Holly Black

Die Geschwister Hazel und Ben leben in dem Ort Fairfold, der an das magische Elfenreich grenzt. Seit Jahrzehnten steht dort, mitten im Wald von Fairfold, ein gläserner Sarg, in dem ein Elfenprinz schläft – von Touristen begafft und von der Bevölkerung argwöhnisch beäugt, auch wenn Hazel und Ben die alten Geschichten nicht glauben. Seit Kindertagen fühlen sie sich zu dem schlafenden Jungen magisch hingezogen, ihm vertrauen sie alle ihre Geheimnisse an. Inzwischen ist Hazel 16 und küsst immer neue Jungs, um die Leere in ihrem Herzen zu füllen. Doch als eines Tages der Sarg leer ist und der Prinz erwacht, werden die Geschwister in einen Machtkampf der Elfen gezogen. Hazel muss die Rolle annehmen, in die sie sich als Kind immer geträumt hat: als Ritter gegen ein dunkles Monster kämpfen...

Der Prinz der Elfen

In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives.... Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Tourists drive in to see the lush wonders of Faerie and, most wonderful of all, the horned boy. But visitors fail to see the danger. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake. Until one day, he does.... As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be. But as she's swept up in new love, with shifting loyalties and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough? The Darkest Part of the Forest, is the bestselling author Holly Black's triumphant return to the opulent, enchanting faerie tales that launched her YA career.

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Lilly-May Price

“I’m not afraid of things getting messy or messed up, because it's us. There don't have to be first dates and second dates. We're not normal. We can do this any way you want. A relationship can be whatever you want it to be. We get to make this part up. We get to tell our own story."

 "I don't want anyone normal. I don't want anyone safe. I want you. I have loved you from almost the first moment I saw you, wild and fierce and brave, running through the woods, your lips stained purple from blackberry juice. I figured that just made me like every- one else loving you, but that didn't keep me from doing it."

“You better have kissed him! You better have kissed him so hard he choked on your tongue. And if not, you better go that he kiss him like that right now."

"Go," she said finally. "Be Jack Gordon. But mortality is a bitter draught." 

"And yet I would have the full measure," he told her.

“I love you like in the storybooks. I love you like in the ballads. I love you like a lightning bolt. I've loved you since the third month you came and spoke with me. I loved that you made me want to laugh. I loved the way you were kind and the way you would pause when you spoke, as though you were waiting for me to answer you. I love you and I am mocking no one when I kiss you, no one at all.”

Severin studied him for a long moment, the leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Ben's. It was a searching, hungry kiss, His hand Wrapped around Ben's head. holding on to him instead of the tree.

“Hazel, I just want to say that l like you. And I mean... maybe I'rn crazy, but I don’t know if you'd do this with me if you knew that. I kind of think you wouldn't, so that's why I'm telling you. But if you want to keep doing whatever we're doing, then I am fully prepared to shut up now.”

Leaning over, not speaking, he brought his mouth to hers. For a  wild moment she wondered if he wanted her. Her and not just this. At first, the kiss seemed part of the night and the dancing, full of dreamy madness. Jack kissed her as though he could reassure himself she was awake and okay only so long as they were touching, He kissed her as though he thought she'd turn to smoke the moment he stopped. 

And, pressing her back against the blackened trunk of a tree, he kissed her. His lips were hot, his mouth sweet. And inside her, a warm, numb darkness flooded her thoughts, making her skin shiver.

A girl makes a secret sacrifice to the faerie king in this lush New York Times bestselling fantasy by author Holly Black In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives.... Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake. Until one day, he does.... As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be. Set in the same world as the bestselling The Folk of the Air series (The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and The Queen of Nothing), The Darkest Part of the Forest is Holly Black's triumphant return to the opulent, enchanting faerie tales that launched her career.

avarni

"I loved him and he's dead and gone and bones. I loved him and they took him away from me. Where is he? Where is he? Dead and gone and bones. Dead and gone and bones. Where is he?"

