My favorite thing about THE GIRL AND THE GROVE is how y relatable it is, the author Smith writes in a very convincing teenager voice and I loved enjoyed the mixed formats. Overall I really loved this book and I would highly recommend it.

I'm sick, so this review is going to be a bit shorter than normal.   I don't want anyone to think it's because of the book because I really liked it.



Leila was recently adopted after spending her life in foster care and a group home.  She is struggling with having a mom and dad and doesn't use those words.  But her new parents are pretty awesome and I adored her dad.  He made me laugh a lot.  Leila also deals with seasonal depression and anxiety.



For years, Leila had been hearing voices, but was never able to understand what they were saying.  Only her best friend, Sarika, new about it.   Strange things start happening.  Leila is very much into nature and saving the environment.  So much so that she has an online board and joins a local club.  Trees and plants start to grow faster when she touches them.  One day she finally hears the voice clearly and it tells her where to go.  There is a major surprise waiting for Leila in a grove of trees that are set to be torn down.



I really enjoyed how this book showed the dangers of how we treat the planet.  That awareness is needed and I don't see it as a focus of books.  Also, the adoption and Leila's feelings were so well done.  Without getting into too much, I will say that I enjoyed the fantasy/magic with the story, too.



I gave this one 4 stars.  The writing was well done and I enjoyed the unique story.  Thank you to netgalley for giving me the chance to read this early.

Teenager Leila’s life is full of challenges. From bouncing around the foster care system to living with seasonal affective disorder, she’s never had an easy road. Leila keeps herself busy with her passion for environmental advocacy, monitoring the Urban Ecovists message board and joining a local environmental club with her best friend Sarika. And now that Leila has finally been adopted, she dares to hope her life will improve in The Girl and the Grove.

But the voices in Leila’s head are growing louder by the day. Ignoring them isn’t working anymore. Something calls out to her from the grove at Fairmount Park. (via Goodreads)

I received an eARC of The Girl and the Grove from Netgalley, courtesy of Flux Books, in exchange for an honest review. The author and I are also mutuals on twitter. 

The Girl and the Grove is complex and beautiful, much like the grove that the story centers on. It is a beautiful depiction of the complicated way that many adopted people deal with finding their new families, from adopted author Eric Smith.

I've read several of the books that Eric has represented, and I actually own a copy of WELCOME HOME, an anthology he curated. However, this is the first story I've read by him, and my only regret is that I haven't read more of them.

I loved a lot of things about this novel. Another thing I loved was that Leila was open about her seasonal affective disorder and her use of a light box as part of her medical care.  I loved that everyone important in Leila's life in The Girl and the Grove told her not to wear makeup to cover up her birthmark.

I loved that her adoptive parents were actually great, and we got to see all of their emotions throughout the novel. The part that stuck with me the most was Leila's adoptive parents constantly reminding her that they were in this till the end for her. Leila had a lot of reasons to not trust anyone after years of bouncing around the foster care system and group homes. Even though Leila struggled to call them Mom and Dad, they still did everything they could for her and worked to build the trust and relationship through their actions.

I also enjoyed the fact that there was a small conflict between her adoptive father and the activism that Leila took part in in The Girl and the Grove. As a reporter, I question how he would be allowed to be on the boards with someone who does this kind of work and also report on environmental issues. Like I said, I've got some questions. They didn't change my enjoyment of the book though.

I also totally called the plot twists from a mile away. However, I think that that's more because I've been reading this kind of fiction for a Long Time than because of any fault of the author. I also still thoroughly enjoyed the book. It's contemporary with just a hint of the speculative, and I loved it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I look forward to seeing so many other people finally get to read it. You can, and should, pick up a copy on Amazon or Indiebound!



Disclaimer: All links to Indiebound and Amazon are affiliate links. That means that if you buy through those links, I will make a small amount of money off of it.

Based on the summary, I thought I would love this but it just didn't catch my attention. It was a slow read, at least for me, from the outset and I had to set it aside because I didn't see myself enjoying it long term.

Note: NetGalley provided an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Friends, this book is an utter delight that made me laugh and cry throughout.

I understand the critiques in the other reviews, that there wasn't a lot of character development/growth, that the villain was two dimensional. None of that bothered me. This book gives me fuzzy feelings of pure joy.

