I also love the language, like this sentence: “She fell asleep like a flame being extinguished” or this one, in which Hazel describes being kissed: “Like he was a shark and I was blood in the water.”Īnother strength of the book is the atmosphere.

Ben’s best friend, Jack, is black, Ben is gay, and Hazel is the physical fighter in the group while Ben is the sensitive artist and Jack is the token love interest. One of the fun things about this book is that it is casually diverse. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough? The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.Īs the world turns upside down and a hero is needed to save them all, Hazel tries to remember her years spent pretending to be a knight. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointy as knives. Or she did, once.Īt the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods.

The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. Here’s the plot as described by the publisher: This book had some problems, and the romance is pretty tacked on, but it’s excellent in terms of plot and dark fantasy atmosphere. I’m a huge Holly Black fan – she’s been a major force in urban fantasy and her books are always gorgeous to read.

The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black, is a fantasy YA with romance elements. Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult

The darkest part of the forest