Annalissa Powner 

"They are twilight creatures, beings of dawn and dusk, of standing between one thing and another, of not quite and almost, of borderlands and shadows."

Holly black can paint a beautiful picture, she can make you smile while keeping you curious. It's wasn't deep, it didn't need a second book, but it was beautiful and well done.

Julia Moran 

garnet

Really thought the plot was good, but I wasn't immersed in the novel as I usually am for books that I give five stars. I absolutely loved Jake, but I felt like Hazel's personality wasn't as strong as I would have liked. Read this in one sitting. As always, Miss Holly can write !

momo-reads

Definitely on the Y side of YA but I’d read a second book in this word

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang. / / / In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives.... Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Tourists drive in to see the lush wonders of Faerie and, most wonderful of all, the horned boy. But visitors fail to see the danger. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake. Until one day, he does.... As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be. But as she's swept up in new love, with shifting loyalties and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough? The Darkest Part of the Forest, is the bestselling author Holly Black's triumphant return to the opulent, enchanting faerie tales that launched her YA career.

I honestly thought that the story was flat and felt as if it was written by a child.

Jessica Deaner

Shawna Delellis

Holly Black is the queen of faerie tales! I absolutely loved the cruel prince series so when I learned this book takes place in the same world I was thrilled! 

She writes a world like no other, it’s earthy and tricksy and so dang magical! 

Her female main characters are some of my favorites! Head strong and fierce! 

The perfect fantasy standalone!

Cindy McKee

This book popped up on several of my bookish sites with tantalizing reviews, which, finally, I listened to. I enjoyed Hazel and Bens story very much. Stories about fairies have always intrigued me, ( probably my Irish roots ) and this close to St.Patricks day seemed a good time to lose myself in a fairy story. The world Ms.Black created feels lush and lived in, her mythos have been well researched, and her characters have quite alot of what you'd want in a hero, with an appealing twist. A good story!

A girl makes a secret sacrifice to the faerie king in this lush New York Times bestselling fantasy by author Holly Black In the woods is a glass coffin. It rests on the ground, and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives.... Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in Fairfold, where humans and the Folk exist side by side. Since they were children, Hazel and Ben have been telling each other stories about the boy in the glass coffin, that he is a prince and they are valiant knights, pretending their prince would be different from the other faeries, the ones who made cruel bargains, lurked in the shadows of trees, and doomed tourists. But as Hazel grows up, she puts aside those stories. Hazel knows the horned boy will never wake. Until one day, he does.... As the world turns upside down, Hazel has to become the knight she once pretended to be. The Darkest Part of the Forest is bestselling author Holly Black's triumphant return to the opulent, enchanting faerie tales that launched her YA career.

Janice Hopper

I'd probably give this 3.5 stars if that were an option here.

I really, really liked the first part of this book. The idea that there's a town that sits on the edge of Faerie really intrigued me. Especially since the faeries (author's spelling) seem to be more like the fairies in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - unpredictable, and somewhat dangerous, and not all tall, handsome elf-warriors and elf-maidens.

That was the case (view spoiler)[ till the elf-prince who had been imprisoned in a glass coffin was freed.  (hide spoiler)]

After that, it was your basic teen paranormal romance, with a little adventure thrown in at the end. Everybody got handsomer. Unlikely romances promise to blossom. It's suddenly much easier to get along with the faeries. My interest in what was going to happen dropped accordingly. 

If you like happy romantic endings, this is probably the book for you. Those of us who wonder what really happen in the Ever After will have questions and quibbles.

Note: I am not generally a fan of the Unlikely Lovers' Happy Romantic Ending. I also have a personal quibble with the term "faery". It always strikes me as a bit twee. If the word "fairy" was good enough for Tolkien and Susanna Clarke, it's good enough for me. But that's me, and if another reader is fine with faery, I have no beef with them. For me it's like using the word "gift" as a verb. Yes, I know it's been used that way for hundreds of years. It still sounds & looks off to me. Same with faerie. Oh well.

