days are dominated by long hikes, emotional disclosures, and strain within the group. Sheridan is abrasive and combative, making every interaction harder. Devin, already distrustful and accustomed to fending for herself, clashes with her repeatedly until their tension boils over into physical fights. 

Ethan punishes Devin by disclosing personal information from her case file in front of Sheridan, humiliating her and further eroding her trust in the adults. The program feels endless, and the forest itself starts to feel hostile, though no one can explain why.

The first major rupture comes after the group reaches a violent river they must cross as a team. Devin swims the rope across, nearly freezing in the current. Sheridan panics while crossing and unclips herself, causing a chain reaction that almost drowns Ollie. Devin rescues him, but the coaches blame the entire group for poor cooperation. Their criticism is the last guidance the teens ever get, because the next morning Ethan and Liv are gone. 

Their tent is untouched, their gear abandoned, and no footprints lead away. Devin insists something terrible happened; Aidan claims this must be a test. The group divides after a vote: Devin and Sheridan leave on their own, while Ollie, Hannah, and Aidan stay on what they believe is the official route.

Devin and Sheridan’s path becomes a harsh ascent through the mountains. Sheridan is physically deteriorating, and only later admits she is withdrawing from opioids. They find a burned-down cabin that should have been a supply point and argue bitterly until Devin wanders off and experiences a terrifying vision of twisted shapes and a man from her past. 

When she wakes the next morning, Sheridan reveals a journal written by a hiker decades earlier who described seeing familiar faces in the woods. The entries hint at creatures capable of copying people. Devin and Sheridan share rare honesty, growing closer as they descend to find the others.

Meanwhile, the other three teens lose their trail. Their food drop has been raided by something silent and unseen. Tension cracks when Aidan disappears overnight and returns injured, claiming he found the correct route. 

Their fear deepens when Coach Liv stumbles into their camp, bloodied and barely alive. Soon afterward, the teens are attacked by a creature that shifts shapes, wearing the forms of people they know. Ollie narrowly survives after Hannah fights the creature off with fire.

When the group finally regathers, they learn more from Sheridan’s journal: the creatures, called mimics, imitate voices and loved ones, drawing people into despair before taking their bodies. Paranoia erupts when pages listing details about the mimics go missing and the group suspects Sheridan. She is tied up until Devin convinces everyone to test her claim of a safe shelter marked on the hiker’s map: a fire watchtower stocked with food. Aidan and Devin accompany Sheridan toward it in a fragile alliance.

Ollie and Hannah continue downtrail alone, relying on their wits as food runs low. A mimic targeting Ollie nearly succeeds by copying his father’s voice, but Hannah drives it off. They return shaken, and a sudden kiss between them ends abruptly when Ollie realizes her necklace is missing.

At the watchtower, Devin and Aidan find real supplies, proof Sheridan was truthful. Yet the group remains unsettled, unsure who among them might already have been replaced. Back at the main camp, the truth emerges: the real Hannah has been replaced by a mimic. The creature admits limited knowledge but hints that the mimics want bodies to leave the forest.

Desperate, the teens attempt a trap using a ring of gasoline-soaked rope. But a mimic disguised as Sheridan ambushes Devin first, dragging her into the woods before the others realize the switch. 

Chaos erupts as multiple mimics invade the clearing. Ollie manages to ignite part of the trap, driving some creatures back. The mimic wearing Hannah’s form rescues Aidan from the fire, then dies burning, acting almost protective in her final moments, leaving the teens unsure of her motives.

The real Devin wakes inside a cave, captive to a mimic that cycles through shapes, including a man from her past who left lasting trauma. It tries to break her resolve with truths about her abandonment and her fear of disappointing Sheridan. Devin nearly gives in, but Sheridan’s distant voice cuts through the creature’s influence. Devin fights back, burning the mimic with a lantern and escaping into the forest at dawn.

Sheridan finds her, injured but alive. Reunited with Ollie and Aidan, the group runs for the river. 

Across the water, lights from a lodge signal safety. Sheridan swims the rope across and secures it, but she is badly hurt. Ollie crosses last while mimics gather at the bank, unable to enter the water. He reaches the lodge and collapses, bringing rescuers to the others.

Months later, the teens rebuild their lives. Ollie struggles at home, Devin and Ollie share an apartment, and Sheridan decides she can’t remain with her parents. Devin picks her up, and together they drive toward their new home. 

