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A review by sarag19
The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees
4.0
3.5 out of 5 stars - rounded up to 4 due to the strength of the first half and the writers beautiful writing.
***ARC received through NetGalley for review, much appreciated***
I'm having a hard time finding where to start on this review. It follows two main characters, Rhea and her family and the Witch of Wishes and her foxes. Rhea sees things, visions of a world of nightmares in the waking world. The Witch waits in dreams, casting wishes to children that can find their way to her.
The first half of the book switches between Rhea and the Witch, two characters that feel like they are on a collision course and the story of a third world. Of magic that is forbidden, mythical creatures that inhabit the woods and a princess that sleeps. Its not hard to pick out where the book is going, the author does a nice job of weaving a story that eventually all comes together. The writing is beautiful, there is a whole paragraph where Rhea speaks of Rose that I went back to read at least three times, I loved how well it was written.
Where the book stumbles for me is the second half of the book, where the three stories come together and we leave dreams within dreams for reality. The second half is not nearly as lush and mysterious as the first half of the book, sometimes I felt like I was reading a complete separate story that just happened to have the same characters. The revelation of what the king was up to actually did catch me by surprise, I had an idea but the author took it to a darker step than I had anticipated. The second half still feels like it is missing something and I think it falls back to the way the first part of written. A more modern day life and a mystical world of dream, such a lovely contrast between the two worlds that the third world of the second half just doesn't match up to.
Overall a really good first outing and I look forward to see more from Alyssa Wees.
***ARC received through NetGalley for review, much appreciated***
I'm having a hard time finding where to start on this review. It follows two main characters, Rhea and her family and the Witch of Wishes and her foxes. Rhea sees things, visions of a world of nightmares in the waking world. The Witch waits in dreams, casting wishes to children that can find their way to her.
The first half of the book switches between Rhea and the Witch, two characters that feel like they are on a collision course and the story of a third world. Of magic that is forbidden, mythical creatures that inhabit the woods and a princess that sleeps. Its not hard to pick out where the book is going, the author does a nice job of weaving a story that eventually all comes together. The writing is beautiful, there is a whole paragraph where Rhea speaks of Rose that I went back to read at least three times, I loved how well it was written.
Where the book stumbles for me is the second half of the book, where the three stories come together and we leave dreams within dreams for reality. The second half is not nearly as lush and mysterious as the first half of the book, sometimes I felt like I was reading a complete separate story that just happened to have the same characters. The revelation of what the king was up to actually did catch me by surprise, I had an idea but the author took it to a darker step than I had anticipated. The second half still feels like it is missing something and I think it falls back to the way the first part of written. A more modern day life and a mystical world of dream, such a lovely contrast between the two worlds that the third world of the second half just doesn't match up to.
Overall a really good first outing and I look forward to see more from Alyssa Wees.