Loved this standalone in the faerie universe (and still absolutely love how Holly Black utilizes sexuality in her books!)

(Bre)anne✨

TW: SA, grief, familial abuse

Loved this standalone in the faerie universe (and still absolutely love how Holly Black utilizes sexuality in her books!)

Shereen Evans

I was hoping to like this book because it is right up my alley. There where several times that I found myself thinking of other things while reading since it wasn't capturing my attention. By the time I finished the book I felt meh about it. I gave it 3 stars because I didn't hate but I didn't love it so it got a happy middle. Will I be recommending this probably not.

cheyenne 

Okay so I'm giving this book 3 stars despite the fact I didn't necessarily like it. I think it all comes down to preference since I've seen so many people like this book. I'll admit the plot sounded interesting and I think it was a good concept, but I had a hard time clicking with the writing and the characters. Once again, a thing that's just about preference and personal interests. In a few months I might try and reread this book and maybe I'll find more interest in it then. For now though, the book wasn't for me but I can see why other people liked it.

Livia

** spoiler alert **
           I quite enjoy the last bit of this book when everything is explained. But as a realist myself, Hazel and Ben grates on my nerves so goddamn much. All their daydream and fantasies about being a hero, slaying monsters, thinking their special and all that (even though they are at the end, because their the narrator and god forbid them to be normal) is so unrealistic and soooo far-fetched.

And the fact that Ben has fantasies about the sleeping prince and falls hard the minute he's alone with him is ridiculous, especially with Severin suddenly saying that he loves Ben too.

Sonja H

Ein Buch, wie ein Buch sein sollte: eine interessante Geschichte mit vielen verwobenen Sagen, schillernde Charaktere mit überraschenden Seiten, ein mysteriöses Abenteuer und spannnend bis zur letzten Seite!
Diese Story hat mich von Anfang an in ihren Bann gezogen. Nicht nur, weil ich Interpretationen von Legenden unterschiedlicher Kulturen mag, auch die Figuren sind liebevoll beschrieben, stets glaubhaft, ängstlich und mutig, zurückhaltend und emotional - und werden zu Helden, die man ins Herz schließt.
Dies ist eins der Bücher, an deren Ende ich mich frage "und jetzt, was kann ich nach so einem Buch lesen, was kann da mithalten?". Am liebsten würde ich mit all diesen Menschen und Wesen die nächste Herausforderung bestehen, aber leider ist dies keine Serie...
Absolut empfehlenswert!

cora rolfes 

Allison Garrett

I have always been a huge fan of Holly Black and The Darkest Part of the Forest is no exception. Black is a unique talent in that she crafts a magical world while making it seem as though I could just tumble into it if I wish. Fairfold seemed so real to me and made me wish for more magic in my day to day life. 
	Pros: 
•	Worldbuilding: As I just mentioned, the world of the Folk of the Air is so meticulously imagined it feels like you could just fall into it. Black also does a good job of making this faerie world seem dangerous and exciting, not just a place full of happy endings. 
•	Characters: I found Hazel and Jack so loveable in this book. Especially the character arc that Hazel had in such a small amount of time. Her relationships were strengthened, and she learned so much about herself. 
Cons: 
•	Heavy foreshadowing: While I truly enjoyed the story and the pacing of the plot, I drew obvious conclusions from the foreshadowing so there weren’t many surprises at the end. 
•	Happily ever after: As much as I do enjoy a happy ever after especially in a stand-alone, I just thought everything worked out a little too perfectly. 

Favorite Quotes: 
•	“She should tell him no, but instead she seemed to be running toward trouble, leaving no stone unturned, no boy unkissed, no crush abandoned, and no bad idea unembraced.” 
•	“Ben was taking her through the storm of grief. He was singing her through the rage and despair. He was singing through the terrible loneliness, because there was no way to shut off grief, no way to case it aside or fight against it. The only way to end grief was to go through it.” 

