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This is a book I’d like to try again someday, I just don’t think I’m in the headspace or mood to read it at the moment.
I really struggled with the sheer amount of world building being done and how much I was getting at once. Personally it made it hard for me to focus on the book and keep up with what was happening. Even though I think the concepts and ideas used in the book were really interesting, I struggled to keep up with it all.
I also struggled with the relationship between Zeru and Cassia. I think both were really interesting and I liked the childhood friends turned enemies dynamic, but when it came to the romance I struggled with getting into that. It didn’t feel as earned. I did really like the relationship between Cassia and her sisters though and the fraught relationship with her father. I think there was a lot of depth to them that I really enjoyed.
I think this book had a really strong start and it’s clearly setting up the story to do some really interesting things. I think I just need to come back to it when I’m more in the mood for that kind of story.
I really struggled with the sheer amount of world building being done and how much I was getting at once. Personally it made it hard for me to focus on the book and keep up with what was happening. Even though I think the concepts and ideas used in the book were really interesting, I struggled to keep up with it all.
I also struggled with the relationship between Zeru and Cassia. I think both were really interesting and I liked the childhood friends turned enemies dynamic, but when it came to the romance I struggled with getting into that. It didn’t feel as earned. I did really like the relationship between Cassia and her sisters though and the fraught relationship with her father. I think there was a lot of depth to them that I really enjoyed.
I think this book had a really strong start and it’s clearly setting up the story to do some really interesting things. I think I just need to come back to it when I’m more in the mood for that kind of story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun and entertaining, not the most amazing thing I’ve read and not the worst. I’ll probably continue the series, but it isn’t a priority. The one thing I really want to change is the title of the book. I think it actually diminishes the FMC by referring to her in relation to her father - I would rather it reflect her growth and coming into her own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, War
Minor: Slavery, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
Yes
“Maybe the memory of our dance will linger in this place, never quite dying, no matter how faded it becomes. That’s a kind of beauty.”
Do you want to dive into a world where ancient conflicts collide with forbidden love, and discover the magic that binds them together ? Look no further, and pick up Elly Blake’s newest book, The Forest King’s Daughter!
Though the story unfolds at a leisurely pace, it allows for a deeper exploration of the characters and the magical world, making each moment more impactful.
I wish there were a book map of it at the front of the book which would be lovely since the characters move to several different places throughout the story.
Told from Cassia’s POV, we follow her journey in trying to save her people and figuring out the ring’s power with a certain broody winged male —Zeru—that always rile her up but also supported her in his own way.
One thing I found myself wanting as the story progressed was seeing the events unfold from Zeru’s POV.
Furthermore, seeing Cassia’s character develop throughout the story was delightful as she finally learns her self-worth and following her own path rather than following her father.
The romance has a balanced amount of banter and sweet moments.
The complexity of their relationship, due to their family situations being enemies for years, adds depth.
Yet, their strong bond from childhood could not remain buried deep pushing them toward each other and finally embracing their true feelings.
Overall, The Forest King’s Daughter is a tale of love, self-discovery and the burden as well as responsibility of having great power.
While most things are wrapped up nicely, the ending also offers a glimpse of what’s coming next, and I’m looking forward to the next installment in this series to explore more of the world-building!
Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours. Special thanks to the publisher for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
TL;DR: This was an interesting new YA fantasy and I admit that I was hooked from the prologue. I immediately wanted to know more and see what happened in the years that passed following the giving of the ring and the declaration of war. There were a lot of interesting elements to the story that compelled me to keep reading and I’m glad that this came on my radar; however, on the whole, I admit that I wanted more from this story. This had a lot of potential to be an amazing read had it not been for some missed opportunities when it came to the POV, the world-building and character development. Having said that, I liked The Forest King’s Daughter enough to want to continue the series and see how the hinted-at prophecy unfolds.*
I wasn’t quite sure how to put my thoughts into words as I was reflecting on my final thoughts. about the book, so to make it easy on myself, I’m breaking this review down into the things I enjoyed and the things I wish had been done differently. Starting with the thing I enjoyed:
- The mix of Roman, Greek and Germanic mythology and a wide array of magical mythical creatures. I love a mythology-based fantasy and this one had an interesting mix of lore. The only part that I was mildly familiar with was lore about the King of the Forest, but I liked the introduction to Noctua, Nerthus, and Solis. The only thing that I wish is that there had been more of it. There was also a great mix of creatures included in the story that I hadn’t read about before. The scuccas were unique but creepy AF but the creature I loved most was one of the foxlike welkin spirit creatures, the Vozarra.
