Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Source/Format: Won, Print ARC
More Details: Young Adult, Paranormal 
Publisher/Publication Date: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, January 13, 2015
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Synopsis 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?

I’m no stranger to Holly Black’s books. I enjoyed her Modern Faerie Tale series and liked the work she did with Tony DiTerlizzi on The Spiderwick Chronicles. Next on my list was The Darkest Part of the Forest.

At first, I had some reservations about how the story would work. The book is a standalone and the hype was tremendous at the time of its release. So, I was expecting a complete story with an ending good enough to be considered satisfying. Thankfully, I got what I was expecting. The story was good, and I did enjoy the book.

Black knows how to write faeries well, and does it in a style that’s shows the grittier, darker nature of the fey while playing off common themes—such as the magic and allergy to iron—while twisting them to suite the story. As with Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside before it, The Darkest Part of the Forest seemed to hold true to some of these themes. The setting of Fairfold complemented the atmosphere of mystery and magic that embroiled the character’s lives.

Hazel and Ben, brother and sister, were right in the middle of the mystery surrounding the glass coffin and the boy who slept within. After all, they had grown up in Fairfold, surrounded by magic and faeries their entire lives. Black showed how the environment had begun to affect them in different ways over time—shaping them into the characters that took center focus in the book.

Amidst the trouble brewing in Fairfold, really, The Darkest Part of the Forest was Hazel and Ben’s story—about their past and their present, and how their decisions were interpreted and the unforeseen consequences for their actions.

The ending was good, and the last several chapters consisted of my favorite parts. That is to say, there were plenty of surprises, and I was pretty happy about that. So, I definitely wasn’t disappointed by The Darkest Part of the Forest.

Musing Mondays (53) What I'm Reading

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My Musings for the Week...

Random weekly question: What do you think is the most overrated book?

I think any book can be overrated, depending on the person who you're asking. A probable cause could be personal preference in regards to taste in books. Needless to say, I've had that thought more times than I can count on one hand. However, some of the books weren't bad, I just didn't love them. Anyway, one book that, for me, was a little overrated (or too hyped would be a better way to describe it), was Alice in Zombieland. The book wasn't necessarily the worst thing I've every read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The hype surrounding it drove my expectations up way too high, and the story I got wasn't what I was expecting. Still, the plot itself was alright, and the coolest part were the zombies. I don't typically read books that feature zombies, which is saying something since that happened to be my favorite part about Alice in Zombieland. So, two thumbs up for well-done zombies.

Other Musings...

To start out this week, I’m taking a short break from fiction with my current read, Founding Myths by Ray Raphael. I picked this book up at Barnes & Noble since it was on sale for a good price. I started reading it over the weekend, and so far it’s been really interesting to see the historical inaccuracies that are commonly mentioned/interpreted as being true, while also being based on actual fact.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Much of what you thought you knew about American history is wrong...

Our best-loved tales actually sell America short, Raphael says. This nation was founded not just by the handful of "founding fathers" we have come to admire, but also by the revolutionary activities of innumerable and nameless patriots who are not mentioned in textbooks. Why should only a select few get the credit? The collaborative spirit and effort of the American people is an important concept for children (and adults) to learn...


What are you planning to read this week?

The Friday 56 (61) The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE


Synopsis 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?

"And they did run, the barghest just behind them, weaving between the trees like a leopard."--The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Comments: I'm really excited to read this book because I've been a fan of Holly Black for some time. I've read a lot of her books, so The Darkest Part of the Forest was one I was obviously going to read eventually. What are you reading this week?

Review: The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee

Title: The Body at the Tower
Author: Y.S. Lee
Source/Format: Purchased, Paperback
More Details: Young Adult, Historical, Mystery
Publisher/Publication Date: Candlewick Press, August 10, 2010

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Now nearly a full-fledged member of the Agency, the all-female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls, Mary Quinn is back for another action-packed adventure. Disguised as a poor apprentice builder and a boy, she must brave the grimy underbelly of Victorian London - as well as childhood fear, hunger, and constant want - to unmask the identity of a murderer. Assigned to monitor a building site on the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament, Mary earns the confidence of the work crew, inching ever nearer her suspect. But if an irresistible desire to help the city's needy doesn't distract her and jeopardize her cover, unexpectedly meeting up with an old friend - or flame - just might...

So, I finally reread The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee. I was surprised by how much I didn’t remember about the book, but that made the reading experience all the more better. More often than not, I found myself getting into the book. The writing was highly engaging, and the plot ended up being really exciting and a complete page-turner as Mary Quinn took on her next case for the Agency.

Clearly, I now remember why I got into this series in the first place.

The Body at the Tower was basically about Mary and her continued employment with the Agency—which was an all-female agency of spies handling cases that are difficult to solve. The time period of the novel was historical, and featured many elements common to the genre. But, because of the setting, the continued existence of an organization like the Agency and its secretive activities was all the more awesome. Mary’s current case is as the title suggests, and her investigation takes her to the construction site where the clock tower is being built.

The plot, as I stated above, was really exciting even though I’ve read the book before. From the characters to the mystery, there were a lot of things I liked about The Body at the Tower. I was hooked again by Lee’s ability to craft a historical spy novel with plausible situations and emotional repercussions that worked well with the setting.

Mary’s backstory was pretty developed in the last book, but in The Body at the Tower, she grew even more. She had faults and emotions—some she understood well, and others she didn’t—and her past really shaped who she was. Mary was a well-rounded character.

Some of my other favorite characters from the last book were back—especially the “old friend” mentioned in the synopsis. I felt like that part of the story played out well, but never took the spotlight away from the mystery aspect of the novel.

Now, I’m really excited to reread the next book in the series, The Traitor in the Tunnel. Plus I’m going to look into getting the last book in the series. I don’t know when exactly I’ll get a copy, but I do want to see how it all ends for Mary and her friends.

Musing Mondays (52) It's All Historical...

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My Musings for the Week...

Random weekly question: What is the best book you read LAST year?

The beginning of last year was significantly better for me, in terms of reading. 2016 has been pretty hit or miss—mostly hits, but the handful of misses happened back-to-back, and almost had me in a reading slump. Luckily, I avoided that.

Other Musings...

Today, I'm  sharing some of my favorite historical fiction, alternative history, and historical fantasy novels/series. Basically, books with settings based in some kind of historical time period no matter how altered, strange, or mysterious. Honestly, historical based novels are something I don’t read enough of, considering how much I tend to enjoy the books. However, I have read enough to compile a short list for today’s post.

• The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
• Wonderstruck, The Marvels, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• The Agency Series by Y.S. Lee
• Kat, Incorrigible series by Stephanie Burgis
• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
• Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

By now, I know which genre’s I immediately reach for, and clearly, I’ve still got some work to do when I pick out books. I still fall into the same pattern of picking fantasy, which is hard to get away from when there are so many books I want to read from that particular genre. It’s a real dilemma sometimes.

Anyway, what are you reading this week?