Rating: 4.25/5 Stars
I’m definitely feeling the need to reread The Folk of the Air series after finishing this because I know at least Severin plays a minor role. I can’t wait to see where Black will take us in the world of faerie next.

Marissa Luzio 

This book is so... intriguing? I want to describe it as weird too because I mean, you guys read the synopsis right?? I know, as soon as I did, I had to read it! What an interesting book, definitely different than what I usually read. Now, I did only look into this book because I happened to love The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, so much that I needed to read other novels by Holly Black. Having said that, I was not disappointed as this novel was fantastic! 

It was such a cool concept that the town is not only aware about the fae that habit the forest, but the fact that they practically live in peace because of it. It was funny that the fact that the town is such a hot spot for tourism is because of the infamous boy in the glass coffin. I mean, come on. If there was a town in today's day and age that had a fae-looking boy asleep in a coffin, we would not visit and gawk at it. Im pretty sure we'd break into it or atleast have it whisked away to the CIA or NASA haha. But anyways, I also strangely liked the fact that Hazel, the main character, had a gay, open brother. I LOVED THAT DETAIL. Not only that, but having Ben fall in love with the fae boy. Hazel was so quirky and cool with her real life relatable problems. The intro was a bit slow with getting to know the characters and getting used to our surroundings but then it picked up speed and we got to the fun, fae parts. I love fae books, so this book was a big plus for me just from the beginning. 

I liked the little surprise we got towards the middle where we find out who the big "bad" guy is. Also the story behind that was interesting and I loved reading it. LOL I found it really funny that the townspeople were so contempt with the fact that the fae had free pickings on the tourists and could bug them as much as they want. It was a fun, creepy, fairytale-like novel and I can now declare Holly Black as a master at standalone novels that incorporate fantasy paranormal. This wasn't AS good as The Coldest Girl in Coldtown but I did rather enjoy it a lot :)

IF you wanna see more reviews, go on and check out my blog! 
http://keepcalmandloveboooks.blogspot.ca

Near the little town of Fairfold, in the darkest part of the forest, lies a glass casket. Inside the casket lies a sleeping faerie prince that none can rouse. He's the most fascinating thing Hazel and her brother Ben have ever seen. They dream of waking him - but what happens when dreams come true? In the darkest part of the forest, you must be careful what you wish for... NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Holly Black spins a dark, dangerous and utterly beautiful faerie tale, guaranteed to steal your heart. Holly Black is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author, co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles and author of YA novels including the widely acclaimed THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN.

Steysha

There’s a monster in our wood. 
She’ll get you if you’re not good. 
Drag you under leaves and sticks. 
Punish you for all your tricks. 
A nest of hair and gnawed bone.
You are never, ever coming…




Holly Black has done it again! She gives us dark, mysterious and scary story about a girl-knight, who swings a sword better than fairies, about her brother who has the gift to charm everyone with his music, and about a prince who is sleeping in a glass coffin in the middle of the forest. There are horns growing out of his head, and his face is of great beauty.

Sorry, but every time I think about his horns, I remember Daniel Radcliffe :D


Anyway, back to the point.


  Fairfold was a strange place. Dead in the center of the Carling forest, the haunted forest, full of what Hazel’s grandfather called Greenies and what her mother called They Themselves or the Folk of the Air. In these woods, it wasn’t odd to see a black hare swimming in the creek or to spot a deer that became a sprinting girl in the blink of an eye.


Fairfold is a weird town. It’s full of fairies, magical creatures and monsters. Locals got accustomed to its eccentricities, and tourists come specifically to see the wild forest and try their luck with fairies. What if they can make their dreams come true? They should know better. Fairies of Fairfold aren’t known for kindness, and they won’t do anything for "thank you". People disappear, lose their minds, or their life passes in an instant. But this doesn’t happen with the residents of Fairfold, they’ve been living in peace with fairies for a long time. But that was before.



