Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - A Light in the Forest

I enjoyed this book; the timeline jumps in terms of the narrative didn't feel out of place and felt like they added to the story rather than just exposing all the secrets of it. The characters were quirky but in a way that they felt like real people, not caricatures. My one real complaint was that the final sort of revelation section felt like it wrapped up way too quickly; it would've benefited, I think, from another few pages at least just to be allowed to feel the enormous weight of both the twist and the culmination of the main plotlines. But overall, I found it very well-written and I especially enjoyed Vega's mentality towards Crystal and the people in it changing

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dmackreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This is one of those books where everything comes full circle, comes together, and just makes sense. Other than being written in 3rd person, I absolutely loved it.

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jenbsbooks's review against another edition

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dark tense

3.75

This starts right off into the action/abuse. 3rd person/past tense. The first several chapters are from Vega's POV. A little way in, we also get the POV of Eve, and from Donna (two timelines, this one is in the past). There are several "reveals" along the way, most were pretty obvious to me early on SPOILER

I almost don't think it's a spoiler to say that Donna is Renee, Vega's mother. That wasn't hard to pick up on although it took a while for it to be confirmed for sure ... but why else are we getting her story? I'm trying to remember how obvious is was about Eve's transition ... much was said about her NDE, that she was "different" ... I can't recall exactly where/when it came out that she was trans ... about halfway? From there, it really wasn't a leap that Eve was the Ethan from Donna's chapters, and I figured out that Eve/Ethan fathered Donna's child, it was a little frustrating that Eve didn't figure it out sooner, that she thought Vega might be Beth, Donna's little sister. Seems like that would have been a 5+ year difference in Vega's age. Kinda wanted to slap Tera (I thought it was Tara from the audio) for not just nudging people into knowledge sooner ... and she never told what happened to Donna's father but I guess she wouldn't really want everyone to know she killed him. The mine seemed a little too easy for body disposal ...)

This book is included in KindleUnlimited, with audio and text. The narrator is Kay Eluvian, who has an interesting voice, but being a trans woman herself, matched Eve, and did the male voices very well ... although Heff's accent was a little TOO strong at points, I had a hard time understanding what he was saying some of the time. I think I would have preferred more distinction in the narration with the different POVs ... even though the chapters had headings indicating the POV (although the chapters aren't marked in the Table of Contents, which I would prefer, as that would make it easier if I wanted to go back and check something, knowing it was in Donna's or Eve's chapters) with the basic 3rd person POV (and me constantly stopping and starting, jumping back in) I'd struggle to remember whose eyes we were seeing the story from until I could tell from the story itself.

There were some "visions" and dreams, and these confused me a little - I had to revert back to the kindle copy after listening to make sure I'd understood everything (and I pretty much had).

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raeoflight17's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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sizzlesteaks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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bookmarkedbybecky's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What I really enjoyed:

✨Generational Trauma - heavy topics without being heavy-handed.

✨Small Town Vibe - portrayed beautifully as the community pulls together to help Vega! Everyone is “family” in Crystal, OH.

✨Supporting Characters: Eve, Heff, Carl, Betty, and even Tera, all showing different ways of love and support. These characters are the light amongst the darkest of situations, secrets, and trauma.

Overall, A Light In The Forest is a great character-driven novel that blends drama and mystery. The story contains a few topics that could be triggering, so please review before reading.

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