The Darkest Part of the Forest

by Holly Black

Lauren Fortgang (Narrator)

Near the little town of Fairfold, in the darkest part of the forest, lies a glass casket. Inside the casket lies a sleeping faerie prince that none can rouse. He's the most fascinating thing Hazel and her brother Ben have ever seen. They dream of waking him - but what happens when dreams come true? In the darkest part of the forest, you must be careful what you wish for...NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Holly Black spins a dark, dangerous and utterly beautiful faerie tale, guaranteed to steal your heart. Holly Black is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author, co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles and author of YA novels including the widely acclaimed THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN.

• ISBN10: 1478955899
• ISBN13: 9781478955894
• Publish Date: 27 January 2015 (first published 9 December 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 8 hours and 39 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4 Stars

Holly Black never disappoints! Faerie never disappoints! So glad that I finally got around to reading this one. Only thing is... I couldn’t help but miss Jude & Cardan the whole time! Also, not sure why, but this sort of felt like an accompanying novella or novel “from the world of the folk of the air” type of deal. Regardless, I thought it was cute, whimsical, sometimes dark, & always fun fun fun funnnnnn !

(Although sometimes— just a few, no big— I KINDA wanted to punch the MC in the face. Honestly though it was just 2 or 3 times, lol, if that counts for anything! Otherwise she was pretty great, def a strong & badass female! Likability... meh whats a few annoying moments

[Djilan]

4,5*
What a fun read!
I had difficulty putting it away every night so it was after 01:00hour at least 2 nights in a row.
It was an easy, fast paced read with fun characters. I really liked Hazel and Jack :)
This is a story I will likely pick up for another read.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Hazel lives in Fairfold, and people flock to Fairfold to see the faerie boy in the coffin. He's been there for generations, and they assume he'll always be there. But one day, the coffin is smashed, and the boy is gone. Who did it? It seems like the faerie will stop at nothing to capture their prince, and Hazel prepares herself to find him first.

I was a bit nervous going into this book, because I don't like most faerie novels. They're usually overwhelmed with romance, and that's not really my cup of tea. But this one is GOOD. The human world and the faerie world blend together so well. The magic is on the edges of things, but it doesn't feel strange. Faerie feels like a part of Fairfold, and Fairfold feels like a part of the rest of the world. It's excellent.

Holly Black's writing is sort of... perfect? The characters are super likable and layered, the world building is good without the writing being too flowery. The plot is sort of basic, but not unenjoyable. Honestly, I liked it. It felt like a contained story and I was satisfied at the ending. It's not something I'm going to obsess over and scream across the mountains about, but it restored my faith in faerie fantasy stories, and in Holly Black.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

Review coming soon ♣︎

[neddieb]

It was a very well told fairytale about Mortals and the Fae.

[Stephanie]

I listened to this on audio, so I'm not really sure if I would have liked it more if I read it instead. There was nothing wrong with the audio, I actually really liked the narrator and all the different voices she had for the character, so that keeps me from thinking I would have liked it any better if I did read it.

This book has a really fascinating premise. Fairfold is a town where humans and faeries exist together, where a faerie prince sleeps in a casket in the middle of the woods. This prince is awaken one night by someone breaking his glass casket, but no one knows who it was and now the town and it's people are threatened by the fae. We follow Hazel and her brother Ben as they try to figure out what's going on and how to save the town.

At least, that's the base of the story. I felt like that story line got pushed aside a lot to make room for the romance, which wasn't terrible, it just wasn't that interesting, mostly because it was predictable. We also find out that Hazel made a bargain with the faerie king (I think he had a different name, but I don't remember) when she was 11, and I was very interested in learning more about that, but again, it's pushed aside a lot of the time. We find out later on in the story what the repercussions were for her bargain, but we are never shown, we're just told, and that left me wanting more.

So, my biggest problem was that a lot of the things I found interesting weren't the main focus of the book, which made me not care. The book also came off as a little silly, at times. Like the author tried to make the weird things happening seem dark and scary and mysterious, but I found myself rolling my eyes at some of it.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with this. This book had so much potential, but to me, it felt like the author focused on all the wrong plot points. This was my third Holly Black book, and so far I have not been impressed with any. The Coldest Girl in Cold Town (which I also listened to) was the one I liked the best, but I even struggled through that a little, and I hated White Cat, so I don't know if I'll continue to try Holly Black's books. They're just not for me.

[Chelsea]

Initial Thoughts

I really had no expectations going into this book. I had read a few Holly Black books previously but this one was a newish release so I knew that it would be different. I could even tell from the summary that it would be a very unique book.

My New BFF

I’m not really sure why I picked Ben. I think I just felt more connected to him throughout the story. We’re kind of similar since we’re both musical but I just found him to be less intense than the other characters. I also really liked that he was an openly gay male character but there wasn’t any stereotypes associated with him. There wasn’t even any judgement from the other characters. I liked how he wasn’t the typical “gay guy” who is over dramatic and loud. Ben was a little soft spoken and he wanted his fairy tale ending just as bad as any other character.

My Crush

I fell in love with jack almost right away, He seemed so chill all the time and I love how he didn’t care too much that he didn’t fit in. He’s very different (I don’t want to ruin why) but he still chooses to side with his friends. I found him very courageous and loyal. I also sort of had a crush on the horned prince. Only sort of though because I found his character wasn’t very well developed. We don’t actually find out much about him so that was my only disappointment.

Writing Style

I really love Holly Black’s writing style though not everyone will agree with me. It’s very different but that’s why I like it. This book kind of reminded me of a Brother’s Grimm story. It has all these fairy tale like qualities while still being very creepy and not always sunshine and rainbows. Her writing was almost elegant sometimes and she hit you with so many different emotions it was crazy. I found she was great at creating the perfect world (or worlds) for this story and the characters were all very realistic. They each had some great qualities but their flaws were obvious as well.

