Reviews

Be Wary of the Silent Woods by Svetlana Chmakova

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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sc104906's review against another edition

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5.0

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
https://youtu.be/iuuGFavX8Do

Ailis is a young weirn, or a magical being with a supernatural familiar that assists with magic. Like any typical student, she has to go to school, but her takes place in a super awesome building that appears at night. Ailis walks with her cousins to school everyday. They are also late, everyday, so they must take a short cut through the haunted/dangerous Silent Woods. The urban legend surrounding the abandoned building keeps them from staying too long in the woods. When they encounter a strange being in the woods and a classmate starts acting strangely, Ailis and her cousins are going to need to get to the bottom of this mystery.

We had laugh-out-loud fun with this novel and can't wait for more. Chmkova creates great characters who you just want to become best friends with. These novels will appeal more to readers of the fantasy/Amulet fans, but creates a great bridge from the realistic fiction world into fantasy. The art is amazing, it is a perfect pairing of English and Japanese graphic novel style. Sarah still can't get over the cute little emoji faces in the text boxes. We can't wait to get this book on display and encourage our readers to check it out. For a more detailed review, please check out of video review on Youtube.

emeraldreverie's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this! A good romp, fun characters, great art and colors. The only thing I could ask for is more queer!

jkenna90's review against another edition

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5.0

Thanks to NetGalley for a free review copy of this book!

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one but it was so good!! I loved all the magical aspects of it as well as the spooky story of the Headmistress. The two main characters, Ailis (Leesh) and Na'Ya and so cute together and I love their friendship throughout the book. I also really loved the town that they live in - it gave me really strong Halloween Town vibes from back in the day on Disney Channel. I would highly, highly recommend this to anyone but especially kids that are interested in books that have magic in them. I absolutely LOVED this book!!

erindurrett's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

iffer's review against another edition

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3.0

I liked this, but I didn't love it as much as either the previous Weirn series or Svetlana Chmakova's Awkward series. That likely sounds worse than it is, though, since I really enjoyed both of those. This book skews towards a younger crowd than the first Weirn series, probably to juvenile to middle grade readers rather than middle grade to early high schoolers (similar intended audience as the Awkard series). The art is done in similar style to Chmakova's recent works, in something I think of as "North American manga style," with a limited pastel color palette that works very well for her stories.

I loved that this book features kids that feel "normal" and realistic, who are silly and value their friendships. It was also not lost on me, and actually very much appreciated, that the group of main characters was a multiracial family and it was NBD. I'm curious to see where the next volume goes, since the theme of this book was somewhat dark
Spoilerand Jacen and the entire family will have to deal with long-term effects of abuse and trauma. This wasn't explored in depth, but I appreciated the way in which Chmakova doesn't take the easy way out with a happily-ever-after, and rather alludes to the fact that Jacen may never fully "recover," but that he has a chance at a happy life
Spoiler

ljrinaldi's review against another edition

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4.0

There is a special school for children who are weirn, meaning she has a supernatural creature attached to her. Allis goes to a special school for those have supernatural abilities, during the evening, when the school for the mundane children turns into the night school.

Allis's grandmother once had a brother, but he is gone, and that is all Allis knows about him. Well, that, and that there is a weird house in the woods, where no one lives.

Or do they?

This is the first in who knows how many books, so some mysteries are solved, and others are hinted at. Like Svetlana's other books, there are very human, very full fledged characters in these books. Great fun, and good first story in what looks to be a fun series.

Give me a mean girl with a back story. Svetlana does, and makes you wonder what is going on there. I hope we learn more in the next volume.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

v_nessa's review against another edition

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3.0

I almost didn't read this because I've been busy but it was middle-grade and pretty short so I put aside a couple hours. It's a pretty simple story but cute and fun. I loved the idea of little supernatural kids going to school together at sunset to a regular school that has been transformed into something magical.

Not too much to say about it, fairly predictable as storylines go but still cute.

taun's review against another edition

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4.0

I super love the color palette, the humor, and the realistic peer to peer relationships in this book. A semi creepy story of otherworldly beings, a ‘night side’ existence & triumph over evil.

booksandpops4000's review against another edition

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3.0

This was fun an eeriy and creepy inspired read. it also remidend me of the world building of shadow hunters with so many types of characters!! I also like the long term and mystery from the past and how this connected to the grandma past. I also think that beecause we had so many characters it was a bit confusing on who was who. I also really did like the drawing style as well!! It was a super quick read as well!!