Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

Forest of Souls (Shamanborn, #1)

by Lori M. Lee

Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo.

And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.

Unveiled as the first lightwender in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood - an ancient forest possessed by souls - to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a lightwender can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.

Reviewed by thepunktheory on

4 of 5 stars

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Full review on my blog coming soon!

Oooh, this was thrilling!
So far, I think I haven't picked up a book from Fairyloot I didn't like. This is a fresh take on the whole power/magic/chosen one theme and keeps you on your toes.
This magic/power system is a little complicated and I wish we had gotten a little more world-building, or better said in-text explanation. Before the actual story begins there is a glossary explaining all the different types of shamans. I did go through that but of course, didn't remember all of it. And once I was in the middle of a chapter I also didn't feel like stopping just to look stuff up at the front.
I'm really curious to see how this whole system will be developed further in the next novel. So far, the story was interesting and held many surprises - including of course the giant cliffhanger we got.
After reading a good amount of YA recently (as I am trying to finally get through all my subscription box books), I love that we still got something that felt unique. There are so many novels with a similar concept. If I just mention "chosen one", I'm sure there's an entire list of books that'll pop into your head. But this still was different!
I appreciated that there was no romantic plot involved. I always get extremely annoyed when that's thrust into a novel for no reason, so I was glad not to deal with that here. However, the important relationship here is friendship but I feel like this wasn't explored thoroughly. Not really many memorable interactions or even depth to the friend of the main characters. It just seems like potential was squandered here.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 31 August, 2020: Finished reading
  • 31 August, 2020: Reviewed