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A review by thebakersbooks
The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees
3.0
**I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
3.5/5 stars - beautiful prose but an ultimately shallow plot
In The Waking Forest, debut author Alyssa Wees got a lot of things right. The novel's structure is of stories within stories, and as such, the fanciful prose is a suitable choice. Themes of light and darkness, princesses and witches, successfully evoke the atmosphere of a fairy tale. The story is on some levels built around family, and the portrayal of a healthy family dynamic that's so rare in fantasy works nicely here.
However, none of this was enough to make up for what—in my eyes—was an oversimplified plot and
characters without adequate depth of personality. I found it difficult to relate to Rhea, the main character, who spent the first two acts of the book confused about what was going on and thus largely incapable of driving the plot. The supporting characters were more successful; Rhea's three sisters are whimsical in a way that adds to the fairy-tale feel of the story without detracting from its substance. Again, this didn't work as well for Rhea. The Witch, interestingly, was a more solid anchor point for the plot, which helped her arc serve as a counterpoint to Rhea's.
I've found that reimagined fairy tales are often most satisfying when they invert common tropes, defying expectations. (Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver, for example, plays heavily with the story of Rumplestiltskin.) Alternately, they can adhere to the original story structure while adding nuance to the characters. (Think Heartless by Marissa Meyer, which explores the Queen of Hearts' descent into villainy and gives all its characters many more shades of morality than the work from which it was derived.) The Waking Forest played most tropes straight, and there was a stark line between good and evil. As such, there was none of the twisty goodness I generally expect in the third act.The greatest deviation from other stories with witches and sleeping princesses was that Rhea is both the witch and the princess, but parallelism and other hints made this clear to readers fairly early.
For me, the aspects of the book I enjoyed most involved Rhea's family. Rhea and her sister Rose both seem to have anxiety, and it's mentioned that their family supports them. (Another character ends the book with symptoms that sound like PTSD, and Rhea is equipped to provide that support in turn.) Rhea's parents' marriage is strong and healthy, which is unusual in fantasy largely because it's rare for both parents to still be alive. It was refreshing to read about a happy, loving family and have the conflict come from external sources.
This was a quick enough read that I don't begrudge it the less-than-satisfying plot; as a whole, the book was fine but not a stand-out favorite. I started out liking Wees' beautiful descriptive language, but over the course of the book, it began to feel overwrought. Still, I'd like to read more from this author in the future because it felt like there was a lot of potential in both prose and story.
I'd recommend The Waking Forest with reservations—readers who are into fairy tales with a traditional feel but a nontraditionally happy ending, this might be for you!
3.5/5 stars - beautiful prose but an ultimately shallow plot
In The Waking Forest, debut author Alyssa Wees got a lot of things right. The novel's structure is of stories within stories, and as such, the fanciful prose is a suitable choice. Themes of light and darkness, princesses and witches, successfully evoke the atmosphere of a fairy tale. The story is on some levels built around family, and the portrayal of a healthy family dynamic that's so rare in fantasy works nicely here.
However, none of this was enough to make up for what—in my eyes—was an oversimplified plot and
characters without adequate depth of personality. I found it difficult to relate to Rhea, the main character, who spent the first two acts of the book confused about what was going on and thus largely incapable of driving the plot. The supporting characters were more successful; Rhea's three sisters are whimsical in a way that adds to the fairy-tale feel of the story without detracting from its substance. Again, this didn't work as well for Rhea. The Witch, interestingly, was a more solid anchor point for the plot, which helped her arc serve as a counterpoint to Rhea's.
I've found that reimagined fairy tales are often most satisfying when they invert common tropes, defying expectations. (Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver, for example, plays heavily with the story of Rumplestiltskin.) Alternately, they can adhere to the original story structure while adding nuance to the characters. (Think Heartless by Marissa Meyer, which explores the Queen of Hearts' descent into villainy and gives all its characters many more shades of morality than the work from which it was derived.) The Waking Forest played most tropes straight, and there was a stark line between good and evil. As such, there was none of the twisty goodness I generally expect in the third act.
For me, the aspects of the book I enjoyed most involved Rhea's family. Rhea and her sister Rose both seem to have anxiety, and it's mentioned that their family supports them. (Another character ends the book with symptoms that sound like PTSD, and Rhea is equipped to provide that support in turn.) Rhea's parents' marriage is strong and healthy, which is unusual in fantasy largely because it's rare for both parents to still be alive. It was refreshing to read about a happy, loving family and have the conflict come from external sources.
This was a quick enough read that I don't begrudge it the less-than-satisfying plot; as a whole, the book was fine but not a stand-out favorite. I started out liking Wees' beautiful descriptive language, but over the course of the book, it began to feel overwrought. Still, I'd like to read more from this author in the future because it felt like there was a lot of potential in both prose and story.
I'd recommend The Waking Forest with reservations—readers who are into fairy tales with a traditional feel but a nontraditionally happy ending, this might be for you!