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The Answers Are In The Forest (The Answers Series Book One)
The Answers Are In The Forest (The Answers Series Book One)
Katie Kaleski | 2019 | Horror, Mystery, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An Interesting Mystery Horror
I'm a big fan of ghost stories and haunted houses, so when I heard about The Answers Are In The Forest by Katie Kaleski, I knew it was a book I had to read. Luckily, it was a good read.

I went into The Answers Are In The Forest thinking this would be more of a haunted house/ghost story, and while there are ghosts, it's not a spooky ghost story. This is more of a horror mystery than a ghost story. Local children ranging in age from 8 through 15 have been murdered. They use dead rabbits as vessels for their spirits to talk to Gabby, the main character. Gabby feels compelled to solve the mystery of who the killer is. However, this puts Gabby in grave danger. I will say that the plot has been done before in other books, but The Answers Are In The Forest still makes for an interesting read. I didn't predict who the actual killer was at all. Even those I thought were guilty turned out to be innocent. Sometimes the plot felt a bit confusing, but I was able to figure it out easily enough after reading a bit more. There is a bit of a cliff hangar at the end of the book, but this is to be expected as it's part of a new series. For those that aren't big into series, I think this book could do alright as a standalone.

All the characters felt like real life people. There were times when Gabby felt a bit spoiled, but she is a teen, and we've all had moments like that. I did admire her tenacity to find out what happened to the murdered children no matter the danger to herself. I found Gabby's mom to be annoying. This wasn't because she was written poorly, but I just didn't like how uninterested she was in what was going on with Gabby especially when Gabby ended up in the hospital. Gabby's mom started out being somewhat caring, but she seemed to just become uninterested as the book progressed. My favorite character was Rusck. I just loved how caring and loyal Rusck seemed to be. I also admired his determination.

The pacing for The Answers Are In The Forest was done well for the most part. There were a few times that it did go too quickly, and I found myself wondering what had just happened. However, it would slow down to a good pace quickly enough, and I was able to enjoy reading it again.

Trigger warnings include profanity, violence (sometimes fairly graphic), and murder (both children, adult, and animal).

Overall, The Answers Are In The Forest is an interesting read although the plot has been done before. The characters are interesting enough and the plot flows well for the most part. I would recommend The Answers Are In The Forest by Katie Kaleski to those aged 15+. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series!
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(A special thank you to YA Bound Book Tours for providing me with an eBook of The Answers Are In The Forest by Katie Kaleski in exchance for an honest and unbiased review.)
  
TP
The Phantom Forest
Liz Kerin | 2019
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>The author/publisher provided a free copy of the book for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a review copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore do not affect the opinion or content of the review.</i></b>

So when I sat down to write my review for <em>The Phantom Forest</em>, all I wanted to write is this:
<ul>
  <li>Protect this character</li>
  <li>Seriously, protect this character</li>
  <li>Take them away from Liz Kerin; it's the only way to protect them</li>
</ul>
But uh, that doesn't work as a review (maybe one day). Anyways.

<em style="background-color: initial; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><strong>The Phantom</strong></em><strong style="background-color: initial; font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><em> Forest</em> is haunting.</strong>
Kerin's debut is <em>creepy</em>, everyone. The world here is atmospheric and brings a chill or two, even when the story isn't in the Underworld. In a world ruled by the Coalition where one practicing their belief in gods or superstition results in death, General Simeon overlooks a village with tight control. He keeps the people under his authority by taking a religious ritual where only criminals are sacrifices to one where anyone can be chosen.

I wanted General Simeon to choke on sharp pineapples while reading.

Since her father died, Seycia lives in hiding with her younger brother Miko in the village. It's not long before General Simeon makes her a target and she becomes the next village sacrifice, sending her to the Underworld where she joins forces with Haben.

<h2><strong>Interesting Characters Arcs</strong></h2>
I find myself most invested in Haben's story and wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to Seycia and him as they journey across the Underworld. While <em>The Phantom Forest</em> has a multitude of POVs, most are from Seycia, Haben and Miko.

The story seems to focus on one character with the others sitting in the backseat, undergoing the most development. However, I do feel this is only the beginning, and there is more to come for both Seycia and Miko. Their story seems to stand in the back of the room, but they'll likely develop in future books. I want to see what Kerin has in store even if I only want to protect Haben.

<h2><strong>There are slow moments in <em>The Phantom Forest</em></strong></h2>
Kerin builds a world and plot that captures my attention from early in the novel. However, there are moments where I felt the scenes were maybe irrelevant and unnecessary. While it was a rough patch to go through, it was well worth it. I wanted to see to the end of the story, and I had a lot of questions that won my curiosity. By the end of <em>The Phantom Forest</em>, I still have plenty of questions, but I'm sure there will be answers eventually.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/the-phantom-forest-by-liz-kerin/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
The Trees
The Trees
Ali Shaw | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i><b>There is no warning. No chance to prepare. The trees arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest.</b></i>

When Adrien wakes to the thundering of trees coming up from the earth and destroying his home, he has no idea what happening, but neither does anybody else. Confused, scared and afraid, Adrien sets out to find some answers, primarily <i>is his wife, in Ireland, still alive?</i> On his journey he comes across nature lover Hannah and her teenage son Seb who group together to tackle what the forest holds.

The reviews plastered all over this book are what got me really excited about picking this up, talking about Hitchcock, Tarantino and McCarthy’s book <i>The Road</i> (which I haven’t read yet but am really looking forward to picking up), all appealed to me so much that I put Room down and bought this one instead (or, rather, my boyfriend bought it)...

Read my full review here: https://bookbumzuky.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/the-trees-by-ali-shaw/