I'm not adopted, but I'm planning on adopting, so reading a tale of an adopted kids and her feelings around that—the what-ifs of her biological parents, learning to adjust to the security of another family, the emotional (and physical) violence of the foster system—were so deeply important for me, a non-adoptee, to read. I can't imagine how much that would mean to someone who is in the system, someone who experiences those feelings on a daily basis. If nothing else, this book is worth reading for that.

But I appreciate so much about the representation in this book, and what I especially liked was that this wasn't an "issues" book. This wasn't a book about a Black teen being adopted by a Black woman and her white husband; this wasn't a book about a teen with SAD coping with it. This was an adventure story—more magical realism than straight fantasy—about a girl adjusting to her family in the backdrop of saving something she loves. (I also am really glad that there was a flavoring of romance instead of the book being focused on romance—I'm not one for YA contemporaries in general, but YA contemporary romances make me shrug.) We need more stories where marginalized people are doing things that privileged characters get to do all the time without the focus being on their identities. This book is an example of that.

The characters are an utter delight. Leila is a badass, level-headed protagonist, and Sarika is the best friend everyone wants, full of charm and snark and wit. I love their little bits of characterization coming across via text or message boards or tweets. I love how frank Leila is about the conversations she does and doesn't want to have. This isn't some sort of inspiration porn story; it's feel-good while being authentic to itself.

I devoured this book in one sitting. It's an easy, fast read. I'm not kidding when I said that I both laughed and cried throughout. I cannot recommend this enough!!

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I will keep this brief until release.

I'll start by saying that the prose is simple and sometimes awkward, but I was able to follow the story without getting too distracted.
I loved that we have a character, Leila, who loves and wants to protect the environment- this is always a good thing for me. There is also a lot of focus on family in this book, and how Leila adapts to being adopted. However I will say there was not much character development going on, which unfortunately made them fall flat for me. Overall the story is good, and I enjoyed it, but it could use some honing.

A little slow. I appreciate that magic realism but other than that it didn’t really capture me.

This charming tale is an interesting blend of contemporary and fantasy, with a main character I just wanted to hug throughout the entire book.  Leila is a mature young woman with strong convictions who struggles with questions about her past, while also learning to trust her new family and find a sense of belonging.  And everyone should have a best friend like Sarika - that person who always supports you and has your back no matter what - who is also a snarky, talented coffee barista with a loyal Twitter following.  Leila's dad, Jon, is the perfect concoction of worried, overprotective father, with an endearing, dorky sense of humor.

I loved the emphasis on environmental awareness and the interactions between the group on the message board.  Raising awareness in any way can only have a positive effect.  

Although the romantic relationships felt somewhat rushed, hovering near the 'insta-love' airspace, I appreciated the way Leila realized early on that some relationships are just incompatible, but that doesn't mean the friendship has to end.  It caught me off guard when Shawn's character seemed to change abruptly from one scene to the next, and I was also hoping for a little more information about Leila's biological father.  

The Girl and the Grove is an entrancing story with strong themes of family, friendship, and trust.  Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Although it's clear from the broadness of characterization (some of the characters, notably the Mean Girl villain, are largely two-dimensional) that Smith is a first-time novelist, the story is earnest and the affirmation of adoptive families is touching. Smith offers a changeling fairy-tale in which the changeling belongs more with her adopted human family than with the magical creatures who gave her up. Recommended for adopted kids who want to see themselves as magical.

*An uncorrected advanced proof of this book was received for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This novel followed the main character Leila, who has spent her life within the foster care system and has now been adopted. She also lives with seasonal effective disorder and is very interested in the environment which is the main focus of this book, alongside the voices she hears.
This defiantly was different to any fantasy book I have ever read, and I liked that about it. It was unpredictable, and heart-warming. I felt this book started off slow and took a while to get to the main part of the story, however that did allow for more time spent getting to know the characters outside of the main plot.
I really loved the adoptive parents, in particular the farther who I felt was really well written and developed and added hugely to the overall story.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book. If you like YA or fantasy novels then you should definitely check this out. I liked that it included a main character who has been within the foster care system and was now adopted, a topic that I haven’t read many books about. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for other releases by this author, as I enjoyed their writing style.

