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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
You know how sometimes you get lucky and you read a book when you're in just the right mood for it? This was that book for me. I really, really enjoyed this book. I'm not going to try and explain the story, but I'll say it is deeply steeped in dreams, and I felt like I was dreaming through the whole thing. At first, the story goes back and forth between a young woman living near the beach with her family, and a witch living in a dark fairy tale type castle in an enchanted forest. Then a little more than halfway through, the stories meet up and have a baby, and we watch this baby grow into a new story. Is it confusing? Sure! But that's okay, dreams are confusing. Is the language lovely and descriptive, while occasionally falling into a purple prose word salad? You betcha! But it totally worked for me, because it made it feel more creepy and dreamlike. There's some definite creepy menace feels going on, sometimes strong, sometimes more background, but always there. A great read for when you don't really care about the story making complete sense, you just want to be drawn into some atmosphere.
I was given a free e-copy of this novel by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Waking Forest is Alyssa Wees’s debut novel from 2019. I have been horribly remiss in my duty to write my honest opinion, and humbly apologize for my negligence.
The waking forest has secrets. To Rhea, it appears like a mirage, dark and dense, at the very edge of her backyard. But when she reaches out to touch it, the forest vanishes. She’s desperate to know more - until she finds a peculiar boy who offers to reveal its secrets. If she plays a pay. To the With, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns. The stranger is just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea’s and the Witch’s paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive? (This is the GoodReads synopsis of the novel)
It took me so long to begin this novel because the beginning was so confusing and slow. I had so many questions by chapter 5 that made me feel lost. So I would stop reading and find another book. However, I finally went past that chapter and things began to make sense. Part of the problem was the two story lines and how they didn’t appear at first to mesh together. The other problem was that, while the writing was very well done, it was almost overwhelming sometimes. I appreciate an author describing a scene or a feeling to the point that I could feel it too, but there is a point where it can feel overly described to the point that it almost doesn’t make any sense. The descriptions gave me different fairy tale vibes, like Sleeping Beauty, Hazelwood, and Snow White, so it also didn’t feel like the story had a clear cur direction at the beginning. However, the two story lines do eventually merge, and the novel flourishes as a fairy story should. I love the use of magic, more specifically HOW it was being used once I received an explanation. The witch in the woods, children being granted their wishes, and Rhea and her sisters all began to become a new type of fairy tale uniquely it’s own. I especially liked the very ending and how the wishes were being distributed.
At the heart of this story is family. Rhea is a strong character who loves her parents and her sisters very much. As a young adult fantasy novel, there is usually more romance and adventure than anything else. There is a small romance but it is not the predominant layer. Everything Rhea does is for the sake of her family. That is not to say that the author makes them all lovey-dovey. Instead, she displays a healthy realistic sibling relationship, where there are arguments, but there is mainly the driving desire to save one another. I also enjoyed the inclusion of mental health, mainly anxiety, and how the author adequately wrote those feelings for Rhea and for Rose. As someone who lives with mental illness, I appreciated the words Rhea spoke to Rose regarding her anxiety, and how screams can make someone feel put back together and not pulled apart.
Overall I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars.
The Waking Forest is Alyssa Wees’s debut novel from 2019. I have been horribly remiss in my duty to write my honest opinion, and humbly apologize for my negligence.