In the depths of the forest lies a glass coffin with a boy with horns. He has pointed ears and an inhuman beauty. He is immersed in eternal sleep, and no one was able to wake him up yet. He became a tourist attraction; they were coming from all over the world to see this miracle. For residents of Fairfold, he’s a favorite topic. All of them have some feelings for him, for he is their inspiration. They tell him their deepest secrets and share their feelings. But our heroes like him more that anyone.

Hazel and Ben have always been off-the-wall -- as far as it’s possible in a town like Fairfold. In their youth, their parents were irresponsible and liked partying, not caring about their hungry children. Therefore, they found a fun way to pass the time. The kids liked to imagine themselves as heroes, saving stupid people from creepy monsters, lurking in the woods. Ben could conjure any beast with his music, and Hazel had known from her childhood - she is destined to become a knight. Children became a nightmare of forest creatures. In their fantasies, they saw themselves as knights and faithful servants of the boy with horns -- their prince.


  Of running all the way to where the horned boy slept, singing songs and making up stories about him all afternoon, only coming home at night, exhausted, wild animals returning to a den.
They saw themselves as children of the forest, creeping around pools and hiding in the hollows of dead trees.




But the older they grew, the more dangerous became their entertainment. One day, after another hunt for monsters that almost resulted in Hazel`s death, Ben refused to play in knights anymore. He believed that his musical skills were not high enough to protect them. Hazel, in desperation, made a deal with fairies to help her brother and promised to pay seven years of her life. But how? Maybe she's just going to die prematurely? Or she will be taken to the fairies, where time goes faster, and her life will fly by unnoticed? Oh, none of her theories could prepare her for the truth.

Now the kids became teens and stopped playing knights. Hazel grew a young woman, who breaks hearts and kisses with strangers at parties. Ben struggles to find his love and to stop playing music. And all would have been good if it were not for the terrible events in Fairfold. Fairies started to attack. The worst forest monster went into town and made people so sad, that they could literary die from sorrow. The boy with horns... woke up.



Then Hazel gets the message that it's time to pay her debts, her sword gets lost, and in the morning she wakes up with dirty feet and leaves in her hair - with absolutely no recollection of the previous night. Ben and his sister decide to look for their prince – to become knights again - but the boy they find is not the boy from their tales. At the same time, their best friend, Jack - who is a changeling, taken into a human family - starts to behave strangely and gets close with his people - and I'm not talking about human people. 
Will the guys save the town from the monster? Will they solve the mystery of the horned boy and find their calling? Believe me, you want to find out about this!

The story goes, basically, from Hazel`s POV, but sometimes we can read on behalf of Ben and Jack. The word that comes to mind when I think about this girl is «badass». She is fearless, smart, weird and faithful. Most of all I liked to read the chapters about her childhood. I could imagine this wild child, wandering barefoot through the woods with a sword in her hand and with red lips from berry juice. Being a knight, her defining feature is courage. In those moments when I would do something like this: 

She would go like this: 


The book has a gay couple, Ben and... I won`t tell :) And the romance between Hazel and... I won`t tell :) 
But it is these love stories that seemed out of place to me. They were boring and added nothing to the story. I did not feel the chemistry between the characters. But I loved the relationship between siblings; they were like Hansel and Gretel.

What in this book deserves the highest praise is a writing style! I swear, it was the best that I’ve seen this year. I fell in love with it from the first page. The story was very atmospheric and reminded of the classic tale. Thanks to the detailed descriptions, I could easily imagine a wild forest with monsters, lurking in the shadows, waiting for their prey. Hell, I even dreamed about coming to this town, despite the fact that all the tourists suffer from fairies’ tricks.




  They are twilight creatures, beings of dawn and dusk, of standing between one thing and another, of not quite and almost, of borderlands and shadows.


