2.5/5
The Darkest Part of the Forest was not bad. I didn't give it that high of a rating because I feel like it had a lot of potential and a lot of undeveloped areas. For me, it feels like Holly Black (an established author) got the thread of an idea one day when she was bored and decided to jot it down in a few weeks, and this is what it became. I feel like the idea of living with faeries and the world Black created was interesting, but she didn't expand on it enough.
The area where the most potential was wasted is the characters. Ben was a coward. I didn't feel connected to Hazel at ALL, but I guess she got better. Jack could have been expanded on (how it felt growing up between two worlds, etc) and Severin, oh God, SEVERIN, had so much potential. SO much backstory that could have been mentioned. Instead we got a very brief, flat description of his life through Ben's point of view. And Ben is not a good narrator because he is emotionally weak and basically just a mess.
The story of Severin and the monster could have been so much more if it had been focused on. If more of the characters had been revealed, not only would the book be a lot more engrossing, but the characters would also be more a lot more relatable.
Also, there was too much kissing in the book. I sound like a prude, but really. I love make-out scenes in books, but all this kissing was so meaningless?? What was the point?? All of the kissing was weird, but I guess after finishing the book it wasn't that bad. Still not a necessary part though.
The story was good. I liked it, especially toward the end where things really picked up. It's definitely worth reading. But what's keeping me from giving it a higher rating or putting it up there with my tops (Throne of Glass, Winner's Curse) is because I felt there were areas for improvement where Black could have gone deeper (oh, I sound like my lit teacher.) It's a good read though, and it's a standalone (I love standalones, they're such a relief) so go try it!
No comments:
Post a Comment