The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

 

 

 

Publication Date: January 13, 2015

Source: Local Bookstore

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★★

Summary (from Goodreads): Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Favorite Quote: “So you’re texting in Faerieland? Who are you even texting? What network are you even on?”

What I Liked: Holly Black is the reason I’ve fallen so deeply in love with the They Themselves, the Fair Folk, the Faeries. In this book she flawlessly blends the hum-drum human world with the mischievously cruel Faerieworld, just as she’s done before. Her kind of the writing is the kind that will make you believe in Kelpies and RedCaps and evil elves with ears as sharp as knives. Her writing is the kind of writing that’ll have you sleeping with your shoes pointed purposely towards your bed and your pajamas inside out.

You’ll always find a diverse band of characters in any book you pick up with her name on the cover. Boys, girls, black, white, young, old, human and inhuman and she writes them all perfectly. She captures emotions in words better than I can ever hope to one day, making the human spectrum of feeling seem like only something magic could accomplish. I could shower Ms. Black with compliments all day and night but lets get to why this book is so cool in the first place.

We’ve all seen things out of the corners of our eyes that we can’t exactly explain; this book is based in a town that lives on the edge of what you can’t see. You feel both enchanted and creeped out. As the hairs on the back of your neck raise, your eyes will dart across the pages, aching for what’s next.

What I didn’t Like: I adored this books, don’t get me wrong. But I wish she could have expanded it so much more. It was an internal battle on whether or not to give this 4 or 5 stars, but in the end the higher rating won, because I loved the story, with all its flaws and appreciate a good one shot when one comes my way.

Why You Should Read It: Read this book if you love Faeries. Read this book if you’re looking for a good, younger YA book with a dark undertone. Read this book if you enjoy hot boys with horns (and who doesn’t am I right?). The Darkest Part of the Forest is the perfect novel for anyone that loves the lore of Faerie and loves modern contemporary novels but at the same time.