So why did I rate it with three stars? The plot, guys. The plot. Firstly, it was very chaotic. In the beginning we read the chapters about the children’s past and present. And if at first I wondered why this prehistory is so vague and long, then later I realized that it was the best part of the book. Well, I also liked the ending. By the middle of the book, the storyline began to emerge, but it seemed poor in comparison with such an elegant and atmospheric writing. For example, the horned prince, he had so much potential! But, in the end, his character remained unsolved and quite banal, and only his horns were memorable. The monster had the same situation; it started smartly, scenes with him were plush and truly frightening - but his problem was so easily solved, that was somehow boring. IMHO, the plot needed to be more epic and dynamic. As I said, the ending was also good, but it can not be compared to the beginning, where there was no plot, only the fantastic atmosphere.

Overall, this is a great fairytale, written in style of the Grimm Brothers. I recommend it to those who, like me, loves to read about the dark forests full of monsters. And to those who liked Beware the Wild




  Once, there was a girl who found a sword in the woods.
Once, there was a girl who made a bargain with the Folk.
Once, there was a girl who’d been a knight in the service of a monster.
Once, there was a girl who vowed she would save everyone in the world, but forgot herself.
Once, there was a girl…



*This beautiful fan art was made by my dear friend geborn-zu-sterben

Vanessa Shelton

Wonderful, wonderful book. I was pretty reluctant to read another one of Holly Black's books after The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, but The Darkest Part of the Forest was absolutely enchanting.

Hazel Morton

Holly Black’s writing is so magical and inventive, and this book did not disappoint! It sucks you in right from the start and sweeps you away into a world that contains humans and faeries both. Filled with plot twists, magic, and action, this is a book you do not want to miss

kezzie

Everything about this book is amazing!!! I truly loved it! I am so happy to have been in fairyland again, I do wish I had read this before the cruel prince but anyways it was great!! I loved all the characters I want more of them. Now I need to reread the folk of the air trilogy, but this book brought me much joy!! In a perfect world Jude and Hazel would be bffs!! I said, and I think I just made the best friendship ever! They would constantly be acting like they hated each other but on rare occasions they would act like the best of friends and so unless you knew them personally you would be confused. But close friends would know that when they act like they hate each other they actually don’t and it’s just their competitive self’s acting out and they are just the best of friends who constantly are teasing each other etc. There!! Best friendship! I need this in a book now!!
Lol that basically was what I kept thinking about while I read the book

Also I wanted more Ben and Severin chapters!! I want to see them work on their relationship, I am sad I didn’t get more of them

But anyways, this book is a new favorite for sure!

Caroline Mao

Oh, wow. I'm stunned.

I've read a few works by Holly Black before - Tithe, which was too strangely written and paced for me to understand, and the Curse Workers trilogy, which had a lot of good moments and good characterization but which I never got deeply into. So I didn't have much motivation to pick up this book. There are three things that did: a lot of wifi-less free time to kill, a gorgeous title (I love forests, I love dark things, I love the mere mention of either and both), and the promise of LGBT characters.

This is easily making it into my favorites shelf. Let's hit on all the bad points first, though, since it's nice to end reviews on a good note.

First, I'm not sure I like the way Holly Black paces and styles her writing. Her style in this book was gorgeous, but the pacing was still reminiscent of Tithe. It might be because I was reading it as an ePub and ebooks throw everything off balance, but the feeling is a lot like that of Tithe's, which I read as a hard copy. It felt like everything was going too fast, with not enough background or context given in between, or else the context wasn't paced properly and read like exposition dumping that wasn't located at the exposition. I'd chalk it down to the author's love of faerie folklore, which is obvious in both books. We're seeing the information she puts into the book a vastly different way from how she sees it. Unless the reader is an expert on faerie folklore, it reads like a foreign language being taught by an incompetent tutor. The narrators themselves already know about fairies, but we don't, throwing it off further. And yes, a lot of the knowledge in the novel is pretty basic, especially if you read as much fantasy as I do, but a little introducing would have been nice.

