The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black - review
Photograph: Orion
I admit, I wasn't too sure how I was going to receive this book. I loved Curse Workers, but have had less good experiences with Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales, and I kind of sat on the fence for The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
However, I was actually pleasantly surprised. The Darkest Part of the Forest kept me turning the pages, that's for sure – I still didn't enjoy it quite as much as Curse Workers, but the characters and writing were much stronger to me than in Holly Black's other books. And I'm not going to lie; I thought the love triangle was excellent. It brought something new to the picture that I hadn't seen before, which is something very hard to do.
Hazel was a great character. She was different from other characters I've seen; she wasn't necessarily the type of person I would empathise with, but I admired her and she was a strong protagonist. Severin was devilishly twisted and magical and all kinds of awesome, and I thought Ben was an excellently crafted character, too. I liked how he and Jack were represented not as fae in a human society, but as friends and actual people who also happened to be magic. They themselves were something to be feared; that was all due to the thing inside of them they couldn't control. It brings about rather deep questions about what makes us human – but probably the best thing was that, again, it was different.
There was a genius twist. Holly Black seems to be the master of them, creating plot lines that I never coming. Much like with The Iron Trial/Curse Workers, there was a considerable amount of unreliable narration and mind-bending.
The Darkest Part of the Forest didn't quite have the pizzazz for me to be obsessed, but I did love its folklore aura and its twists on common tropes. I give Holly Black bonus points for diversity and the romance. (What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.)
Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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