The waking forest has secrets. To Rhea, it appears like a mirage, dark and dense, at the very edge of her backyard. But when she reaches out to touch it, the forest vanishes. She’s desperate to know more - until she finds a peculiar boy who offers to reveal its secrets. If she plays a pay. To the With, the forest is her home, where she sits on her throne of carved bone, waiting for dreaming children to beg her to grant their wishes. One night, a mysterious visitor arrives and asks her what she wishes for, but the Witch sends him away. And then the uninvited guest returns. The stranger is just the beginning. Something is stirring in the forest, and when Rhea’s and the Witch’s paths collide, a truth more treacherous and deadly than either could ever imagine surfaces. But how much are they willing to risk to survive? (This is the GoodReads synopsis of the novel)
It took me so long to begin this novel because the beginning was so confusing and slow. I had so many questions by chapter 5 that made me feel lost. So I would stop reading and find another book. However, I finally went past that chapter and things began to make sense. Part of the problem was the two story lines and how they didn’t appear at first to mesh together. The other problem was that, while the writing was very well done, it was almost overwhelming sometimes. I appreciate an author describing a scene or a feeling to the point that I could feel it too, but there is a point where it can feel overly described to the point that it almost doesn’t make any sense. The descriptions gave me different fairy tale vibes, like Sleeping Beauty, Hazelwood, and Snow White, so it also didn’t feel like the story had a clear cur direction at the beginning. However, the two story lines do eventually merge, and the novel flourishes as a fairy story should. I love the use of magic, more specifically HOW it was being used once I received an explanation. The witch in the woods, children being granted their wishes, and Rhea and her sisters all began to become a new type of fairy tale uniquely it’s own. I especially liked the very ending and how the wishes were being distributed.
At the heart of this story is family. Rhea is a strong character who loves her parents and her sisters very much. As a young adult fantasy novel, there is usually more romance and adventure than anything else. There is a small romance but it is not the predominant layer. Everything Rhea does is for the sake of her family. That is not to say that the author makes them all lovey-dovey. Instead, she displays a healthy realistic sibling relationship, where there are arguments, but there is mainly the driving desire to save one another. I also enjoyed the inclusion of mental health, mainly anxiety, and how the author adequately wrote those feelings for Rhea and for Rose. As someone who lives with mental illness, I appreciated the words Rhea spoke to Rose regarding her anxiety, and how screams can make someone feel put back together and not pulled apart.
Overall I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars.
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
The writing is beautiful, however it really lacks depth. By depth, I mean that the character development and world building seemed to lack and be one dimensional. It has a good plot, but could have been delved into more to make this amazing.
I do like the plot twist that happened mid way in the book, but once it occurred, I became very bored because the mystery of the book was gone.
The writing is beautiful, however it really lacks depth. By depth, I mean that the character development and world building seemed to lack and be one dimensional. It has a good plot, but could have been delved into more to make this amazing.
I do like the plot twist that happened mid way in the book, but once it occurred, I became very bored because the mystery of the book was gone.
DNF @ 121 pages
ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.
I dont know that I am qualified to rate this book because I didnt finish it but I was over 1/3 of the way completed with it and from what I read, it was a solid 1 star for me.
I fell in love with the cover when I saw it and after reading Strange Grace, I was SO excited to read another book about a mystical forest and witches. I have been eagerly awaiting this book and was so freaking hype when I got approved to read an ARC. Unfortunately, from the first page I had issues with it. At no point during my reading did I understand what was happening. It felt sort of like reading someone's funky acid trip. There were so many characters and all of the sister's names sounded very similar. (I HATE when parents name their children names that start with the same letter. Rhea, Rose, Renia, ect.) I had no clue how old the characters were supposed to be and it just seemed very disjointed. It was really cool that the MC had a pet fox that shares a name with me but that wasnt enough for me to continue reading this.
I'm so upset that I didnt enjoy this. :(
ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.
I dont know that I am qualified to rate this book because I didnt finish it but I was over 1/3 of the way completed with it and from what I read, it was a solid 1 star for me.
I fell in love with the cover when I saw it and after reading Strange Grace, I was SO excited to read another book about a mystical forest and witches. I have been eagerly awaiting this book and was so freaking hype when I got approved to read an ARC. Unfortunately, from the first page I had issues with it. At no point during my reading did I understand what was happening. It felt sort of like reading someone's funky acid trip. There were so many characters and all of the sister's names sounded very similar. (I HATE when parents name their children names that start with the same letter. Rhea, Rose, Renia, ect.) I had no clue how old the characters were supposed to be and it just seemed very disjointed. It was really cool that the MC had a pet fox that shares a name with me but that wasnt enough for me to continue reading this.