- Welkincaster ft. Gutel the Kobold. Who doesn’t love the idea of a floating island in the clouds? Welkincaster was eerie and magical and this element was an interesting way to learn more about the world-building. I was admittedly unsure what I thought about Gutel but this grumpy protector of the hearth and manor grew on me by the end! He’s a fun combination of wisdom and knowledge mixed with disgruntled and a bit of a drunk. 🤭 His grumpiness grated on me at first but I came to appreciate his moaning about impropriety by the end, lol.
- The romance (but with several caveats). I was surprised to find myself enjoying the romance despite it feeling a bit on the side of instalove. That said, I was already curious about Cass and Zeru’s connection and something about it developing into romance worked for me. As to be expected, there was a lot of tension after years of war and many deaths between them. The author gave them a fun push/pull dynamic with trust and respect which almost made up for the fact that most of their reconnection was told rather than shown. Despite their enmity, both of them suffered as a result of their innocent childhood friendship and I liked how they were trying to prove their worth in their ways. It’s clear both of them love their people greatly. I can see a lot of young fantasy readers being taken in by the dark broody lonely demon boy that is Zeru and the relentless and fierce forest daughter that is Cassia.
- Cassia was an interesting character and I liked her POV. We get to see a bit of how her life has changed as a result of receiving the ring and we see the impact that bearing the weight of such immense power has on her; especially without any guidance on how to wield or control said power. Her desire to prove her worth to her father was relatable and overall, I found it easy to empathise with her character.
- The bond between sisters. I love a story that shines the light on the mess and wonder of sibling relationships and I enjoyed the one between Cassia, Enora, Thea and little Rozie. They each have their strength which is recognised by the other and while there might be some envy on Cassia’s part towards her two elder sisters Enora and Thea, it’s never of the ugly jealous variety. I loved that their trust in each other is never called into question even when Cass goes against the ‘status quo’ they’ve been raised to believe.
I would say there were a few factors that, had they been done differently, would’ve made this a more enjoyable read for me.
- I felt that the story could have done with stronger world-building and character development to support the overall plot and to create a stronger connection for readers. The world-building was patchy and introduced well into the story which, considering how central the mythology was to the plot, felt a bit late and what we get is not very detailed. I found the character development a bit shallow and wanted to learn more, especially about our MCs. There was also something about the writing and pacing that, imho, didn’t lend itself well to forming a deeper emotional connection with the characters. Events unfold so quickly by the end that there’s little time to process what it all means before the story then ends.
- I think what would’ve helped greatly with both the world-building and character development is the inclusion of Zeru’s POV, which we unfortunately don’t get. Despite being a main character in his own right, Zeru doesn’t get a POV. He is integral to this story and his fate is so intertwined with Cassia’s and yet, we don’t get his POV?! I found this frustrating because his POV would’ve added the "more" that the story needed. There was so much he learned off-page which we only find out about much later after the fact due to him not communicating with Cass at the time for various reasons (because they were still enemies, it didn’t come up, etc.). It would’ve also helped to better understand his character and what happened to him and his family after he made such a life-changing (even society-changing) mistake as a child.
The story ends in such a way that can make this stand on its own but I'm curious to see where the series will go next, especially with that little tidbit of prophecy that's introduced at the end. I wonder if it'll be from a different sister's POV and even though I liked Cass and Zeru, I'd be curious to see what life is like through the eyes of a different forest king's daughter.
