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A review by rwalker101
Forest Born by Shannon Hale
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
5.0
Forest Born feels like a book specifically for fans of the other Books of Bayern, and I think it's my favorite of the four. I read the first three Books of Bayern as a preteen, just a little too young to really relate to the late-teenaged protagonists and their adventures in love. Instead of relating to them, I idolized Isi, Enna, and Dasha the same way Rin did. I related to the relief she feels in being around them, and the desire to be like them.
The desire to be like Isi, Enna, and Dasha is Rin's driving motivation, and it's one that is effective only because Rin is terrified of herself. She possesses the gift of "people-speaking", a well-established power in this series that grants the owner a magical persuasiveness. We have seen people-speaking employed almost exclusively as a manipulation tactic throughout the first three books, and so when Rin uses her powers to coerce a boy into kissing her, we know immediately the horror of what she's done. Rin feels it too, in the form of an overwhelming sense of guilt. She flees into the forest, turning to the trees she loves for comfort, but feels them turning her away, rejecting her in this lowest of moments. This is a traumatizing experience for Rin, and to escape the horror of what she's done, she asks her brother Razo and his girlfriend Dasha to take her to the city.
In the city, Rin meets the women she deeply wants to emulate, but is confronted at almost every turn by her own guilt, which continues to haunt her. Her journey to overcome this guilt and begin to road to betterment and healing is one that's full of gentleness and mercy. We eventually that Rin possesses two of this world's powers - the aforementioned people-speaking, and "tree-speaking", which allows Rin to "grow roots", as it were - she is able to sink deep into the tree's psyche, almost meditatively, connecting her mind to the forest and feeling the peace required to stand still for hundreds of years. This power is able to balance Rin, who would otherwise be allured into the wealth and power people-speaking provides. But this balance can only come if Rin is willing to give up the more selfish parts of herself. The fee for entry is set, and it is up to Rin to decide if she wants to pay it.
Forest Born follows Rin as she moves from being a mirror of a girl, struggling to reflect only the best qualities of those around her, to a person in her own right, flawed but fully-realized. Of the books Shannon Hale has written, I feel that Rin is one of the most fully-formed and nuanced characters she's ever created.
It also teaches young girls the power of mindful meditation, so there's that.
The desire to be like Isi, Enna, and Dasha is Rin's driving motivation, and it's one that is effective only because Rin is terrified of herself. She possesses the gift of "people-speaking", a well-established power in this series that grants the owner a magical persuasiveness. We have seen people-speaking employed almost exclusively as a manipulation tactic throughout the first three books, and so when Rin uses her powers to coerce a boy into kissing her, we know immediately the horror of what she's done. Rin feels it too, in the form of an overwhelming sense of guilt. She flees into the forest, turning to the trees she loves for comfort, but feels them turning her away, rejecting her in this lowest of moments. This is a traumatizing experience for Rin, and to escape the horror of what she's done, she asks her brother Razo and his girlfriend Dasha to take her to the city.
In the city, Rin meets the women she deeply wants to emulate, but is confronted at almost every turn by her own guilt, which continues to haunt her. Her journey to overcome this guilt and begin to road to betterment and healing is one that's full of gentleness and mercy. We eventually that Rin possesses two of this world's powers - the aforementioned people-speaking, and "tree-speaking", which allows Rin to "grow roots", as it were - she is able to sink deep into the tree's psyche, almost meditatively, connecting her mind to the forest and feeling the peace required to stand still for hundreds of years. This power is able to balance Rin, who would otherwise be allured into the wealth and power people-speaking provides. But this balance can only come if Rin is willing to give up the more selfish parts of herself. The fee for entry is set, and it is up to Rin to decide if she wants to pay it.
Forest Born follows Rin as she moves from being a mirror of a girl, struggling to reflect only the best qualities of those around her, to a person in her own right, flawed but fully-realized. Of the books Shannon Hale has written, I feel that Rin is one of the most fully-formed and nuanced characters she's ever created.
It also teaches young girls the power of mindful meditation, so there's that.