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disnelyse's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
LOVED this book! It drew me in from the get-go, and there wasn't any portion of the book that felt forced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Rape, and Blood
alli_the_bookaholic13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Thank you to the publisher for an eARC for an honest review.
This was such an emotional story. Emeline’s emotions and fears about her grandfather were so strong, and so heartbreaking. Her love for him was incredible, and she was determined to do whatever she had to in order to save him.
I loved the fantasy elements here. It almost felt like I was reading a fairy tale. I thought the author did a great job of capturing the setting of the woods, and giving this fey kingdom a sense of otherworldliness.
Emeline was a complex character. She was striving to reach her goals and dreams of being a famous singer, and she was so close when her Pa went missing. The struggles she faced over following her dreams or rescuing her grandfather were really well written. I thought Emeline was a realistic character, and I was rooting for her the whole book.
I also liked Hawthorne’s character. He gave me some mysterious vibes from the beginning, and I was hooked on him. Sable and Grace were interesting characters too, and I would have loved to get more of them.
I thought the pacing was good in this one. The writing style flowed well, and it was easy to get swept up into the story of Emeline’s music.
This was such an emotional story. Emeline’s emotions and fears about her grandfather were so strong, and so heartbreaking. Her love for him was incredible, and she was determined to do whatever she had to in order to save him.
I loved the fantasy elements here. It almost felt like I was reading a fairy tale. I thought the author did a great job of capturing the setting of the woods, and giving this fey kingdom a sense of otherworldliness.
Emeline was a complex character. She was striving to reach her goals and dreams of being a famous singer, and she was so close when her Pa went missing. The struggles she faced over following her dreams or rescuing her grandfather were really well written. I thought Emeline was a realistic character, and I was rooting for her the whole book.
I also liked Hawthorne’s character. He gave me some mysterious vibes from the beginning, and I was hooked on him. Sable and Grace were interesting characters too, and I would have loved to get more of them.
I thought the pacing was good in this one. The writing style flowed well, and it was easy to get swept up into the story of Emeline’s music.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death, Rape, Blood, Dementia, and Abandonment
The rape is implied and it’s also off-page and historical.betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Oh man, do I have mixed feelings about this book. It started out pretty promising. A girl who can sing, goes into the enchanted woods to save her grandfather. And her singing is magical in some way. Overall, it's a pretty straightforward plot line, and one that overall was predictable for the most part. But, I read a lot of YA fantasy, so that also could contribute to that.
Anyway! I'm not sure if it was because I was listening to it, but the romance at the core got a little confusing to me by the end. Also, it got steamier than I was expecting it to. There's one scene in particular that felt like it kind of came out of left field, and for me, didn't seem to fit with the tone of the book overall.
However, if you like faery stories, chances are you'll like this one! It's got some good fae vibes, and fits within the general framework that you'd probably expect from a fae story. It's very atmospheric and good if that's something you're looking for.
Anyway! I'm not sure if it was because I was listening to it, but the romance at the core got a little confusing to me by the end. Also, it got steamier than I was expecting it to. There's one scene in particular that felt like it kind of came out of left field, and for me, didn't seem to fit with the tone of the book overall.
However, if you like faery stories, chances are you'll like this one! It's got some good fae vibes, and fits within the general framework that you'd probably expect from a fae story. It's very atmospheric and good if that's something you're looking for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Rape, and Blood
melaniereadsbooks's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for an arc/alc of this book!
The forest will always come for Emeline when she sings. But when she heads back to Edgewood to look for her grandpa, she learns that he tithed himself to the fae king in the forest, and she must become his new singer to get her grandfather back...with potentially deadly consequences.
This book was delightfully creepy and atmospheric. I really enjoyed the vibes to this one and it reminded me of like a cross between An Enchantment of Ravens and The Darkest Part of the Forest and maybe a little bit of These Hollow Vows. It has fun romantic elements alongside the darkness of the fae and the forest and I really liked that. I also really like the focus on singing!
Pub date: March 1, 2022
The forest will always come for Emeline when she sings. But when she heads back to Edgewood to look for her grandpa, she learns that he tithed himself to the fae king in the forest, and she must become his new singer to get her grandfather back...with potentially deadly consequences.
This book was delightfully creepy and atmospheric. I really enjoyed the vibes to this one and it reminded me of like a cross between An Enchantment of Ravens and The Darkest Part of the Forest and maybe a little bit of These Hollow Vows. It has fun romantic elements alongside the darkness of the fae and the forest and I really liked that. I also really like the focus on singing!
Pub date: March 1, 2022
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Abandonment
allisonwonderlandreads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This ya fantasy is set on the boundary of the contemporary world in the small town of Edgewood, where everyone pays a tithe or faces the wrath of The Wood King and his dark servants in the forest. Emeline left Edgewood and the grandfather who raised her to pursue her music career, but the forest is far from done with her. One night after a concert, she gets the fateful call that her grandfather has gone missing, claimed by the woods. A fast-paced start takes us to the court of The Wood King through a forest that I rate 10/10 for creepy vibes. The court has many trappings of a fae novel with shifters, a dragon, a curse, and a mad king in attendance. Unfortunately, the plot soon devolves into something predictable. There's a high reliance on tropes that steals the drama from big reveals because of their obvious nature.