On the bright side, that's really my only complaint. The style in this really was very good - there wasn't a ton of poetic musing on the characters' parts (poetic musing, as in the Laurie Halse Anderson kind), but there was definitely a focus on the beautiful imagery! I'd say it was a poetic book in that aspect. Holly Black has a way with descriptions that's a little old-fashioned and more than a little enchanting. Paired with the constant action and plot twists, it kept me turning the pages.

Also, this book had so many tropes and concepts I love! Magical creatures that are beautiful but so, so cruel; a setting with a regional gothic vibe, and then deconstructing that vibe; an unreliable narrator (!!); humans playing at being magical and magical creatures playing at - and with - being human; gender role reversals; and plot twists galore. If any of these interest you as well, read this book.

The characterization was amazing! Hazel was an okay protagonist at first, and I was a little skeptical when I first started getting acquainted with her. Straight girl falling in love with childhood friend who talked just a bit too much about her inner conflicts on the average day. Big deal. But she picked up momentum, and she picked it up fast. As a heroine and a protagonist, she was incredible. As Ben says, she was charming. Hazel knew she was a heroine, and she was determined to do her job. She had many of the qualities of the average YA fantasy protagonist - impulsive, reckless, always taking action, self-sacrificing - with her own kind of spice to it.

Ben was also pretty great, although I wanted to get even more of his perspective than I did. I really liked his relationship with Hazel - at the beginning, they seemed like the perfect siblings, close to each other, ready to defend the other to the death, and while that remained true throughout the novel, you could see the flaws and cracks in it starting to appear as the story progressed. Also, I loved the detail of his talent for music. I wouldn't go so far as to call my own abilities with writing a curse - and alas, my skills with hypnotizing monsters and moving people to tears are debatable - but I understand, in some capacity, what it's like to carry such a gift, the kind you just can't ignore.

(view spoiler)[There was also his relationship with Severin, which was A++. Severin as a character just wasn't what I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised by how he differed from those expectations. First, the story was set up to revolve around him. He was supposed to be an ultra-mysterious faerie creature who spoke only in riddles and regarded humans as pawns or entertainment - like the rest of the Folk, basically, but a lot more powerful. But no, that wasn't how it went. The story revolved around Hazel, the beautiful, shining knight, who was really meant to save them all, not the Aang (strange, magical boy sleeping for decades in an almost unbreakable prison, anyone?) of Fairfold. (Also, strange, magical boys aren't supposed to make dramatic, soppy confessions of love on their deathbed.)

The story was also set up so that Hazel and Severin would be a couple, because a) heteronormativity / The Straight Ones are prioritized and b) the hero and the mystical faerie are supposed to get together, not the sidekick and the mystical faerie. God bless Holly Black for trope subversions / aversions. 

Also, Ben and Severin were just a really cute couple in general. The part where Severin snuck into Ben's room to talk to him about Sorrel? I am squealing. That was so much fluff and angst at the same time and they were just so cute. (hide spoiler)]

There's also Jack. (view spoiler)[Now, I don't care much about his romance with Hazel. It was cute, and enjoyable enough to read that I got through it without much of a problem. I'm happy that they acknowledged their feelings for each other. But (hide spoiler)] there are two things I'd like to focus on with Jack - his relationship with his faerie mother, and his relationship with Carter (and by extension, the rest of his mortal family).

Eolanthe was a character that I hated at first. She broke the pact with the townspeople by dropping off her child with one of the families, and that was more than enough to get me to dislike her right off the bat. I hated her even more because of the way she treated Hazel (my precious little baby) and what she did at the end, but when I sat down and reviewed her actions and motivations, I began to understand and sympathize with her. Eolanthe was a mother who was a dark, dangerous person willing to enact dark, dangerous things for her son. Perhaps some of it was about power, but I believe that most of it was to protect him, physically and emotionally, and she did it with her own methods. It didn't work, yeah, but she cared enough that I like her a lot more for it. Mothers willing to do horrible things to protect their children are the best, to be honest. I love that trope.

