a dark and starless forest by sarah hollowell

I also appreciated the forest being both good and evil, as magic is both, and that Derry was able to recognise its power to protect her own. The relationships lacked a bit of oomph but what didn't lack oomph is the magic.īefore you think to yourself, what? The magic was stunted in scope to other magical reads and yet, I found that distinction intentional and a great comparison of how the girls had been stunted regarding their magical abilities. The inability for me to distinguish characters or even recognise their pain reduced the impact of the dire need to find them. I cannot distinguish Violet or Irene apart and that is that. I am not sure if it is because there were eight other siblings or because the other siblings needed more development or because Derry was the focal point but I got the siblings confused continuously. I wish there had been a touch more showing, not telling, of the relationship between the siblings and that the youngest twins had been identified as something other than the youngest twins I can't even remember their names because they were always clumped together as the littlest twins. Two of her siblings died and one went missing for an extended period of time and I never experienced fear or apprehension from the other siblings and it reduced the frightfulness of the disappearances. I feel that Derry and her siblings were disconnected. I know that A Dark and Starless Forest is highly praised, but I had a major gripe with the relationships portrayed between Derry and her siblings that prevented me from rating this novel higher.

A dark and starless forest by sarah hollowell