The Darkest Part of the Forest – Wonderfilled Reads

Hype or Like Friday – Things That Go Bump in the Night

This meme and Goodreads group were created by myself, Jill @ Rant and Rave Books, and Britt @ Geronimo Reads. To join our group and find out more information about what it’s all about, please go to our Goodreads page HERE.

The October BOTM is The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss.

RULES:

Answer the weekly discussion topic.
Optional: Discuss your chosen hyped book of the week.
Optional: Talk about your progress on the BOTM.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Things That Go Bump in the Night… What are some of your favorite fictional creatures and books that feature them?

Dragons

As I was going through my books, I realized that dragons are not utilized enough in novels. Come on fantasy authors, give us some more of these awesome creatures. They’re so badass!

Goblins

Another really cool creature that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Goblins can be so fun and creepy! I kind of picture them as snarky little tricksters that like to be pranks on humans. They’re also fantasy creatures that you can use lightheartedly or really dark, depending on the story you wish to tell. I actually haven’t read Wintersong yet, so I’m not quite sure how they’re portrayed in it. Fingers crossed for dark!

Fae

Like goblins, Fae can be both good or bad. Luckily, these fantastical beings are quite popular in fiction and have definitely been having a moment the past few years. But I don’t ever think that I will get enough of reading about them, whether they’re portrayed as the heroes or the villains.

Vampires

And the number one creature that comes to mind… the famous vampire! I will always be a sucker for the undead immortals. Just like there’s always something sexy about the bad boy, vampires give the same vibe. Maybe because they typically are the bad boy?! Either way, I will always enjoy a well written fantasy that portrays them. Also, if vampires are one of your guilty pleasures too, I highly recommend A Discovery of Witches. It’s the first book in an adult fantasy trilogy.

What are some of your favorite fantasy creatures? Which books would you recommend that feature some of my favorites? Leave a link to your Hype or Like Friday post in the comments below!

Hype or Like Friday – Small Town Living

The July BOTM is A Million Junes by Emily Henry.

RULES:

Answer the weekly discussion topic.
Optional: Discuss your chosen hyped book of the week.
Optional: Talk about your progress on the BOTM.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Small Town Living… What books set in small towns do you recommend?

As someone who was born and raised in a small town, I always have a soft spot for books set in such a place. I smile at how everyone knows everyone and are into each other’s business. Such is the life of small town folks…

No matter if you’re from a small town and enjoy reading about similar places or are from a big city looking for a different way of life, the above books are good places to start!

Are you from a small town? Do you enjoy reading books set in small towns? Have you read any of the books that I recommended? Leave a link to your Hype or Like Friday post in the comments below!

Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest

I do believe in faeries, I do, I do!.. Wait, this is The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, not Peter Pan. OOPS!

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

The Good

Super unique story and plot – mixing the contemporary and fantastical.
For being a standalone fantasy novel, the pacing was steady and had a very natural progression to the climax.
Great characters, some being dark and mysterious (which are my favorites)!
Great kickass female MC who was more interested in being a knight than the damsel in distress.
Great writing that was able to vividly paint a picture in your mind.

The Bad

It was a little too short for a standalone fantasy in my opinion. I felt as though some things were mentioned about the faeries and then never brought up again. I would have rather the book been about 150-200 pages longer and really dive into the whole faerie world a bit more.
I really didn’t appreciate the way Hazel and Ben’s parents were portrayed. Just because they’re artists they have to be irresponsible? How very stereotypical of you.

This book was a lot of fun and the concept just really fascinated me. Turning this faerie infested town into a tourist destination was genius! And while this novel could have been twice as long to really dive into the faerie world, I appreciated what Black was able to do with just a few hundred pages. That takes some talent and she was really able to showcase her storytelling abilities with this story. This was my first venture into any of her novels but I do plan to pick up many more!

Final Verdict: 5/5 Stars

Sorry that this review doesn’t feature any of my usual graphics!!! Unfortunately, my internet has been acting extremely weird lately and it’s affected my graphics to download correctly. I hope to have it fixed soon for you! So don’t worry, this won’t become a normal thing!

Stand Alone August Wrap-Up: The End is Here!

Well it’s finally September which means fall is just around the corner! I’m so happy we are now officially done with summer and can start heading towards my favorites time of year – cold weather! And yes, I enjoy the cold. It makes me feel all happy and think of Christmas which is basically the best time of year! But anyways, moving on…

Stand-Alone August was my way of trying to move a bunch of single novels off of my TBR to make room for the wayyyyyyy too many series that I have started but never finished. I prefer to binge read series but for some reason, this year I have started some but have yet to finish them (or at least catch up to the most recent book). So I decided to punch through as many of my standalones as possible first, and then proceed with Smashing Series September. This probably makes no sense to some of you, but I am my own kind of crazy and so it makes sense to me. 😉

August started a little slow for me, unfortunately. It took me a while to really find my reading groove, but once I did, BAM! My original plan was to read 13 books and while I didn’t quite achieve that goal, I did get pretty darn close. I finished 10 books which I think is quite commendable. And what’s even better was that for the most part – they were all really good! Unfortunately, I am still trying to catch up on reviews for all of them but I hope to get caught up over the weekend. Be on the lookout!

