The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

TL;DR blurring childhood fantasy and reality together

TBR #970, added Sept 5, 2014

finished 8/20/16

I read bits and pieces of Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales back in elementary school. It probably wasn't what I should've been reading back then (not that it ever stopped me) but what I remembered of the series stuck around with me all this time. I was actually a little hesitant about The Darkest Part of the Forest because I knew what her aesthetic tended to be, and I wasn't sure I was in the mood for it once I got my hands on the library Kindle copy. 

I took the plunge anyway and managed to knock it out in about 24 hours. It was such a compelling read and the story unfolded so wonderfully and so much more complexly than I was expecting. The mystery of the story is great and kept me intrigued, and it was woven so wonderfully and wrapped up even better than I was hoping for. 

The characters were all great and all so varied. They all had their own motivations and I loved seeing how all of them affected the progression of the story. They all felt like real people. (I'd say they all felt human, but some of them aren't, so I guess that's a bad analogy.) 

The setting and worldbuilding was great, and even though this August has been sunny and humid, I got lost in the feeling of a small town in the woods and the faerie realm. (It was a nice relief from the weather lol, even if it was all in my head.) I also liked the glimpses of how their town fit into the world as a whole almost like a Pennsylvania version of Night Vale. With a little less death and destruction. 

I would totally love to revisit this world at some point, but The Darkest Part of the Forest is also a great standalone. I'll totally jump on the chance of a sequel but I'm also going to enjoy its status as is; I feel like urban / fantasy standalones are rare and a totally under-utilized subgenre. 

TL;DR this was a great read for the end of the summer and has a good mystery aesthetic without being creepy, and the story and characters are so good. 

CWs: injuries, (probably blood, too), death, neglect, unreality, and maybe a few other things along these lines. It can get pretty dark at times.