Wednesday, January 10, 2018

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Last year I took part in a local book/writing conference thing and I got the opportunity to sit in on a whole bunch of lectures and workshops by people who write and publish. It was pretty amazing.

One workshop that stood out to me was about writing urban fantasy. The teacher was a young woman who was so totally awesome and she talked about the book she was writing as well as her love for a particular author: Holly Black.

Until this point I was vaguely aware of the name, and not at all aware of her work, but the name stuck with me. When I realized this beautiful book was written by Holly Black and it was all over Instagram, I went and grabbed it up.

Before even starting this book I flipped to the back and ended up reading an excerpt of another one of her books. Right from the start, after only about a page and a half, I was hooked on her writing style.

I ate this book up quite quickly and got my hands on another of her books before I was even done this one. I really liked it. It was something different and awesome.

I love fairy tales, especially the ones that are actually about the fae. The fact that this book meshed the real world we live in with the fairy world was so cool and really well done. It had fairies, royalty, death, destruction, and the race to save the ones you love. It was magical.

The only problem I had with this one was the bits about high school. I'm a little over the other side of the hill in age and reading about kids in school was harder to connect with, but I didn't let that little detail bug me too much.

I loved the characters, I loved the relationships, and I loved the realness. There's a real human quality to this book that can sometimes gets a little lost once you delve into the world of fantasy.

Recommendation: For fantasy lovers, for young adult fantasy lovers, and for the lovers of fairies who wish they too can go and rescue the fairy prince in his glass coffin.

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