Most plot deficiencies can be saved in my eyes with loveable characters. I will overlook all kinds of things if you put certifiably huggable people in front of me. Unfortunately, here our heroine is bland and largely defined by her musical talent. There's a little spark of life in the difficult decisions she has to make as caregiver for her grandfather when dementia robs him of his memories of her. She feels guilty for pursuing her dreams without him and longs for their relationship from before. It could have been a powerful plot, but it was subsumed by the romantic subplot, fueling contradictory arguments between Emeline and broody boy that seem to be more about driving up (sexual?) tension between the two rather than any kind of substantive conversation that might, I don't know, inspire character growth or a self-aware examination of feelings and motivations.
Speaking of broody boy, Hawthrone is a typical ya love interest: moody, secretive, tragic, and misunderstood. This is a trope I can only get behind with active convincing. Merely putting it in front of me and expecting a thrilled reaction is folly. Emeline and Hawthorne's relationship is argumentative and juvenile (yes, I know this is a ya novel, but I've seen the genre produce so much better by modeling healthy communication and mutual support or at least growth towards that goal without idealizing toxicity). They strike out at each other out of insecurity and fear of vulnerability. A heavy secret festers between them, along with more superficial lies. When a betrayal is uncovered, it brings up a lot of questions regarding consent, respect, and agency that I do not feel are satisfactorily answered. In one of my least favorite moves in fiction, angst and self-pity go a long way towards camouflaging controlling, harmful behavior.
Side characters are largely ignored outside of tiny opportunities to push forward the plot. There's a sapphic couple on the periphery, but they have no discernable personality between the two of them beyond a willingness to help our protagonist. There's also a cruel manipulator who attacks even her friends with no provocation. There is no other dimension of her being, but somehow she hasn't been excised from the group or at least kept accountable for her actions. Finally, don't even get me started on the rape backstory for one character where the trauma is essentially resolved through magic.
There's a seed of something good here about memory and its loss, but it's piled so deeply under the pile of flaming garbage that is twisted, self-pitying ya romance tropes that it suffocates itself. For me, the opportunity is lost. I wouldn't recommend this book.
Most plot deficiencies can be saved in my eyes with loveable characters. I will overlook all kinds of things if you put certifiably huggable people in front of me. Unfortunately, here our heroine is bland and largely defined by her musical talent. There's a little spark of life in the difficult decisions she has to make as caregiver for her grandfather when dementia robs him of his memories of her. She feels guilty for pursuing her dreams without him and longs for their relationship from before. It could have been a powerful plot, but it was subsumed by the romantic subplot, fueling contradictory arguments between Emeline and broody boy that seem to be more about driving up (sexual?) tension between the two rather than any kind of substantive conversation that might, I don't know, inspire character growth or a self-aware examination of feelings and motivations.
Speaking of broody boy, Hawthrone is a typical ya love interest: moody, secretive, tragic, and misunderstood. This is a trope I can only get behind with active convincing. Merely putting it in front of me and expecting a thrilled reaction is folly. Emeline and Hawthorne's relationship is argumentative and juvenile (yes, I know this is a ya novel, but I've seen the genre produce so much better by modeling healthy communication and mutual support or at least growth towards that goal without idealizing toxicity). They strike out at each other out of insecurity and fear of vulnerability. A heavy secret festers between them, along with more superficial lies. When a betrayal is uncovered, it brings up a lot of questions regarding consent, respect, and agency that I do not feel are satisfactorily answered. In one of my least favorite moves in fiction, angst and self-pity go a long way towards camouflaging controlling, harmful behavior.
Side characters are largely ignored outside of tiny opportunities to push forward the plot. There's a sapphic couple on the periphery, but they have no discernable personality between the two of them beyond a willingness to help our protagonist. There's also a cruel manipulator who attacks even her friends with no provocation. There is no other dimension of her being, but somehow she hasn't been excised from the group or at least kept accountable for her actions. Finally, don't even get me started on the rape backstory for one character where the trauma is essentially resolved through magic.
There's a seed of something good here about memory and its loss, but it's piled so deeply under the pile of flaming garbage that is twisted, self-pitying ya romance tropes that it suffocates itself. For me, the opportunity is lost. I wouldn't recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement, Rape, Blood, and Gaslighting
readswithrachel's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
I went into this assuming it would be a palette cleanser of a book and I would give it 3 stars max. Instead I fell in love. It’s not even that I love our main character, I just found her story and what happens so interesting at the 70% mark. There were a bunch of things that happened I didn’t foresee and I LOVED THEM. I Can’t say much else without spoiling it. If you liked the beautiful ones for the romance, read this. If you were disappointed by the hazel wood, read this. If you love magical forests and music and curses then read this.
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Blood, Dementia, and Abandonment
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