Now, Carter and the rest of the Gordon family. At first, I got the vibe that because they were so aware of Jack's differences - and tried to hide that awareness - they didn't love him as much, and that made me uncomfortable. (view spoiler)[Carter dating Amanda Watkins made me want to scream. I wanted to ask him why he would date a girl who treated his brother so badly, and if it's because he didn't care about Jack after all. (It was pretty irrational of me, I'll admit.) (hide spoiler)] Yet as the novel went on, my heart softened toward them. (view spoiler)[The scene with Jack offering to go to the Folk and leave Fairfold was heartbreaking. I expected it to go the way it always does in YA - his closest friends tell him, "you don't have to do this," and he does it anyway - but that wasn't how it happened. His mother put her foot down and said no. She called the townspeople cowards to their faces. (hide spoiler)] If there was any character I loved from the start, it was Mrs. Gordon. The story Hazel told about her standing up to Eolanthe and getting her baby back won me over so, so quickly. (view spoiler)[Then when Sorrow stormed in, Mr. Gordon and Carter trying to fight her made me love them a hell of a lot more. (hide spoiler)]

So, uh, I didn't actually say much about Jack himself. I liked him a lot. I thought he had a pretty cool backstory, and I think he especially shone at the end in the conversation with Eolanthe.

Also, as a side note, can I say how much I loved the imagery of Sorrow? (view spoiler)[Her as a character and her relationship with Severin didn't get to shine as much as it could have, but that aside, plants. (hide spoiler)] Beautiful, terrifying, destructive trees and vines weaving themselves into one big, scary monster. I love it when nature is more terrifying than what the humans can cook up with their technology. I love nature itself as an antagonist. Sorrow gave off slight Nausicaa of the Valley vibes. The point of her character wasn't to be the embodiment of nature, but I will pretend it was in at least some aspect.

Also, wow, this story had so much more mystery than I expected. I thought it'd be a pretty straightforward story about rebelling against people who treated others horribly (the Fair Folk) and finding allies to do so, but there was layer after layer to be unraveled and it both was and wasn't that simple. I liked that a lot, personally.

This was a great book that was well worth the read.

--

A last note: under "friend reviews" on this book, there's one three-star, three four-stars, and eight five-stars. That's pretty impressive.

Jill Connors

** spoiler alert **
           I ship Jack and Hazel so hard, not to mention Severin and Ben!!!! Loved the characters in this book and their development was amazing. Well written and easily one of my favorite fantasy books!

Sarah Vaughan

I don't usually care for .5 ratings, but I have to give this one 3.5 / 5 stars. The beginning was great. I was really into the story and the characters and the descriptions of the town, and the action began soon after the book started. About halfway through, I began to feel like the author just started slacking off. The quality of the plot, the dialogue, the descriptions of new characters, everything, just seemed off. And for about ¼ of the book, that really silly and annoying part of some YA novels where a female heroine who is a complete mess keeps trying to convince herself that she can save the world while doing really dumb things happens happened. I was pretty annoyed with some of the characters for a good part of the book. The ending was great, and I felt like all issues were resolved. I will say that there's a lot more language and partying in this book than most YA books, so if you're a parent of a YA reader, something to be aware of.

Laura Kehoe

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading The Darkest Part of the Forest. And at first, I didn't think I'd like it. I found myself getting a little bored and annoyed with the characters. But, the more I read, the more I fell in love with this book. By the end, I was genuinely sad to be finished.

I loved the fairytale feel to the story. It felt like reading one of the Grimm's tales; dark and a little twisted, but enchanting and whimsical at the same time. And the writing was absolutely lovely. I've never read anything by Holly Black before, but now I definitely need to check out lore of her books.

There were times when I wasn't fond of the characters, and I had a few problems with some plot points, but overall I found it to be an enjoyable read.

Der Prinz der Elfen

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