TL;DR: This was an interesting new YA fantasy and I admit that I was hooked from the prologue. I immediately wanted to know more and see what happened in the years that passed following the giving of the ring and the declaration of war. There were a lot of interesting elements to the story that compelled me to keep reading and I’m glad that this came on my radar; however, on the whole, I admit that I wanted more from this story. This had a lot of potential to be an amazing read had it not been for some missed opportunities when it came to the POV, the world-building and character development. Having said that, I liked The Forest King’s Daughter enough to want to continue the series and see how the hinted-at prophecy unfolds.*
I wasn’t quite sure how to put my thoughts into words as I was reflecting on my final thoughts. about the book, so to make it easy on myself, I’m breaking this review down into the things I enjoyed and the things I wish had been done differently. Starting with the thing I enjoyed:
- The mix of Roman, Greek and Germanic mythology and a wide array of magical mythical creatures. I love a mythology-based fantasy and this one had an interesting mix of lore. The only part that I was mildly familiar with was lore about the King of the Forest, but I liked the introduction to Noctua, Nerthus, and Solis. The only thing that I wish is that there had been more of it. There was also a great mix of creatures included in the story that I hadn’t read about before. The scuccas were unique but creepy AF but the creature I loved most was one of the foxlike welkin spirit creatures, the Vozarra.
- Welkincaster ft. Gutel the Kobold. Who doesn’t love the idea of a floating island in the clouds? Welkincaster was eerie and magical and this element was an interesting way to learn more about the world-building. I was admittedly unsure what I thought about Gutel but this grumpy protector of the hearth and manor grew on me by the end! He’s a fun combination of wisdom and knowledge mixed with disgruntled and a bit of a drunk. 🤭 His grumpiness grated on me at first but I came to appreciate his moaning about impropriety by the end, lol.
- The romance (but with several caveats). I was surprised to find myself enjoying the romance despite it feeling a bit on the side of instalove. That said, I was already curious about Cass and Zeru’s connection and something about it developing into romance worked for me. As to be expected, there was a lot of tension after years of war and many deaths between them. The author gave them a fun push/pull dynamic with trust and respect which almost made up for the fact that most of their reconnection was told rather than shown. Despite their enmity, both of them suffered as a result of their innocent childhood friendship and I liked how they were trying to prove their worth in their ways. It’s clear both of them love their people greatly. I can see a lot of young fantasy readers being taken in by the dark broody lonely demon boy that is Zeru and the relentless and fierce forest daughter that is Cassia.
- Cassia was an interesting character and I liked her POV. We get to see a bit of how her life has changed as a result of receiving the ring and we see the impact that bearing the weight of such immense power has on her; especially without any guidance on how to wield or control said power. Her desire to prove her worth to her father was relatable and overall, I found it easy to empathise with her character.
- The bond between sisters. I love a story that shines the light on the mess and wonder of sibling relationships and I enjoyed the one between Cassia, Enora, Thea and little Rozie. They each have their strength which is recognised by the other and while there might be some envy on Cassia’s part towards her two elder sisters Enora and Thea, it’s never of the ugly jealous variety. I loved that their trust in each other is never called into question even when Cass goes against the ‘status quo’ they’ve been raised to believe.
I would say there were a few factors that, had they been done differently, would’ve made this a more enjoyable read for me.
- I felt that the story could have done with stronger world-building and character development to support the overall plot and to create a stronger connection for readers. The world-building was patchy and introduced well into the story which, considering how central the mythology was to the plot, felt a bit late and what we get is not very detailed. I found the character development a bit shallow and wanted to learn more, especially about our MCs. There was also something about the writing and pacing that, imho, didn’t lend itself well to forming a deeper emotional connection with the characters. Events unfold so quickly by the end that there’s little time to process what it all means before the story then ends.
- I think what would’ve helped greatly with both the world-building and character development is the inclusion of Zeru’s POV, which we unfortunately don’t get. Despite being a main character in his own right, Zeru doesn’t get a POV. He is integral to this story and his fate is so intertwined with Cassia’s and yet, we don’t get his POV?! I found this frustrating because his POV would’ve added the "more" that the story needed. There was so much he learned off-page which we only find out about much later after the fact due to him not communicating with Cass at the time for various reasons (because they were still enemies, it didn’t come up, etc.). It would’ve also helped to better understand his character and what happened to him and his family after he made such a life-changing (even society-changing) mistake as a child.
The story ends in such a way that can make this stand on its own but I'm curious to see where the series will go next, especially with that little tidbit of prophecy that's introduced at the end. I wonder if it'll be from a different sister's POV and even though I liked Cass and Zeru, I'd be curious to see what life is like through the eyes of a different forest king's daughter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence, War