Didn't work for me. DNF.

Sorry for the long delay in feedback. I'm working on clearing out my Netgalley backlog.

Thank you to the publisher. All of my options are my own.


Sadly, this story seemed like it was lacking some serious direction. It was fast pace, but tried to be a complex fantasy story. Things were mentioned, but left without further description, making it difficult to fully understand what was going on and how it connected.

Yet, it was full of internalized descriptions of the main character’s first-person point of view.

It was a bit messy. I was very tempted to just skim most of the book.

Shadows of the Forest is a quite short fantasy novel, but sometimes it felt quite longer. The premise is interesting and it felt like exactly my type of book, but unfortunately it felt quite short of my expectations. The execution was not the best and I didn't find myself invested in neither the story, nor the characters.

This book was interesting but a little cliche. I just couldn’t connect to the characters and the writing was a bit bland. DNF at 53%

This was definitely different. It kind of felt like a Garden of Eden thing, but it followed it's own path. I enjoyed the plot, the characters, the twists and turns, and overall I did find the story enjoyable. While I didn't love the story, I am in love with the cover!

I dnf’ed this really just wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t click with the writing style and found it a little hard to get into

Afraid to say I DNF'd this book. Unfortunately just ended up not being the book for me but I can see others liking it.

Why.,... that cover and synopsis gave it sooo much hope.
DNF after the 40% mark. Sadly I don’t have time to read things I’m not enjoying. It felt lack luster and beyond boring? I feel terrible but it just wasn’t catching my attention .

I tired to like it/read it. The synopsis originally drew me but I could not get through it. It had so much potential but it could not keep my attention.

DNF @ 29%
I was so confused as to what was going on. I kept having to go back pages and reread passages thinking I had missed something, when I hadn't. A third through this very short book and I honestly can't tell you any more than the twins were in an accident and there is some kind of spirit world. Oh, and their parents are dead and their dad abused them.

Shadows of the Forest follow the story of Lily who wakes up after a car accident in a strange hospital. She found that her brother Cole is seriously injured. I decided to DNF Shadows of the Forest because I didn't enjoy it. I couldn't connect with characters. I honestly don't like how it was written, though, this book has so much potential.

This topic is no longer of interest to me and I will not be finishing this book.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately I really didn't enjoy this book. It sounded intriguing from the description but it really failed to live up to it for me. Perhaps if it had been longer and less rushed it would have done so but as it was so short it just seemed choppy. Things weren't explained, details were skimpy and the whole thing just seemed repetitive. Over and over and over again we're told how much Lily cares for her brother Cole, how weak she is, how strong he is. We get it. Really, we do. And that actually seemed to be all there was to Lily, that love for her brother. She was boring. The other characters were just as two dimensional.

I think the story has potential, I just think the book is way too short to do it justice personally.

I gave this book 3 stars. I thought it was so very creative and adventurous. It was weird in a good way and I enjoyed reading it.

I wish this book had gotten into the setting more, explained this magical world. I was a bit confused by some things that were happening in the book.

I liked Arro. Him and lily were really cute and a bit unexpected at first. I didn’t think it would happen, but seeing them around each other made me like the idea more and more.

The relationship between the siblings was a very important part of the story and I think it really shined through. I could appreciate everything Lily was willing to do to protect her brother.

The character development in the story was also well done, I felt like I grew with the main character.

Overall, not bad. It was a quick and easy read and I didn’t have any huge problems with it.

MADE…
A LIFE FOR A LIFE…
This young adult fantasy novel had me sightly confused in the end, but in a good way! Shadows of the Forest follows Lily on her quest to save the life of her twin brother, Cole. She wakes in a strange hospital to the news that her brother sacrificed himself for her life after a horrible accident and now in a coma and on his death bed Lily will do whatever it takes to save his life, even trade her life to the spirit realm.

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From Lily’s point of view we we what happens when the bonds of a twin are tested. When death pulls and is fought. Lily will become one with the spirit realm to save Cole’s life. But in the end was she fighting for Cole’s life or her own?

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This book is full of colorful characters and wondrous places. It has you facing very real questions about mortality and afterlife, but in a fanciful arena.

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Though fantasy isn’t my usual foray I am branching out. Broadening my horizons so to speak. That being said I found the book to be just fanciful enough. I also give kudos to Emma Michaels for writing a book that makes you think in the end.

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My consensus is 4 our of 5 stars!

So my little booklings, if you find yourself contemplating the spirit realm or consciousness after death, etc, I think you would thoroughly enjoy this read.

DNF @ 28%

I tried... but I just couldn't get into it. It felt like it was dragging while going too fast at the same time and I was confused about events that didn't seem to make sense to me.
Sucks, because I love folklore, especially Japanese folklore!! Ugh, can't believe I'm giving up on a story with a Kitsune in it.

Beautiful cover!!

There wasn't enough character development to get me to care about what was happening. It was interesting but still confusing. The story is short, it only took me 4 hours to read, but I wasn't excited to continue. Beautiful cover.

Even though the book is well written and has interesting things to say about healing and loss, I found it to be a bit slow to get going.

Actual rating: 1.5/5 stars

"My brother once said that each person has their own world after they die, a world after they die, a world where they can be everything they didn't have the chance to be in life. I think maybe this is mine."

This is one of those books that would have needed more pages to make me enjoy it as much as I thought it would. At the moment everything felt a bit flat and boring, the adventure itself was over in a flash and there was no really interesting piece of character development. I liked the romance, even though it felt a bit like insta-love, but it was interesting. Enough to make me give this an extra half star.

I did enjoy this book and it's great use of descriptive story telling but it felt it didn't really lead anywhere. It os certainly different and worth a read though.