Reviews with content warning for Death - The Forest of Vanishing Stars

I have three different opinions of this book. The beginning was meh, the middle I liked, and the ending I really liked. So I landed on that I liked this book.

This is a part of WWII history I have not read before. Set in the forest of Eastern Europe, Yona is a young woman who was stolen from her wealthy German parents at a young age and raised in the wilderness. After her defacto mother figure dies, she comes across some Jews fleeing the Nazis and feels the tug to help them survive. I found this premise fascinating. But the back story of Yona felt stilted and I didn't feel connected to her as a character. Once she met the Jews she was trying to save I started to like her more but still I felt that I was lacking a connection to her character. In the end she became more fleshed out and I began to understand her more. Now, I know that the connection to her character progressing like this over the novel is in fact probably a writing choice and acts as symbolism for the growth of the character, but it made me feel disconnected and it was hard to keep reading in the beginning.

The author's note at the end was perhaps the most fascinating part of the book, but I was missing that spark of authenticity until I read that author's note. I think more of that feeling could have been infused in the story.

*Shallow quibble. This title and the cover do not fit this book at all. Great title, but does not work for this book.

Content Warnings

wellreadmegs's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Kristin Harmel does it again. She is quickly becoming a must-read author for me.

I absolutely loved this story of Yona and I felt so many different emotions. As someone who even hates camping, I am fascinated by someone's ability to survive and thrive in the wilderness. It took me a solid 70-80 pages for the book to pick up. But once Yona reached adulthood I didn't want to put the book down.

Historical fiction is my comfort genre and it was nice to get lost in this story. Every time you thought you knew what was going to happen there were twists and turns right until the very end. I can't wait to read more of Harmel's books!

Content Warnings

cc0906's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

rainkatzanddogs's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

tays_books's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

bohemianrhapsodyreads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I always look forward to a new Harmel book, because I can always guarantee learning something new from a different perspective. Having read almost all of Harmel's backlist, I would say this one take a different route and tone that we are used to from her, but it was still a worthy read. There was definitely more mystery and adventure to it than her previous novels.

What I enjoyed about this one was that the main character, Yona, was still learning about herself and her past while still fighting to support the Jewish community in a very harsh time period. Yona is navigating her own story and coming to terms with her story and this I really enjoyed. It was sort of a historical fiction coming of age. Yona's character was quite well developed, the most developed and enjoyable in my eyes. Despite her own struggles, she continues to support others in need where she has developed skills.

I also really enjoyed the portrayal and importance of the forest and the land in this story. It almost felt like its own character. I would argue that the forest was my favourite character. There was a lot of intrigue to it and it was an essential component to the story overall.

The writing was detailed, but also straight forward (not flowery), which helps the reader become more immersed in the story. The story had twists and turns, but was never slow or sluggish. The though and research that went into it was strong.

The significance of the title to this story is something else. It was a really beautiful piece of the story and tied it together in a wonderful way. This story is about redemption, survival, community, forgiveness and much more. I think many readers will enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

reading_ladies_blog's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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