To be noted:

I was given a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This book was free, and my review is not biased towards that fact in any way. These are my opinions only, (as everyone is entitled to them) and should only be taken as an idea for whether or not you would like to read the book yourself. In the end, no matter what review I give, props to the author for writing what they love, and actually publishing a book.

The Girl and the Grove

For starters, I'm beginning to think that I'm either too understanding as a reviewer or everyone else is really rough on their writers...because I for one loved this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Having said that, it did take me the first couple chapters to understand and get into the book, but once I did I really had a hard time putting it down for daily life/adult stuff... I recognize this style of writing and feel like the author and I have some things in common.

This book has a lot of depth. I feel for Leila. Again, I could be biased on this front because my fiancé and I are wanting to eventually adopt and honestly, getting a look into how a child might feel about calling their adoptive parents "mom and dad" something so simple for us, that comes so easy... those children may be afraid to give that. Afraid they're going to get tossed back, no matter how much it is apparent that the adults care for and love them. Afraid of losing what they have if they struggle with mental disorders or if they do one too many things wrong. My goodness I just didn't even really think about those things. It totally gave me a new perspective on how to treat these kids. It amazes me in the first place that people could (and often do) treat them like items, like they can be returned whenever if it just "didn't work for them" or they "weren't a good fit." However, it happens all the time, and I think that kids probably just come to expect it to be that way. This thought essentially pulled on my heartstrings. All children deserve so much more...

However I feel myself rambling so I'll get on with it. The plot was good, I cried several times, like when Leila's hair started falling out, or when they thought Milford wouldn't make it. I've read stories where you actually don't know whether these people will make it. The ending is so abrupt and disappointing I think I'm conditioned to be afraid of sad endings and really not knowing for sure how the book is going to end gets me emotional. But that's what makes a good book right? You laugh and cry right along with it all, and that's why I gave this book 5 stars. I try to reserve my 5 star ratings for books that really get me going, and this was one of them. It had elements of what discrimination is like from all fronts, rich and poor, black and white, etc. Feeling forced into something to save other members of your family from losing their jobs like with Shawn and Jessica. Shawn was super easy to dislike at first, by the way. I think he had good intentions but totally went about the whole thing wrong.

Sarika and Leila's relationship was sweet and fun. Just how best friends should be. I also appreciated that the author added a "thanks" from her biological mother for Sarika helping and protecting Leila throughout all those hard years. I was a little disappointed they didn't reach farther into the aspect of her father, and what happened to him. I think that could have been a good side story. The end of the book seemed to move faster than the rest though, so it never seemed to come to fruition what ever happened besides his possible drowning..

In conclusion. I think I would like to see more from this author and maybe even a little more about Leila and her story. It has a lot of potential to have a side story or something, even though the book is pretty much over.

We've only got one Earth and she needs some protection from her inhabitants, but that protection gets incredibly personal for one teenage girl in Eric Smith's The Girl and the Grove. 

Leila's faced challenges her entire life ranging from the emotional stresses of the foster care system, her seasonal affective disorder, and the disembodied voices she occasionally hears and keeps secret from everyone. Having finally been adopted by an accepting and loving couple, Leila's life seems to be settling down, leaving her with ample time to spend with her best friend Sarika and finding ways to help the environment. But the voices in her head are growing louder and more distinct, driving Lelia to find a better solution than ignoring them. By listening to the voices instead, Lelia finds a new element to her environmental cause to lobby for, as well as a surprising insight into her heritage. 

This narrative is not only an enjoyable story in a familiar-to-me setting of Philadelphia, but it takes the time to educate readers on some big issues surrounding the lesser discussed topic of adoption, as well as other big topics of identity and the environment, with a dose of magic realism that tempers some of the heaviness of those topics through offering a bit of the fantastic. I found it interesting and refreshing to see the online life of a teenage character that went beyond typical social media through the environmental message board that Lelia and Sarika moderate interspersed throughout the story. Though a common feature in YA books (and books in general), the romantic relationship element of the story was a weak point for me - especially when considering the ages of those involved - but the relationships did serve a purpose in the narrative to help Leila grow as a character and move the story forward. 

