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A review by cro777
The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees
5.0
I requested this book on NetGalley, after I finished House of Salt and Sorrows because I was on a YA fantasy/magic kick and I didn't want it to end. The title of this one drew me, but the cover was really what pulled me in. That, mixed with magic and witches in the forest sealed the deal. I was excited to get approved pretty quickly and set out reading this one on Feb 15 and finished it that night! It's rare that I finish a whole book in one day, but this one just would not let me go!
This story follows a young lady named Rhea and her family, the Ravennas. She has, sometimes, terrifying visions and has started having sleepwalking dreams. In these, she is walking up to the attic and opening a door. In her most vivid dream/sleepwalking incident, she gets to the attic and is able to open the door, finding something there that she does not like. Along with this, she starts hearing breathing in the dark corners of the attic and notices that a boy made of shadows is up there, waiting for her. When the plot develops and the true nature of the story comes to light, it is almost difficult to comprehend at first. I am not going to give too much away, but this is a book that needs to be read and experienced. It really threw me for a loop, for a while, but ended up making sense in the long run.
Some of the previous reviews on Goodreads made a big fuss about purple prose and how this book is too difficult to get through because of it. I 100% disagree with that statement but also add that it probably takes a certain person at a certain point to pick up this book. Maybe it just isn't for everyone; I loved it. For me, it wasn't really purple prose, but more of just very descriptive and poetic prose. It wasn't purple for me because it didn't take away from my ability to read the story or grasp the content. In all actuality, it just added to the magical setting and helped lend it more of an out-of-this-world mystical feel that worked for the story and all of its magical elements. I highlighted several passages of "purple prose" because they were so beautifully written and the words Wees uses to describe colors and textures is almost too much for my brain to comprehend. Regardless, I loved the way this was written and the almost sing-song poetic feel of it.
Let us talk about these characters! Rhea is a perfectly strong, young, feminist hero figure for this story. I enjoyed her fortitude and strength while she was going through some hard points in this story; never once does she decide to give up or give in to what the villain(s) of the story wanted. I wish I could be as strong as Rhea is. Even after she hears the breathing in the attic, she turns around the next day and goes back to the attic and directly address it. Geez, complete badass!
The sisters and the parents in the Ravenna family are okay; they become much stronger characters as the story progresses. The pet fox, Gabrielle is such a cute character who also becomes a very significant and stronger character in the second part of the book. Her appearance there was actually one of the first times I really got thrown for a loop and had a moment of clarity about the storyline. Hands down, my favorite character was The Darkness/the boy/the fox who is no fox/what is his real name?.... I loved how multidimensional he was, even though he was shrouded in darkness 90% of the time and was never described. As soon as Rhea met him in the attic, I fell in love with the character and the way he spoke and his actions, and how damn sweet he seemed. Gosh. From that moment, I wished and wished that he wasn't a villain.
Perhaps the best part of this book is the plot and how much of a ride it is! At first, this story got me because it had a shadow person in the attic and strange visions, and weird actions of the sisters. It was weird and different and I was really digging it, especially after some things happen with the shadow boy. THEN, the story gets turned upside down on me and the truth comes out, but even then I found myself not even trusting what the author was telling me was the actual plot of the story! That plot twist, paired with the storyline of the witch in the woods and the fox who is no fox and his storytelling just set me on edge and really created a memorable story for me. I almost literally could not put this book down and wanted to keep digging into it and revealing more and more of the story. By the end, I was ready for almost anything Wees was going to throw at me. And, it has a happy ending that is filled with some of the most tender and sweetest dialogue and moments between two characters. Ugh, so good!!!
In the end, I am giving this book 5 stars because it did everything that I want a story to do for me. I was entranced with the plot and fell head over heels for characters. I am pining for this story and more between Rhea and the boy/shadow/?????. I just can't get this story out of my head and cannot wait to see what else Wees writes in the future.
This story follows a young lady named Rhea and her family, the Ravennas. She has, sometimes, terrifying visions and has started having sleepwalking dreams. In these, she is walking up to the attic and opening a door. In her most vivid dream/sleepwalking incident, she gets to the attic and is able to open the door, finding something there that she does not like. Along with this, she starts hearing breathing in the dark corners of the attic and notices that a boy made of shadows is up there, waiting for her. When the plot develops and the true nature of the story comes to light, it is almost difficult to comprehend at first. I am not going to give too much away, but this is a book that needs to be read and experienced. It really threw me for a loop, for a while, but ended up making sense in the long run.
Some of the previous reviews on Goodreads made a big fuss about purple prose and how this book is too difficult to get through because of it. I 100% disagree with that statement but also add that it probably takes a certain person at a certain point to pick up this book. Maybe it just isn't for everyone; I loved it. For me, it wasn't really purple prose, but more of just very descriptive and poetic prose. It wasn't purple for me because it didn't take away from my ability to read the story or grasp the content. In all actuality, it just added to the magical setting and helped lend it more of an out-of-this-world mystical feel that worked for the story and all of its magical elements. I highlighted several passages of "purple prose" because they were so beautifully written and the words Wees uses to describe colors and textures is almost too much for my brain to comprehend. Regardless, I loved the way this was written and the almost sing-song poetic feel of it.
Let us talk about these characters! Rhea is a perfectly strong, young, feminist hero figure for this story. I enjoyed her fortitude and strength while she was going through some hard points in this story; never once does she decide to give up or give in to what the villain(s) of the story wanted. I wish I could be as strong as Rhea is. Even after she hears the breathing in the attic, she turns around the next day and goes back to the attic and directly address it. Geez, complete badass!
The sisters and the parents in the Ravenna family are okay; they become much stronger characters as the story progresses. The pet fox, Gabrielle is such a cute character who also becomes a very significant and stronger character in the second part of the book. Her appearance there was actually one of the first times I really got thrown for a loop and had a moment of clarity about the storyline. Hands down, my favorite character was The Darkness/the boy/the fox who is no fox/what is his real name?.... I loved how multidimensional he was, even though he was shrouded in darkness 90% of the time and was never described. As soon as Rhea met him in the attic, I fell in love with the character and the way he spoke and his actions, and how damn sweet he seemed. Gosh. From that moment, I wished and wished that he wasn't a villain.
Perhaps the best part of this book is the plot and how much of a ride it is! At first, this story got me because it had a shadow person in the attic and strange visions, and weird actions of the sisters. It was weird and different and I was really digging it, especially after some things happen with the shadow boy. THEN, the story gets turned upside down on me and the truth comes out, but even then I found myself not even trusting what the author was telling me was the actual plot of the story! That plot twist, paired with the storyline of the witch in the woods and the fox who is no fox and his storytelling just set me on edge and really created a memorable story for me. I almost literally could not put this book down and wanted to keep digging into it and revealing more and more of the story. By the end, I was ready for almost anything Wees was going to throw at me. And, it has a happy ending that is filled with some of the most tender and sweetest dialogue and moments between two characters. Ugh, so good!!!
In the end, I am giving this book 5 stars because it did everything that I want a story to do for me. I was entranced with the plot and fell head over heels for characters. I am pining for this story and more between Rhea and the boy/shadow/?????. I just can't get this story out of my head and cannot wait to see what else Wees writes in the future.