Publication: January 2015

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20958632-the-darkest-part-of-the-forest

Summary: "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?"

 My first Holly Black novel, she certainly does write amazing paranormal stand-alones! Honestly, I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would! I mean that in the best possible way.

The beginning kinda of set me off, because it was really slow, just re-telling the characters past but as you get more into the book you start loving it! The hole concept of the plot is entertaining and kept me on my feet, wanting to know what was gonna happen next.

This book is so much more than a mythical-looking boy waking up and escaping from the coffin. It tells all the Folk secrets and concepts as well as how the character are connected to them. Hazel is our main character. She has been dealing with the Folk (basically, faeries) for years, but she hasn't really known, due to a clause on a bargain she did once she was young. (Read the book and find out what the bargain was!)

This book is written entirely in third person, but we pretty much get the story from Hazel's (third person) perspective. I like the prospect of this, but feel like I didn't really connect with her in any especial way.

As usual what is a book without a little bit of romance? There is plenty of sweeping romance in this book. If you couldn't tell by now. Hazel is in love with her bothers best friend, Jack, who is a challenging. I really ship them btw! And her bother will fall in love with the horned boy.

Of corse none of these couples will have a quiet and simple journey to happiness, since there will be many bumps in the road.

There is a creature in Fairfold that must be stopped. The waking of the horned boy was no coincidence. Hazel, Ben (her brother), Jack, and the horned boy must stop the creature. A powerful sword, a faerie ritual, a crazed king... there is so much going on, that After a while I just didn't want to put this book down.

In conclusion I liked the story. At first, things were pretty slow, because Black was setting up the scene. The horned boy doesn't disappear in the first scene. There is a lot of switching back to scenes of the past in this book, but they are marked and very obvious, and don't last long.

I liked Hazel, honestly, but My favorite character was probably Jack, and then Severin (the horned boy).

This book is set in a contemporary world, it's definitely in modern times. But there is so much fantasy in this book, and it's billed as a fairy tale. Holly Black did an incredible job of constructing the world and putting in place all of the fantasy elements, in a modern world.

I enjoyed this book! Not one of my favorites, but definitely worth reading! Excellent work, Holly Black!