Katherine  Macdonald

A mortal raised in the land of Faerie, Juliana Ardencourt doesn’t remember the curse being cast.

But the rest of Faerie does.

On Prince Hawthorn’s eighteenth birthday, at the first drop of his blood spilled, the kingdom will be plunged into a century-long slumber…

And the Unseelie King will reign.

As his personal guard, Juliana is sworn to serve the vain, arrogant prince only until the fateful day, but when the curse is unleashed, Juliana alone is the one that can save him.

Connected to Hawthorn through their dreams, Juliana soon finds her feelings shifting for the boy she once swore to hate…

And soon swears to sacrifice anything to save him.

Forest of Dreams and Whispers

Juliana is Hawthorn’s bodyguard and has agreed to stay until the curse takes him. Hawthorn was cursed soon after his birth – all the fae would fall into a 100 year sleep when a drop of Hawthorn’s blood spills after his 18th birthday.

I didn’t like Juliana. Her so called hate for Hawthorn seemed so fake and forced and I didn’t see the point in that being their dynamic. Hawthorn was a bully when he was younger, but Juliana has spent many years with him now, which should have been enough for her to see that he’s changed. Instead, it felt like Juliana’s attitude softened with every flashback, which didn’t make sense, since the reader is introduced to those situations, while Juliana should already know them and have a different attitude from the start in the present timeline.

I think Hawthorn might have been fine as a character, but his situation was awful and that added to Juliana being his crush (which was obvious very early on) was horrible.

There were too many flashbacks (some of which just felt like filler) and not enough characters. I guess I can see why there weren’t many side characters, but there could have been more when they were still at the castle.

The plot is kind of a sleeping beauty retelling, but there are also magical dreams. When Juliana goes to sleep, most of the time she enters the dream land where she can communicate with Hawthorn who is sleeping because of the curse. I liked the idea of the vines/nature magic, but none of that was explained and the magic use felt like it happened when it was convenient for the plot.

I didn’t like this book, mostly because of Juliana but also because the writing style wasn’t for me. I’m probably not going to try other books by this author.

I didn’t like this book.

Juliana is Hawthorn’s bodyguard and has agreed to stay until the curse takes him. Hawthorn was cursed soon after his birth – all the fae would fall into a 100 year sleep when a drop of Hawthorn’s blood spills after his 18th birthday.

I didn’t like Juliana. Her so called hate for Hawthorn seemed so fake and forced and I didn’t see the point in that being their dynamic. Hawthorn was a bully when he was younger, but Juliana has spent many years with him now, which should have been enough for her to see that he’s changed. Instead, it felt like Juliana’s attitude softened with every flashback, which didn’t make sense, since the reader is introduced to those situations, while Juliana should already know them and have a different attitude from the start in the present timeline.

I think Hawthorn might have been fine as a character, but his situation was awful and that added to Juliana being his crush (which was obvious very early on) was horrible.

There were too many flashbacks (some of which just felt like filler) and not enough characters. I guess I can see why there weren’t many side characters, but there could have been more when they were still at the castle.

The plot is kind of a sleeping beauty retelling, but there are also magical dreams. When Juliana goes to sleep, most of the time she enters the dream land where she can communicate with Hawthorn who is sleeping because of the curse. I liked the idea of the vines/nature magic, but none of that was explained and the magic use felt like it happened when it was convenient for the plot.

I didn’t like this book, mostly because of Juliana but also because the writing style wasn’t for me. I’m probably not going to try other books by this author.

Forest of Dreams and Whispers

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