Overall, I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Full RTC.

The first 10-20% of the book was cool. I liked the main character and loved her parents. Her friendship with Sarieka was also probably the best part of the book. After that initial part of the story, I had no idea what was happening. It wasn't as if too much was happening, I just... couldn't understand where the story was going. Adding Leila's Seasonal Affective Disorder was a huge catalyst for me wanting to read this considering I've never read a book featuring it. But again, After about 20%, I was not having fun. And though I liked Leila, some of her decisions involving certain characters did not bode well with me.

The Girl and the Grove is a standalone contemporary fantasy book that follows Leila, a brown girl who has been adopted recently after many years in foster care.

This book brings a new, interesting perspective tp the contemporary fantasy genre, focusing on themes of environmentalism and family instead of the romance or the magical creatures, although those two elements are still present and relevant.

I loved the premise of this book; my problem was the execution.
I didn't like the writing at all. It was often awkward, almost amateurish at times, and with this premise - magical groves in the park! - there was so much potential, but there was almost no atmosphere.

The dialogues weren't terrible, but sometimes it was clear that this book was written by someone who has never been a teenage girl.

I liked Leila. We do not often see characters who really care about the environment and fight to preserve it. I also really liked how her arc focused on both the romance and the family - she has been adopted recently, and she is still coming to terms with it. Her seasonal affective disorder doesn't help.

I didn't like the other characters as much. While Leila's family was great and it was nice to see a strong female friendship between Leila and Sarika, there was also the very stereotypical, really evil blonde mean girl who didn't get any development. All we know about her is that her dad is rich, she wears make up and she is evil. She's so evil she's worse than a caricature.
I thought we had left this kind of character in 2012 YA books.

Sixteen-year-old Leila has recently been adopted. But one thing she hasn't told her new parents about: the whispering on the breeze that she occasionally hears, the nagging feeling that someone is trying to talk to her. The only person she's told is her old friend from the group home, Sarika. While attending summer school, Leila and Sarika join an environmental club. Leila has always felt a special affinity with plants and trees. While out on what becomes a disastrous date in a local park, the voices Leila hears become louder and more clear. She discovers a grove, and the key to the mysteries of her biological parents. But she may have discovered it all too late, as the grove is about to be demolished and developed, and the poison that is leaching into the grove seems to be affecting all of the local wildlife, and Leila herself. Leila must work with her new parents, her friend Sarika, and a young park ranger (and love interest?) named Landon to stop the demolition of the grove before she loses everything.

So I first encountered Eric Smith via BookRiot, and especially since I've been listening to their new podcast Hey YA! (Which I really enjoy and highly recommend.) I also started following him on Twitter at about the time I decided to pay more attention to the publishing world and especially follow some writers/editors/agents, not only because I'm a bibliophile, but also so I could be forewarned about books that were getting critical acclaim but didn't stand up to scrutiny from bookland people I trusted. So I was excited to be given the opportunity to read an early ARC from NetGalley of this new book. Can we just admire the cover art for a second, because it's flipping gorgeous.

I felt a lot of feelings while reading this book, because Smith packs a lot of feelings into it: Leila's struggle between wanting to be loyal in a way to her biological parents, and wanting to fall all the way in and belong with her new parents. Her growing feelings for a boy who seems to understand her, and especially to be more sensitive to her past and her birthmark. Jon and Liz's love for Leila and their desire to be good parents and enough for her. The pain that Leila's bio-mom feels at not being able to care for her and having to send her away when she was so young. When Leila gets very ill towards the end, the heartwrenching scene where she collapses into Jon's arms as she calls him "Dad" for the first time? Yeah, there were some good, fat teardrops rolling down my face.

I think this is one of the most nuanced and realistic portrayals of fostering and adoption that I've seen, and it makes a lot of sense, as Smith talks seems to be pretty open about his own experiences being adopted. (He even edited a collection of adoption-themed stories in a book called Welcome Home, which I haven't read yet but about which I've heard really good things.) The fact that Leila has a visible birthmark on her face created an external reason for her to not feel accepted, that paralleled well with her internal reasons for not feeling accepted. It also came back into play when they discover how she is connected to the grove, as the birthmark becomes something of a harbinger of impending ill for Leila. Leila is eminently relatable, not necessarily because of anything specific that happens to her (and there are definitely some weird, otherworldly things), but because she often feels so uncomfortable and out of place, and sometimes angry. Who hasn't felt that way?

