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jellsworth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
arianadelaney's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
noirheart's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
abbysbookishthings's review against another edition
1.0
The romance was eh, felt like it was just there so that someone could call this book romance. The weird start of a love triangle/cheating was so unnecessary and not well done, like it was just all the sudden Alexander cheated on her for no reason? And we only find out right before that that the woman he cheating with had a crush on him. We don’t see the signs of her crush, we hear someone else tell our main character about it.
The part with the dad was also so separated, the parts with the nuns was interesting, but it felt like a completely separate story that was just like a side bar for a chapter or two, like an episode of a tv show that has a filler episode about a random character right after a cliffhanger( I’m looking at you The Walking Dead). the part with the dad didn’t need to be included, it was really just a plot device to have some third act conflict with her getting shot and that fake out about her dying was awful. That’s just one of my personal pet peeves with books, don’t fake out killing the main character for drama, just have the guts to actually kill the main character or don’t do it at all.
The drama/ sexism between the women in this book felt so wrong. Like the first family Yona helps. She nurses the child and father back to health, saves their lives then the mother is mad and makes them leave because she thinks Yona is trying to seduce her husband. I’m sorry, WHAT? Like so unnecessary, then it mentioned that if the mom didn’t make them leave they would still be alive and its basically all blamed on the mom that their dead. People are literally hunting you, and you take your family away from the one person that has literally saved your lives because you have a feeling that your husband likes her? Like this is a life or death scenario and it just felt like a way for the author to but baggage on Yona, because she constantly thinks about how “she killed them” but she literally did nothing wrong, if you want your character to have emotions like that they actually make them accountable for a characters death. It just felt like another way to make Yona this Mary Jane type character who is so much better than the other people (especially women) around her. And then Alexander and his lover yelling at Yona (separately) because “she’s not one of them” and “she’s not in charge,” like I’m sorry but didn’t she just save your asses, like seriously so unnecessary and it honestly comes out of no where.
The magic part was stupid, it was like the author forgot about it half way through. In the beginning Yonas all like “U can’t do that something bad will happen, I just know” while she like has premonitions or something but then all that is gone half way through. She doesn’t sense Alexander is cheating on her, doesn’t sense the nuns dying, doesn’t sense her father coming after her in the woods for MONTHS. Half of this book is just plot device and cliche over and over again.
Honestly the authors note was the best part of the book, it was the most well written and interesting, but it was also a little bit two long(like why do I need to know the type of bark they should build their shelters with). I can see what the author was trying to do with this story but it just didn’t work for me personally. The writing was bad the story was slow and lazy.
The part with the dad was also so separated, the parts with the nuns was interesting, but it felt like a completely separate story that was just like a side bar for a chapter or two, like an episode of a tv show that has a filler episode about a random character right after a cliffhanger( I’m looking at you The Walking Dead). the part with the dad didn’t need to be included, it was really just a plot device to have some third act conflict with her getting shot and that fake out about her dying was awful. That’s just one of my personal pet peeves with books, don’t fake out killing the main character for drama, just have the guts to actually kill the main character or don’t do it at all.
The drama/ sexism between the women in this book felt so wrong. Like the first family Yona helps. She nurses the child and father back to health, saves their lives then the mother is mad and makes them leave because she thinks Yona is trying to seduce her husband. I’m sorry, WHAT? Like so unnecessary, then it mentioned that if the mom didn’t make them leave they would still be alive and its basically all blamed on the mom that their dead. People are literally hunting you, and you take your family away from the one person that has literally saved your lives because you have a feeling that your husband likes her? Like this is a life or death scenario and it just felt like a way for the author to but baggage on Yona, because she constantly thinks about how “she killed them” but she literally did nothing wrong, if you want your character to have emotions like that they actually make them accountable for a characters death. It just felt like another way to make Yona this Mary Jane type character who is so much better than the other people (especially women) around her. And then Alexander and his lover yelling at Yona (separately) because “she’s not one of them” and “she’s not in charge,” like I’m sorry but didn’t she just save your asses, like seriously so unnecessary and it honestly comes out of no where.
The magic part was stupid, it was like the author forgot about it half way through. In the beginning Yonas all like “U can’t do that something bad will happen, I just know” while she like has premonitions or something but then all that is gone half way through. She doesn’t sense Alexander is cheating on her, doesn’t sense the nuns dying, doesn’t sense her father coming after her in the woods for MONTHS. Half of this book is just plot device and cliche over and over again.
Honestly the authors note was the best part of the book, it was the most well written and interesting, but it was also a little bit two long(like why do I need to know the type of bark they should build their shelters with). I can see what the author was trying to do with this story but it just didn’t work for me personally. The writing was bad the story was slow and lazy.
loriluo's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed Kristin Harmel's writing in "The Book of Lost Names", so once I heard that she had penned another novel, immediately started reading "The Forest of Vanishing Stars" the moment I got my hands on it.
There are a few similarities between novels, including the overarching time period of WWII and a strong female protagonist trying to save innocent lives during the German overtaking. The focus here, however, is drastically different and we are instead introduced to Yona, a girl stolen from her parents as an infant and raised on in the European wilderness by an elderly woman who teaches her to survive off the forest and to be wary of all other people she encounters. Yona eventually is forced to live on her her own, until she encounters a group of Polish Jews trying to flee the massacre of their town, and Yona is forced to make a number of decision that not only impact her life, but the lives of many others.
I found this storyline more riveting than "The Book of Lost Names", given the heightened danger and additional challenges of having to survive and hide in the wilderness. Though some plot lines and relationships leaned towards the more predictable and cliched route, I did appreciate Yona as a protagonist, and how the novel not only focuses on the events that occurred but her own personal growth and discovery of her own values. Harmel has also done an extensive amount of research on this novel which she covers in detail in her afterword, noting the actual groups and accounts she based her story on, and these help to make the overall story more cohesive.
There are a few similarities between novels, including the overarching time period of WWII and a strong female protagonist trying to save innocent lives during the German overtaking. The focus here, however, is drastically different and we are instead introduced to Yona, a girl stolen from her parents as an infant and raised on in the European wilderness by an elderly woman who teaches her to survive off the forest and to be wary of all other people she encounters. Yona eventually is forced to live on her her own, until she encounters a group of Polish Jews trying to flee the massacre of their town, and Yona is forced to make a number of decision that not only impact her life, but the lives of many others.
I found this storyline more riveting than "The Book of Lost Names", given the heightened danger and additional challenges of having to survive and hide in the wilderness. Though some plot lines and relationships leaned towards the more predictable and cliched route, I did appreciate Yona as a protagonist, and how the novel not only focuses on the events that occurred but her own personal growth and discovery of her own values. Harmel has also done an extensive amount of research on this novel which she covers in detail in her afterword, noting the actual groups and accounts she based her story on, and these help to make the overall story more cohesive.
terraturtles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
4.0
shdouglas17's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-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
5.0
Love this book. I love that the girl is powerful and a leader! Very intriguing and inspiring book.
bethannr's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
kittietta's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful story of courage
Beautifully written, strikingly characters.
The story tells of a German child stolen by a mysterious old women who lives in the woods, raised up to be smart and strong and then becomes a fighter for Jews who have fled into the woods during WWII.
5 stars
Beautifully written, strikingly characters.
The story tells of a German child stolen by a mysterious old women who lives in the woods, raised up to be smart and strong and then becomes a fighter for Jews who have fled into the woods during WWII.
5 stars
maplegrey's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75