"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?"
The Darkest Part of The Forest is a standalone urban fantasy about two siblings - Hazel & Ben, who live in a weird small town that borders a kingdom of fae and elves and all kinds of mythical creatures. In the woods, there is a glass coffin and in it sleeps a horned beautiful elf prince.
Hazel & Ben - a forest fire and a gentle breeze, having too much earth and freedom in their hearts spent their childhood walking on the wild side, chasing cryptids and bad ideas (Hazel with a sword and Ben with hypnotizing music). That is, when they're not lying on the glass coffin, making up stories about the horned boy who's asleep beneath.....until he disappears overnight.
You know me and urban fantasy... I absolutely adore it. I loved the deadpan normality that the villagers viewed the Fae and all the children coming to school with amulets and charms.
I found the character of Hazel interesting but occasionally difficulty to relate to. She went to a lot of parties and kissed boy, without any remorse about breaking their hearts. Her interaction with Jack asking him to "distract" her with sex was just, well mind bogglingly awful. The use of a person as a distraction or object is just repulsive. If Hazel was a boy her actions would be that of a fuckboy and universally disliked but for some reason as she is a girl it is acceptable and even romanticised. I also found Ben, I don't know, whiney?? I found his romance with (spoiler) Severin to be, while nice and unexpected representation, completely unbelievable. Severin is a manipulative dick the majority of the book and while he might know everything about Ben, Ben knows nothing about Severin other than he is hot. I mean come on!!
The impact of the twins childhood and their past hit hard with me however. The neglectful and nigh abusive up bring was heart-breakingly rendered. You really felt the frustration of having no one to blame as the parents have matured to actually be functioning parents.
The descriptions of the Fae and their ball is beautiful and well written with Holly Black really capturing the unsettling, threatening beauty that they possess. Jack, a changeling living with his human brother, was one of my favourite characters always having to walk the fine line between two worlds. The occasional slips of his human mask where some of my favourite scenes.
However I found the plot design to be infantile.The story was simple and there where no interesting twists. It was boringly predictable. While it is supposed to be a fairy-tale subversion it plays out just like a fairy-tale. Person with no powers, monster invades village, must protect love ones, find out they are special, team up and defeat evil, happily ever after. The monster also just didn't scare me for some reason. At no point did Sorrow make me creeped out or even slightly worried. The Alderking, while he had potential, was just a pantomime villain. The best baddie was Severin and he was a goodie!! Unfortunately this lack of menace really didn't make me relate with any of the characters because I didn't fear for their safety.
The story of Sorrow wasn't even original but a reused legend that my Mom told to me when I was young.
Overall had potential but ended decidedly lack lustre. Ended up feeling, without a solid plot, too much like a feminist homosexual RA RA. While I am a feminist and part of the LGBT community myself it can't be the sole plot point, it must be a part of an already good story.
Age Rating 14+. Make outs, underage drinking and an abusive childhood that while not explicit is described occasionally.
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