Her relationship with Sarika was also well developed. The sarcastic way they communicate with each other is the way I am with every girlfriend I've ever had, and it made me feel like they would've been girls I hung out with when I was a teenager. Leila's relationship with Landon felt natural and adorable, and the conflict didn't seem contrived and didn't last excessively long, both of which seem to be a hard balance to find for many YA books.

I did feel like there could have been a bit more explanation about the connection between the grove and the impact of its destruction on the park's and Philadelphia's ecosystem, as that seemed a bit cobbled together and unclear. I think part of it may have to do with the mythological nature of the grove, but it wasn't obvious what Smith was going for there. Some of the prose was a bit clunky, but honestly, the visceral feelings that are portrayed and the magic of the story counteracted any frustration at specific phrases that seemed unnatural.

The mean girls were a little one-dimensional, but that's pretty typical of mean girls. And though I think that it would be easy to discount Shawn (Leila's one-time love interest) as just a dick of a character, I actually think his arc in this book made him one of the more human. He's well-meaning, but doesn't get the execution quite right. He's insensitive, but he genuinely seems apologetic and interested in learning from his mistakes. I know a lot of humans in real life like that.

In general, this book has a lot of feels, a mostly happy ending, some elements of otherworldliness, and a relatable and awesome protagonist.

The book won't be released until May, but you can find out more information and preorder it here.

This book starts off pretty strong, but kind of goes downhill and bit and plateaus from there. I felt that it read like an early draft (which, seeing as it's an ARC, it kind of is) and that there are a lot of things I feel could benefit from changing before it's published. The story, however, I absolutely LOVED, for many reasons: 1) that Leila was a foster kid and is dealing with the emotions of being adopted, 2) that she's somehow telepathically connected to trees, or tree-spirits, 3) that she's super into the environment, 4) this takes place in Philadelphia, which provides no specific additive to the story other than I thought it nice to imagine, and 5) the main plot of the story involves saving a park and an old mansion from destruction. The carry-out of the story, however, felt a little forced, as if the author hadn’t quite figured out where he was going or which parts of the story were going to be important. There were quite a few references to modern day obsessions, like Tumblr, which I personally am not a fan of because they immediately date a book. Also, as someone who has since grown out of Tumblr, it immediately made me feel more disconnected with the characters. Most of the dialogue was okay, but there were definitely some times that I was cringing pretty bad. It felt like the author really had no idea how anyone would actually act in certain situations (especially the teenagers) so he just made it up and left it there (kind of like an awkward adult trying to fit in with young people). The plot points were good to move the story along, but felt badly connected. The underlying plot of Leila calling her adopted parents Mom and Dad felt unnecessary. I understand that for a kid like her, it would be a big deal, but had nothing to do with the main plot and was more of a distraction. I detected a little bit of 'special snowflake' syndrome in some of the characters - before we realise how awful of a person Jessica is, there is a pretty obvious passage where it's clear we aren't supposed to like her simply because she's carrying a makeup clutch and Leila isn't about that. I did like the idea of Leila and Sarika joining the environmental club, but that brings up my next point. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out the point of the existence of Shawn, ESPECIALLY because he was introduced as a love interest. His story goes nowhere. It makes it incredibly confusing when we meet Landon, the real love interest, because you can't figure out who is supposed to be who. Not only that, but Shawn is an AWFUL character. He is the one who suffers from being a special snowflake most of all. That scene where he threatens to not give credit to the kids who are just in the club to get credit? Where the hell does that authority come from? He's immensely inconsiderate to Leila and does not suit her at all, so the concept of them having “tension” (when believe me, they did not) is baffling. Landon, while definitely not perfect either, makes WAY more sense as Leila's love interest, so I cannot understand why Shawn cannot be ditched and Landon introduced earlier in the story. I definitely called Landon being Toothless (I have the Kindle notes to prove it), but it felt awkward a bit just because it didn't feel like it was him when you considered how he and Leila interacted IRL and online. The characters of Jon and Lisabeth were pretty poorly created, and given way too much influence on Leila considering how poorly they were written. I was so upset with Jon when he tried to convince Leila to not protest against the amphitheatre just because it would be awkward for him at board meetings. For crying out loud, isn't he an environmentalist? Isn't he supposed to care about endangered species?! The owl was cute and clearly brought Leila and Landon together, but there's this whole idea that he would hate being called Milly because his name is Milford and “all owls must have old man names”. No, he wouldn't. He is an owl. The reveal that Jessica was the source of the decay was sooooo obvious I can't believe I didn't see it coming, but I think that's because I simply expected more. She's such a poor antagonist anyways, and the hallway scene where she admits to poisoning the grove is so cheesy it feels like she's a super villain who is like "I'll get you next time children!"