I'm so upset that I didnt enjoy this. :(
This was engaging enough that I wanted to keep reading to untangle the mystery, though I had a strong hunch about what was going on (which turned out to be right, and somewhat cliched to be honest) — but the prose didn't work for me, it kept jarring me out of the flow, and I really wasn't sold on any of the characters/their relationships/the group dynamics. Even at the end of Part One, it felt like we were still in the very slow exposition; Part Two felt like a completely separate novel, with just a handful of shared backstory elements.
In other words, although I was intrigued by the setup, I was disappointed by how it played out. There were some fairytale and/or fantasy allusions and tropes that I liked, but it felt like they were introduced only to be fairly quickly abandoned (not undermined or twisted, just abandoned) in order to keep the plot moving along.
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CONVERSION: 6 / 15 = 2 stars
Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 3 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 4 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Memorability: 2 / 5
In other words, although I was intrigued by the setup, I was disappointed by how it played out. There were some fairytale and/or fantasy allusions and tropes that I liked, but it felt like they were introduced only to be fairly quickly abandoned (not undermined or twisted, just abandoned) in order to keep the plot moving along.
-----------
CONVERSION: 6 / 15 = 2 stars
Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 3 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 4 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10
Originality / Trope Execution: 2 / 5
Memorability: 2 / 5
This novel was beautiful. I didn't find the purple prose to be " too much" and I didn't find the story to be too confusing or hard to follow. It was so atmospheric and stunning, I wish there were going to be more installments from this world.
I really wanted to like this, but could not get into it. Haven't been able to put my finger on it, but i felt like i was dragging myself across sandpaper trying to read, and gave up at chapter four.
Comp title book that I stopped reading around 50 pages because it wasn't what I was looking for and it didn't interest me enough to keep reading.
Also this one is just not my taste at all. Overly florid, descriptive to the point of redundancy. I read the first ten pages and hoped that was just that particular POV I was in, but it’s not. It feels like it’s trying to be lyrical, but when everything’s being described in triplicate the record’s just stuck on repeat.
Also this one is just not my taste at all. Overly florid, descriptive to the point of redundancy. I read the first ten pages and hoped that was just that particular POV I was in, but it’s not. It feels like it’s trying to be lyrical, but when everything’s being described in triplicate the record’s just stuck on repeat.
"Let's start with the Witch in the Woods"
First things first, this book was beautiful. I absolutely LOVED SO MUCH the way the author wrote those magical words. Like a poem and a song and a whisper and a riddle; like the wind when it blows your hair, sending it everywhere and nowhere. The story was great as well. I enjoyed the plot, how the characters were all bound by love and tragedy, it marvelled me. The stubble romance was beautiful too: it wasn't much but it was heartwarming. Beautiful book, I have to say.
The only reason I'm giving it only 4 stars it's because some of the plot twists were too confusing and there were some plot holes that I really disliked.
But, dear friends, over all this is a glorious book that you should certainly read.
One drop, one page, one whisper, one cry, one scream, one smile.
One fairy tale at a time.
Happy reading ✨
First things first, this book was beautiful. I absolutely LOVED SO MUCH the way the author wrote those magical words. Like a poem and a song and a whisper and a riddle; like the wind when it blows your hair, sending it everywhere and nowhere. The story was great as well. I enjoyed the plot, how the characters were all bound by love and tragedy, it marvelled me. The stubble romance was beautiful too: it wasn't much but it was heartwarming. Beautiful book, I have to say.
The only reason I'm giving it only 4 stars it's because some of the plot twists were too confusing and there were some plot holes that I really disliked.
But, dear friends, over all this is a glorious book that you should certainly read.
One drop, one page, one whisper, one cry, one scream, one smile.
One fairy tale at a time.
Happy reading ✨
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes