The Darkest Part of the Forest

by Holly Black

[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.