I haven't mentioned the whole dryad thing yet because I really wanted to get all that out of the way first. This part of the plotline was the bit that I was most disappointed in. First of all, the voices in Leila's head just don't seem right. I know that in the summary they are described as the grove calling to her, so it really should be no surprise, but they were written as if they were a mental health thing, which made me believe that they were going to tackle that topic, which I am on board for because it still isn't talked about enough. But nope, it's the trees. The reveal that the tree is Leila's mother is approached so poorly. It comes as a surprise not because she's a tree, but because there was really no build-up that Leila's birth parents were something she was hugely concerned about. It would have been better if there was no parental connection at all, or maybe just that Leila had an affinity for nature and that's why she could hear the voices. Not only that but the fact that Leila started fading away when the grove did was also kind of awkward and didn't serve too much of a point other than to illustrate that she's connected to it. The part about the grove being responsible for all life in Philadelphia wasn't really explained that well either, it was explained more like a fact that we were simply supposed to accept, with no concern that it might be weird at all. I just cannot believe that there is this super cool story line about dryads and tree spirits that has so much potential, but the majority of the second half of the book focuses on them finding a freaking mouse in order to save the grove. The dryad plot is super cool, but simply was not given the attention it deserved.

Despite all of these points I have laid out, I still think this book deserves three stars, and probably closer to three and a half. Even though I was disappointed in the way the plot went, I still think it was pretty good. It was definitely unique (in terms of what I have read, anyway) in many many ways and I think that deserves some brownie points. That being said, the interactions between the characters sometimes did not reflect how people interact in real life at all, and at times felt like the author was trying too hard to emulate teenagers and their thoughts and mannerisms. It also felt like the book introduced way too many subplots that didn't have that much of an overall effect on the main plot. That being said, I really did like the addition of the chatboards that Leila and her friends interacted on and felt that was a unique addition. A lot of the things I have pointed out can be fixed pretty simply, and I wish this book was longer because I think that would really benefit the story and round it out more, and would especially give the characters some room to breathe and develop. Still, after ALL THAT (and I really am sorry for picking it apart like I did), I did like this book, and I would still recommend it to others because it does some pretty cool things.

Still. The world needs more dryads.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book has a little bit for everyone. The main character Leila has a whole lot going on. She has grown up moving from foster home to foster home. She has just been adopted, which she is struggling with. She has one of the more common forms of depression, seasonal affective disorder. She hears voices in her head calling out for help. Mixed in with her troubles is her love for the environment. Overall it is a well written book, and I enjoyed reading it. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley.

If you enjoy books with a strong message towards teens about the environment and the foster care system, this will be great

This book really spoke to me. Leila has been moved around from home to home through the foster system. The has a passion for saving the environment and she loves trees. Her best friend Sarika is the only one who knows she hears voices calling to her in the wind. It scares her but she has a system to keep them at bay.

I immensely enjoyed this book. The books main character is a young teen that has been shuffled around all her life. She has finally been adopted but shes scared to accept that they want her forever. So Leila is fighting to keep her self-neutral. Leila's character has been through some abuse and suffers from some depression. This book touches on so many different elements in just the right way. I love all the environmental things that are defined throughout the book. Then there is, of course, the supernatural that took me by total surprise. I wish that there was more. Maybe we will get a sequel. I think the book was written beautifully and I would recommend it to everyone.