At a cliff by the ocean, Sheridan fears she cannot make a future, but Devin reassures her. With the horizon ahead, they commit to facing whatever comes next, no longer controlled by the woods that once held them.

Characters

Devin

Devin is the emotional center of What The Woods Took, shaped by years in foster care, rehoming, and the constant pressure to survive without depending on others. Her history of fighting and her guarded nature come from a life in which vulnerability has always been punished. At REVIVE she begins in pure survival mode, convinced that relying on anyone will lead to betrayal. 

As the forest’s dangers escalate, Devin’s resilience becomes both her shield and her weakness. She struggles with guilt, anger, and the fear that she is fundamentally unlovable, a fear the mimics later use against her. Her evolving connection with Sheridan pushes her toward trust and compassion, revealing that Devin’s toughness has always covered a deep longing for connection. By the end of the book she becomes someone willing to risk herself not only to survive but to save the people she cares about, especially Sheridan.

Sheridan

Sheridan enters the story abrasive, cunning, and emotionally impenetrable, presenting herself as someone who refuses to be impressed or intimidated by anyone. Her attitude masks heavy burdens: opioid withdrawal, grief for her sister Theda, and the crushing expectation that she has failed her family. Sheridan’s hostility is often a defense against the shame she carries and her fear of being truly seen. 

Her dynamic with Devin is initially built on conflict, each recognizing pieces of themselves in the other, but it gradually shifts into mutual reliance. Sheridan’s sharp edges hide a fierce loyalty, and when she finally opens up about her pain, her vulnerability becomes a source of strength rather than weakness. She is one of the only characters who consistently faces the forest’s horrors with both anger and clarity, using her intelligence to navigate danger even while doubting herself. Her relationship with Devin ultimately allows her to imagine a future she never thought she deserved.

Ollie

Ollie begins as gentle, anxious, and eager to believe the best of people, but he carries deep wounds from his distant, judgmental father. His tendency to accept blame makes him an easy target for the program’s emotional pressure, and Ethan’s comments about him being broken strike at his deepest insecurity. Throughout the ordeal, Ollie becomes a steadying force within the group, thinking ahead, protecting others, and offering empathy when morale crashes. 

The forest tests him relentlessly, especially when mimics use his father’s voice to undermine his self-worth. Despite this, he grows into someone resourceful and brave, even when terrified. His bond with Hannah is marked by sweetness and fear, and the truth about her replacement devastates him. After rescue, Ollie remains haunted but committed to rebuilding his life with Devin and Sheridan, showing that his core strength lies not in physical toughness but in his capacity for care.

Aidan

Aidan is practical, optimistic to a fault, and initially convinced that following the rules will keep everyone safe. His confidence masks a desperation to maintain order when everything feels unstable. He believes in systems, maps, routines, and the idea that the program must have answers. 

As the realities of the forest shatter these beliefs, Aidan’s fear manifests as stubbornness and occasional self-blame, especially after his misreading of the trail endangers the group. 

His suspicion of Sheridan reveals both his desire for control and his fear of the unknown, but he is also capable of apology and growth when proven wrong. Despite injuries, hunger, and emotional strain, Aidan keeps trying to act as the responsible one, and though he sometimes falters, his determination helps the group survive. By the end he understands that survival depends not on certainty but on cooperation and courage.

Hannah

Hannah is marked by guilt from the moment she arrives at REVIVE, believing her father’s disappointment defines her. 

Her crash after drinking left no physical casualties, but the emotional weight of it shapes her sense of self. She bonds with Ollie because both feel like burdens to their parents, and she often seems to shrink under conflict. Her transformation into a mimic is one of the most unsettling turns in the story. 

The mimic wearing her face shifts between manipulation and oddly sincere behavior, especially during the final battle when it saves Aidan. This blurs the line between mimic instinct and borrowed humanity. The real Hannah’s fate remains unknown, but her presence, both real and replicated, embodies the themes of shame, longing for approval, and the danger of carrying guilt alone.

Ethan

Ethan represents the harmful side of authority disguised as therapeutic guidance. He believes harsh honesty and control will “fix” the teens, but his method is rooted more in power than care. 

His decision to reveal Devin’s private case file to Sheridan shows a disregard for boundaries and an eagerness to humiliate in the name of progress. Yet Ethan is not depicted as evil; rather, he is limited, misguided, and ultimately overwhelmed by forces beyond his control. 