Finished…

The_Force_Awakens_novelization_final_cover

Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster – 3 stars
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, & Brodi Ashton – 5 stars, REVIEW
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin – 4 stars,
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – 4 stars, REVIEW
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller – 4 stars, REVIEW
Uprooted by Naomi Novik – 5 stars, REVIEW
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma – 4 stars
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black – 5 stars
Da Vinci’s Tiger by L.M. Elliott – 4 stars
Asleep by Krystal Wade (currently finishing up today!)

Didn’t Read…

Yeahhhhh, looks like these babies will have to continue waiting for me to pick them up. Makes me kind of sad, actually. If you’ve read any of these 3 books, please let me know in the comments which ones I’m missing out on!

So what do you think about my Stand-Alone August? Have you read any really good standalone novels lately? Want to join in Smashing Series September?

WWW Wednesday – August 31st, 2016

Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading…

Asleep by Krystal Wade

Y’all this book has got me hooked and I’m not even 50% through with it. Go support an indie author and check this book out! It’s a creepy retelling of Sleeping Beauty in an insane asylum.

Recently Finished…

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Da Vinci’s Tiger by L.M. Elliott

Both great and yet COMPLETELY different. I highly recommend them both! The Darkest Part of the Forest is a wonderful standalone fantasy novel from Holly Black about a modern day town that is surrounded by woods filled with faeries. If only that were a real place…

And Forbidden was an emotionally draining story about a dysfunctional family in London, where the two eldest siblings are basically left to taking care of the younger children and end up falling in love. Yep, really.

Da Vinci’s Tiger is a great story about the muse who inspired Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings of beautiful, strong, and inspiring women. I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Want to Read Next…

The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die, #2) & Yellow Brick War (Dorothy Must Die, #3) by Danielle Paige

The Winner’s Crime (The Winner’s Trilogy, #2) & The Winner’s Kiss (The Winner’s Trilogy, #3) by Marie Rutkoski

My next reads will be the start of my next monthly reading challenge – Smashing Series September. This is where I try to tackle and finish up as many series that I’ve already started. There’s no way that I’ll be able to finish them all but it’s going to be fun to try! I’ll have a post up tomorrow all about it so you will be able to see firsthand just how impossible this challenge is going to be.

What do you think about my WWW Wednesday selections? What’s your WWW Wednesday look like? Leave a link to your post in the comments or just leave a comment answering the questions!

WWW Wednesday – August 24th, 2016

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading…

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

I’m currently reading and obsessing over this story so far. It’s such an engrossing story and I love the characters so far! They’re all very mysterious and I’m not really sure what their motives really are. So, so good!

Recently Finished…

The Storied Life of A.J. Fiery by Gabrielle Zevin

Such a beautiful story! I really thought it was going to be extremely sad and depressing but it ended up being just really hopeful and sweet. It’s definitely a book for all of you booknerds out there. I highly recommend it!

Want to Read Next…

Yeahhhh, these are 3 VERY different kinds of books haha. But it’s good to really switch it up every now and then! I haven’t really heard any reviews about Asleep or Da Vinci’s Tiger so I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re all about.

What do you think about my WWW Wednesday selections? What’s your WWW Wednesday look like? Leave a link to your post in the comments or just leave a comment answering the questions!

Teaser Tuesday – August 23rd, 2016

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme currently being hosted by MizB @ Books and a Beat. All are welcome to participate!

Rules:

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two ‘teaser’ sentences from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! You don’t want to give too much away so as to not ruin the book for others!
Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

“I suppose that was an insufferable thing to say. Maybe we don’t love any differently than you do; maybe everyone loves until they don’t – or maybe everyone loves differently, humans and faeries alike…”

-page 205

I just started this book last night but it immediately grabbed my attention. I love that it’s contemporary fantasy, which makes for a very fascinating setting. I’m also really enjoying Holly Black’s writing. This is my first book by her but I have to admit that it’s definitely making me want to check out her other novels!

Leave a link to your Teaser Tuesday in the comments! Have you read The Darkest Part of the Forest? Do you recommend any of Black’s other books?

Stand Alone August, or My-God-I-Have-A-Lot-Of-Books!

I glanced over at my bookshelf the other night (and the two piles of books beside it), and realized that I have a ton of books that I have yet to read. There are literally two and half shelves dedicated to just my TBR, and if I count up the books individually, the total is 57! 57 books, people!!! And that’s not including the 3 that I just ordered from B&N, which would then bring my total to sixty. Sixty books that I have yet to read but spent money on. Now, that’s my fault, I won’t deny it. I just spent the first half of this summer in a reading slump which has put me behind a bit.

Now, I have another dilemma with my TBR shelves -they’re actually pretty full of series. Not even the entire series, but just one or two books from them. I’ve actually started quite a few series this year but I haven’t been able to get back to them. I’m one of those people who like to binge read series, and unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do that recently because I have just way too many books to get through. So, to combat this problem, I have decided to do Stand-Alone August followed by Smashing Series September. This month I will focus on reading as many stand-alone TBR books as possible, so that next month I can focus on binge-reading the series that I have. By reading my stand alone novels first, I will then be able to turn my focus (and money) to completing some pretty amazing series. This won’t make sense to some of you, but trust me, this will make my TBR so much easier to handle. Well, I hope that it does anyways!

Feel free to join in on the fun if you want to – the more, the merrier! You may use my graphic or create your own. Please leave a link to your post in the comments so others may see your awesome book choices, as well!