When Lily awakens in a strange hospital with some injuries the only thing on her mind is her twin brother Cole and finding out if he is safe. The staff at the hospital give Lily a strange set of rules before allowing to see her brother who was unfortunately seriously injured.

The rules Lily must follow seem simple enough, 1. Do not enter the West Wing 2. Do not go outside after darkness falls and 3. There is only one exit, the gate she came in. But with her brother in a coma and Lily determined to save him she finds herself questioning what would happen if the rules were broken?

Shadows of the Forest is a fairly short fantasy novella read but unfortunately for me it really seemed longer than it was just due to losing interest fairly quickly in the story. The one point the author got across rather well was Lily’s concern for her brother, this was repeated over and over again. However as with some novellas I felt other aspects were tossed in without many details and could have used more explanation.

The book felt as if it were trying to be a really complex fantasy read but on a fast pace due to it being short. This to me completely seemed to make the story a bit confusing and felt I lacked the chance to get attached to the story or characters. Unfortunately this story just wasn’t for me in the end.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was a beautiful story and the world was ethereal, but the writing may just not be for me. There was inconsistency in the dialogue, so I felt the quick pace of conversation between people and the sudden slowness of returning to Lily's mind and seeing the world from her eyes, rather than in the way her interactions told the story. It was jarring, and a lot of times, I found myself wandering mentally. A bit of a disappointment, because the idea was just beautiful like I stated in the beginning of this review, but as a reader, I'd say that the flow was a little lengthy and the people themselves felt a little distant when it came to dealing with Lily.

I was really thrilled when I got aproved for the book on Netgalley because the synopsis promised a dystopian fantasy novel I was sure to love. But the synopsis told me the story of an entirely different book and that was sad and confusing at the same time.
The writing really disappointed me because I couldn't quiet understand half of the things that were going on because it was simply hard to understand what the sentence was trying to tell me. The book was less then 200 pages. It should have been possible to put some more effort into the editing.
This story is basically about relationship between Lilly and her twin brother, Cole. I felt like that was something really refreshing because I honestly don't read a lot of family stories but at times I felt like their relationship went deeper than it should...

I feel like Shadows of the Forest didn't quite reach its potential.

What drew me to this book was the premise and the cover, lets be honest its gorgeous! I have never heard of Emma Michaels before, so I thought I would give her a shot. It was definitely not what I thought it was and for a 144 page book, it seemed to drag on in some places making it seem much longer.

This book is heavily influenced by Lily's abuse from her father growing up, and how she is dealing with it now that her parents are dead. This would have been fine if it didn't define all of Lily's actions for the first half of the book. In the beginning it's understandable how her past would define her, I get it, but for it to continue for half the book and then all of a sudden she's over it it doesn't make sense. There was no character development whatsoever, one minute she was "don't touch me" and the next she was all over Arro (or whatever his name is, I don't remember anymore =/).
I liked that Lily wanted to make sure that her brother lives and that she would do anything for him. It's understandable that she has no idea where she is and that she keeps getting information at each new step instead of all at once. What would have been better for the book is if we weren't reminded of it on every single page. Not only is this the driving force of the plot, it is also very confusing. Mainly because we will be in one scene where we get confusing descriptions and half sentences, and then next will be a flashback. Nothing is ever explained coherently or in an order that makes sense. There was a heavy mix of Japanese folklore in this, and unfortunately I don't know enough to know if it was done properly.

Overall, this book needs a major edit overhaul. The way it is now, I wouldn't suggest reading it. Just enjoy the cover and go enjoy another YA fantasy book.

The cover really drew me in to the story but that was really the only thing that held my attention. The writing was good but the story lacked connection and I simply could not get involved or emotional for the main character Lily.

I barely EVER rate books less than four stars unless there are serious issues with them. I started off this book with high hopes. I love the cover and the description. I was immediately thinking fairy tale/Beauty and the Beast especially with the "West Wing" description. I did like aspects of the book. I feel it is VERY unique with it's views of life and death. I know copies on NetGalley are not the final copy and that's why I'm being lenient. It needs an editor and it could become a great book! There was a lot of spelling and grammar errors and things were repetitive at times. While I generally love show, don't tell, I felt like things were revealed in a little bit of a confusing way, at least for me. It did wrap up well at the end though. If this book was polished up by a good editor, it would be very promising for fans of Uprooted, Sarah J. Maas etc.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1875558217?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

DNF at 28%

This book follows a young woman called Lily who wakes up after a car accident in a strange hospital and she finds out her brother Cole is seriously injured. There are some strange rules regarding the place she is now in but she is prepared to break them to save her twin's life.

I DNF'd this at about 28% in as I knew I wasn't enjoying the book and if I had gone further I would have ended up skim-reading it. From the get go, this book seemed a bit all over the place with very little explanation with what was going on and I felt, as a reader, I was left in the dark while all sorts of crazy things seemed to happen. At no point did Lily seem to really question where she was or what was happening, she just wanted to be with her brother. But at no point did she take a moment to say,"all of this is a bit weird." And I didn't get that.

I also felt the writing in this just tried way too hard. Even the way Lily was talking was really unrealistic and I'm not sure why the author tried to stress her love and compassion for her brother so much. They're twins, the connection is there, the reader isn't stupid, let it be natural.

I just couldn't keep reading this knowing I would end up hating it and I didn't want to waste time skim reading it. One of my only resolutions for 2017 is to know when to DNF books I'm not enjoying so I'm following that rule early on now.

A+ on cover. It is so beautifully done!

Shadows of the Forest by Emma Michaels gives readers a new take on life, death and purgatory. She draws attention to a special bond between fraternal twins (brother and sister, in this case).
While the first part of this book went off without a hitch and was very exciting, about 20% into the book you get assaulted with more and more details, some of which are not important, and the book becomes more of a chore to read.
I think if the author went through it again and ironed out some things the reading experience would be greatly improved.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for a fair review.

This book is completely convoluted. The story is not well written and it's hard to follow what is going on. I won't be finishing this book.

I had a very hard time getting into this book. It was just not for me.