Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Title: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Pages: 328                           C/W: 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Date Started: 12/31/2015                   Date Finished: 1/14/2016

Did you like it?                                         Rating: 4.5/6

                                Today I am reviews THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST by Holly Black. I am a big fan of Holly Black’s work. Like all her other works, I gobbled up every word and was sad when there was no more. Though I don’t think THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST is not the best novel she’s ever written (that spot is reserved for the whole Curseworkers Trilogy), it was still very good. Holly Black has a way of using words to uncover the unreal that’s buried in the ordinary.

                            Holly Black has always been one of my favorite authors. I can remember reading Tithe, and being blown away by her faerie stories. It came as no surprise that I did, in fact, LOVE The DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST. Hazel was a realistically strong female heroine. Hazel, her brother Ben, their coffined prince, Jack, and the monsters in the forest made the story come alive. I liked Holly Black’s use of narrative, which is always spectacular. I didn’t like that it was so short of a novel. Hopefully, it isn’t a standalone and I will be seeing some of these characters again in the future.

What’s it about?

                            Ben and Hazel, a brother/sister team live in Fairfold- a town on the edge of a faerie forest. In Fairfold, people know the fae are real and are careful with themselves. At the edge of the forest sleeps a horned boy in a coffin of unbreakable crystal. 

                            The horned boy has many admirers, but no so devout as Ben and his sister. Tied as they are to the sleeping boy, it comes as no shock that they are beside themselves to discover that the coffin has been smashed and their sleeping prince released. But who would do such a thing. Enter mystery, danger, and a little bit of romance. Oh, and monsters, can’t forget the monsters.

                         “My problems are yours as well. All of Fairfold is blessed with my problems, and they do not lessen your own. You and your sister are very dear to each other. To show your regard, you give each other lovely bouquets of lies.” – “The Darkest Part of the Forest”, Holly Black