Closing Thoughts

I kind of wish that this would become a series but it’s nice seeing a paranormal standalone every once and a while. I’m eager to see what else she comes up with though and I’ll be adding her to my favourite authors. Seriously, if you haven’t read anything by her and you love creepy paranormal books with a hint of fairy tales, then I suggest you try this book! Even if you just like paranormal books, pick up anything by Holly Black!

[nannah]

ok . . .
DNF @ 8%

The prose is lovely, the atmosphere is great and skillfully built, and the setup is wonderfully done.

But I'm just not sure if I want to keep reading. There are just too many things that rubbed me the wrong way.

For one, the names. WOW, I think this book set a record for most needless names thrown in the first chapter. What was it, 18? Actually I'll count them. Hazel, Ben, Jack, Lloyd, Leonie, Doris, Megan, Molly, Liz, Martin, Namiya, Stephen, Franklin, Carter, Robbie, Jenny, Rob, and Tom. That's 18 names. Only a few of them actually had relevance. The rest were there for . . . purple prose using names instead of adjectives?

No. 2: the MC's brother is gay, and her friend is black. I mean, sure, that's great representation! But as far as I know from Holly Black's books (ok I've only read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, this seems to be the trend. The MC is white and straight with heaps of angst, and the side characters are plugged in for diversity (and aren't really treated that well . . .). Such as gay people using online dating apps are made fun of. Because yeah . . . it's so easy for gay/bi/pan people to find dates outside of online apps with all the blatant homophobia in society . . .

No. 3: the cringe-worthy line that made me put down the book: "She was proud of the ways they were different from other people's parents; they'd raised her to be. 'Normal people,' they'd say with a shudder. 'Normal people think they're happy, but that's because they're too dumb to know any different.'

It feels like this is the "aesthetic" of Holly Black's writing, and I'm not sure I want to go through it.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Superficially speaking, The Darkest Part of the Forest should be a fantastic book. It is imaginative and bold, willing to talk about tough subjects like sexuality, moral culpability, and parental neglect while immersing readers into a world that is both dark and beautiful. Unfortunately, the book really only touches on most of these hard subjects, telling readers they are difficult, that the characters are struggling with them—but ultimately failing to make it seem as if the characters are truly engaged with them. There is breadth but no depth.

All the characters ostensibly have something to hide. Hazel wants to be a hero but doesn’t know how, and worries she might actually be villain. Her brother Ben has a magical gift he cannot control; he’d rather squash it and just find someone to fall madly in love with, who will take him away. Jack, a changeling, has been adopted by humans but yearns for his faerie roots. Combine this with an entire town, a plethora of adults, who know they are living on the borders of dangerous magic but refuse to acknowledge it, and things are really a mess.

However, for as much as the characters talk about their problems, ponder them, dwell and drown in them—none of them really caught my attention. On the surface, I understand I should be horrified by this town, by the murders the faeries commit and the way the townsfolk ignore them or victim blame. Yet…if no one in the world of the story, people who should be profoundly affected by murders in their town can find it in them to care or worry or grieve, it’s doubly hard for me as a reader to do it. The same is true of so many of the issues raised in the book. Hazel’s and Ben’s parents are guilty of neglect, but Hazel and Ben are over it. The abuse mainly acts as a plot point to explain why the two were allowed to roam the woods and hunt faeries as young children, not as something I’m supposed to see as a real concern. The same goes for Hazel’s and Ben’s romantic issues. The two may throw out some moving lines about how they fear trusting someone or just want someone to love, but as far as I can tell their strings of failed romances also act more as plot movers than character development. I just didn’t empathize with either of them.

And as far as plot goes, enough happens that theoretically the book should be interesting. Hazel, Ben, and Jack tromp all over town hunting monsters, a few people die, a few plot twists are thrown out. Yet, in the end, I was bored. Caring about the action really hinges on caring about the characters. The town in ostensibly in danger, but the journey is in truth about how Hazel and Ben come to find themselves. Fairfield seems small, and one gets the distinct sense that if people were really in danger, the entire town could just pack up and move. I think the faeries would be happy with that. No one would be pursued, and the story would just end.

I wish I could like this book better, but with characters that fail to seem real and a plot that didn’t really need to happen, I found the story disappointing. For those looking for stories about faeries, I recommend The Treachery of Beautiful Things.

[littleread1]

Wow.

Just ... wow.

That is probably the best I can do, but dammit I am going to try to do better. This was my first book by Black, and if this is any indication of her writing style it most certainly will not be my last.

We start off much like a typical YA, with a party in the forest. Unlike a typical YA, these kids already know the fair folk are real. The party is held around the horned boy's casket. The focus is on a brother sister pair, and what is fantastic here is since the brother is gay they share crushes on the horned boy. Have both loved him since they were kids. Something about that struck me as wonderful. I might be a weirdo though. Whatever. I still loved that aspect.

That same aspect made it difficult when it came to the romance. I wanted them both to be happy. I figured out pretty early on how that would be possible, but wasn't sure it would be able to happen the way I wanted it to play out.

The narration by Lauren Fortgang MUST be mentioned. She brought this book, these people, to life. I felt like I knew them. That they were telling me this story. It was amazing.

All of the things I want to gush about would be spoilers. This is hard! But Black's writing style kept me just confused enough to not know entirely what was going on, while leaving plenty of bread crumbs for me to follow along. The whole time I was just so ... moved. Getting to know the characters and the town and their history - it was all so beautiful. I was enchanted.

The best books I never want to end, and The Darkest Part of the Forest is one book I was extremely sad when it ended.