His death at the hands of a mimic underscores how powerless he truly was in the environment he claimed to command. His presence shapes the early group dynamics, creating insecurity and distrust that linger long after he is gone.

Liv

Liv appears more gentle than Ethan but is equally trapped within the program’s rigid structure. Her early encouragements and controlled guidance give way to fear as she realizes something is stalking the group. 

When she reappears wounded and barely alive, she embodies the collapse of adult authority. Her inability to explain what happened and her ultimate death leave the teens without guidance, reinforcing the idea that the forest exists outside all the systems the adults relied upon. 

Liv’s downfall shows how little preparation REVIVE had for real danger and how much the teens must rely on themselves rather than the adults who claimed to lead them.

Mr. Atwood

Mr. Atwood exists as both a memory and a weapon used against Devin. In Devin’s past, he represents betrayal and violation of trust, someone who left deep psychological scars. 

The mimic that uses his form understands exactly how to manipulate Devin, using Atwood’s image to push her toward hopelessness. He symbolizes the darkest part of Devin’s history, the part she fears she will never overcome. Defeating the mimic wearing his shape becomes a symbolic reclaiming of power. Through this confrontation, Devin proves to herself that the past no longer controls her path forward.

Themes

Survival and Human Will

Survival in What The Woods Took is not presented simply as a test of physical strength but as a layered struggle shaped by memory, fear, and the fight to stay connected to one’s own identity. 

The wilderness exposes every weakness the teens carry into REVIVE, forcing them to rely on instincts they never expected to need. Devin, Sheridan, Ollie, and Aidan must confront hunger, exhaustion, and exposure, yet the book consistently shows that endurance is as much about navigating emotional landmines as braving harsh terrain. The forest uses their histories as weapons, pushing them toward despair so that the mimics can wear them down. What emerges is a portrait of endurance shaped by trauma—how past wounds threaten to pull each teen under even as new bonds pull them forward. 

Devin’s struggle becomes especially complex as she battles both external danger and the internal voice insisting she has been discarded too many times to matter. Ollie fights the weight of his father’s rejection, while Sheridan fights the shame and sickness of withdrawal. Their survival becomes an act of reclaiming control over the parts of their lives that have long felt predetermined by others. As the teens confront the mimics, they also confront the versions of themselves shaped by neglect and fear. 

The forest becomes a harsh teacher, confronting them with what they must resist, shed, or fight to protect. Survival becomes more than reaching safety; it becomes the process of choosing to keep moving even when their pasts urge surrender.

Trust and Mistrust

Trust takes on shifting forms throughout the story, shaped by a volatile mix of necessity, suspicion, and the constant threat of imitation. The teens begin REVIVE with little faith in each other and even less in the adults who forced them into the program. 

Once Ethan and Liv vanish, the group is thrust into a world where relying on one another is essential, yet believing one another is increasingly dangerous. The emergence of the mimics heightens this tension, because every familiar voice may be a lure and every hesitation may mean death. Relationships grow under pressure but are continually tested, particularly when the group discovers missing journal pages and paranoia targets Sheridan. 

The fear that someone close might already be replaced gnaws at every interaction. Sheridan, who begins as the least trusted member, becomes the center of the group’s deepest fracture, as her past lies and abrasive behavior make her an easy target for suspicion. 

Aidan’s nervous leadership, Ollie’s need for reassurance, and Devin’s fierce loyalty fuel a complex relational landscape where trust is rarely pure and always weighted with doubt. The book reveals how mistrust can fracture people who desperately need unity, yet it also illustrates how trust can be rebuilt through consistent, small acts of honesty and courage. 

Devin and Sheridan’s changing relationship becomes the clearest representation of this process, showing how two people who once saw only the worst in each other grow into a partnership defined by truth they fight to protect. The constant battle between trust and mistrust becomes a core measure of who the characters are and who they choose to be when everything familiar turns uncertain.

Trauma and Its Echoes

Trauma in the story is not treated as a distant memory but as a persistent presence that shapes how each character navigates the forest and their relationships. Devin carries the weight of abandonment and the fear that she has been deemed unworthy of love or stability. 

This fear becomes more pronounced when the mimic takes on forms from her past, especially Mr. Atwood, transforming previous wounds into present threats. 

Ollie’s strained relationship with his father echoes through his every decision, from his desperate need to prove usefulness to his vulnerability when a mimic copies his father’s voice. 

