Book Review–The Darkest Part of the Forest

Another fantasy novel, I know, I know, big surprise.  I love fantasy so much though, and this particular book was actually lent to me by my best friend.  My best friend and I actually do this book exchange every month or so where we meet for lunch exchange books and chat about the books we exchanged the previous month as well as just catch up in general.  Not only does it give us a chance to hang out but we also get to chat about books, which is a subject we are both passionate about.  This is the book that he gave me most recently because I actually mentioned to him that I have wanted to read this for a while and he told me how good it was and I really have to agree.

This book follows a sister, Hazel, and brother, Ben, who live in a small town called Fairfold.  Fairfold seems like you’re normal every day small town, except for the fact that fairies coexist in Fairfold with humans.  Hazel and Ben have grown up in this world so it’s nothing too special to them, except when it comes to the horned boy.  The horned boy resides in a glass casket in the middle of the woods and according to legend he has been there for hundreds of years in a deep sleep from which he was never meant to wake up from.  Hazel and Ben spent their childhood fantasizing about releasing the boy from his chamber and created all kinds of adventures that they would have with him.  But as they grew older Hazel realize the boy would never awaken, until one day he does, which becomes an event that officially turns their small world upside down.

Yet another amazing fantasy story.  This was a really fun and immersive story.  First of all the characters are really interesting and complex and in no way stereotypical YA fantasy characters.  Hazel is very headstrong and smart and a fighter, she wants so desperately to be the knight in shining armor and to be the one that saves the world.  Ben is a really great example of a gay boy in YA literature.  I feel like often times with YA, we get a stereotypically gay character and that is the opposite of Ben.  He’s smart and musically talented and very special in a very different way from his sister.  You also have Jack, who is one of the main characters.  He is actually a fairy himself, a changeling to be precise and he has a neat little backstory with his family that I don’t want to ruin.  But he is one who tries so desperately to keep one foot in the human world so that he doesn’t let the fairy part of him take over completely.  And then you have Severin, the horned boy himself, who holds within himself the truth of his family and his father and the fairies.

I love things that deal with fairies and I feel like there is not a whole lot of good fantasy literature that deals with fairies.  But this book deals with so much fun mythology and really goes in a way that I didn’t expect.  Holly Black just writes so poetically and beautifully and passionately, it’s just so enjoyable.  Also something that is really cool, is that the book is a spin on Snow White.  It’s of course not an exact retelling, but you can definitely tell that she pulled inspiration from the classic tale.  It’s a really cool, dark tale that’s definitely something very different if you’re into fantasy.