Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Forestfall

In all honesty, I probably shouldn’t have picked this one up, considering it’s a YA and I didn’t particularly like the first one, but the Lord Under character was so good and I just wanted more of him. I was hoping to get more of the Violeta/Lord Under romance that was hinted at in the first book, and we got pieces of it, but the progression of their relationship was strange.

And then there were so many lines about how the three of them - the Lord Under, Violeta, and Rowan - were all connected, so I assumed the resolution would be a triad-type relationship, but this was unfortunately not to be.

Rowan was the least interesting character, I just really didn’t like him, even in the first book, and the addition of his POV slowed everything down by so much. The pacing was stuttering and all over the place, it felt like the plot could have been trimmed by a lot, and maybe even included in the first book. There just didn’t need to be this much back and forth. The writing tried so hard to be poetic and beautiful, but ended up being repetitive, messy, and confusing. I struggled with placing characters and scenery, and I constantly lost track of things and places. I definitely think someone else could enjoy this book, but if you're looking for a good monster romance, this isn't it.

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Since reading the dark and sumptuously detailed Lakesedge (which I absolutely loved) I’ve been super eager to get my hands on the sequel. So when Forestfall landed through my letterbox you have no idea how happy that made me and my little, gothic fairytale loving heart—so much so that I had to dive in almost immediately. And it certainly managed to live up to all my expectations as we finally get to explore the land of the dead and with it’s shadowy and mysterious master, the Lord Under.

After the sacrifice that Violeta made, the curse (and the corruption) on the Lakesedge estate is finally gone. But Leta’s bargain with the Lord Under now has her trapped in his domain—the land of the dead. And though he claims to have given her everything he promised, Leta knows that he’s not telling her everything, and she plans to remedy that.

When she discovers she’s still bound to Rowan, Leta goes to drastic lengths to reforge their connection. But her search or answers (and a way home) may just draw her even deeper in to danger—and even deadlier bargains—as she struggles to resist the allure of her new, darker powers…

It was soo good to finally return to Lyndall Clipstone’s exquisitely crafted and hauntingly atmospheric world of monsters, maidens and gods that I fell absolutely in love with last year. The Hades and Persephone vibes that were teased in Lakesedge were really ramped up in this instalment and honestly I love every second we got to spend in the land of the dead with the fiercely determined Violeta and the intoxicatingly dark (and sinfully smouldering) death god, the Lord Under.

The tension between the Lord Under and Leta was absolute perfection—he may be a monsterous god of death, but his intense, longing looks and scene stealing chemistry really had me second guessing my love for Rowan for a minute—but don’t worry he’s still my favourite monster boy.

It was also soo good to see Rowan again, and though he is separated from Leta for a good chunk of the book, we do still see them find a way to interact with one another—I won’t say how, just that the scenes really capture an intensity of emotion that tugged at my heartstrings.

We get to meet some new characters (and monsters) in the World Under in the form of Lady Fawn, Lady Owl and Lady Moth—and they we’re definitely pretty interesting if a little less dimensional than Leta, Rowan or the Lord Under. I loved the detail in the descriptions which was the perfect balance of creepy without being scary and the romance was soo well done. The pace was a little slower than I anticipated, but it definitely gave us time to absorb the exquisite details of the world building and all that deliciously unnerving, gothic goodness.

Lyndall Clipstone is a master of prose and her skill at crafting such beautifully haunting and vivid imagery has quickly made her one of my go to authors for dark, fairy-esque fantasy that I can fully immerse myself in—having loved this soo much, I know I’ll definitely be auto buying everything she writes from now on.

If you love your fantasy brimming with monsters, rich in detail and reminiscent of dark fairytales then absolutely must give this (and the first book, Lakesedge) a read.

Also, a massive thank you to Titan for the wonderful PB copy.

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gabriellabmszros's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

Better than the first one but most of the dialogs are still painful, the character arcs are basically non-existent.

Sometimes it is well written but 90% of the time the book is like a Z category fanfiction. I wanted to love these books because the premise is interesting, the world could be great...but there is groundwork missing, stories missing and a thorough editing is also missing.

(Also the repetitions of imagery and retellings of what has happened so far are a bit annoying.)

The duology could have been so cool...

a polyamorous relationship with the god of death and a brooding lord. Count me in!

I hope one day someone writes a similar story with better literary abilities.

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