Hannah’s guilt over her car accident becomes a quiet force guiding her need to care for others, leaving her particularly susceptible to the forest’s manipulations. Sheridan’s trauma, shaped by addiction, loss, and a family who doesn’t know how to support her, manifests in her defensive humor and volatility. The mimics thrive on these emotional fractures, using their voices, histories, and doubts as weapons. Trauma becomes the terrain each character must learn to cross, just as treacherous as the mountains and rivers surrounding them. 

What the teens confront in the forest mirrors what they have avoided addressing in their lives: patterns of shame, fear, and self-blame that leave them exposed to manipulation. 

The story underscores how trauma shapes identity in ways the characters don’t always recognize. Their journey forces them to confront the parts of themselves that have been harmed, reshaped, or silenced by others, showing that healing is not about erasing pain but learning how to carry it without letting it dictate their fate.

Found Family

The group begins as a collection of strangers forced together by adults who claim to know what is best for them. 

Over time, however, their bond grows into something far deeper—one built not on obligation but on recognition of shared hurt and shared determination. What The Woods Took presents found family as a refuge formed in unlikely places, shaped by choice rather than blood. 

Devin and Ollie develop a connection built on trust and mutual care long before they understand the true danger of the forest. Sheridan, whose presence initially disrupts every dynamic, slowly becomes an essential piece of the group, even before the others are willing to admit it. Aidan, cautious and anxious, reveals a capacity for leadership rooted in genuine concern for the people around him. 

Their relationships become the foundation of their survival, especially when the adults expected to guide them disappear. The forest strips away hierarchies, leaving the teens with only one another to rely on. Their care deepens not through grand declarations but through small, repeated acts: sharing supplies, keeping watch, challenging each other’s destructive impulses, and risking their lives for one another. 

The eventual partnership between Devin and Sheridan embodies this theme most intensely, proving how connection can grow out of conflict when honesty replaces pretense. 

The found family they build becomes the answer to the isolation that marked their lives before REVIVE. By the time they escape, their bond has transformed them from abandoned or overlooked teens into a chosen unit that continues into the world beyond the forest.

Identity and Self-Reclamation

Identity in the novel is constantly threatened by external forces—guardians who believe the teens need correction, coaches who assume control over their choices, and mimics who literally attempt to replace them. The teens arrive at REVIVE defined by the worst versions of themselves, shaped by reports, assumptions, and past failures. 

Throughout the story, they confront the question of who they actually are versus who others have labeled them to be. The mimics embody this struggle, representing the fear of being consumed by expectations or mistakes. 

For Devin, identity is tied to her fractured foster-care history and the belief that she has no stable place in the world. Sheridan battles the version of herself still tied to addiction and her sister’s death. Ollie fights against the image of a boy who is too fragile or troubled to build a life apart from his father. Aidan fights the notion that he is only a worrier, never brave enough to act. As the dangers grow, each character begins asserting ownership of their choices. 

Devin learns to see herself as someone capable of protecting others rather than only protecting herself. Sheridan learns she is more than the worst moments of her past. Ollie discovers a strength separate from his father’s influence. The forest’s pressures force them to reclaim their identities piece by piece, rejecting the versions imposed on them by adults, families, and creatures that would reduce them to shadows. In surviving, they reclaim the right to define their own futures.

Love as Resistance

Love emerges not as a simple comfort but as an act of defiance against the forces trying to break the characters. The relationship that grows between Devin and Sheridan becomes one of the most powerful assertions of this theme. Their connection develops slowly, shaped by shared vulnerability, unexpected honesty, and mutual recognition of pain. 

Each time they choose one another—whether in arguments, apologies, or moments of fear—they reject the belief that they are unworthy of being cared for. The mimics feed on despair, making love a direct threat to their influence. When Devin hears Sheridan calling her outside the cave, that moment becomes the barrier that stops the mimic from consuming her completely. 

The story positions love as something earned through effort and truth rather than sentiment. Ollie and Hannah’s bond, complicated and ultimately tragic, also reflects this idea: even in fear, they find courage through connection. 

Love becomes a force that reshapes the teens’ sense of value. It gives them something to fight toward and someone to fight for, grounding their humanity in a place designed to strip it away. In the aftermath, when Devin and Sheridan step into their future together, their bond signifies not just romance but a reclamation of the right to choose happiness after years of being defined by loss.