"No pain, no gain" is one of the phrases that came to mind a couple times while reading this book. I say this because the writing in The Waking Forest is so beautiful and there are amazing concepts that carried me away into this world of twisted darkness and shadowy secrets. But then again, it was a little difficult to read sometimes because of the alternating viewpoints; basically two completely different stories. The pacing is so slow that it almost feels like you're reading two separate books for a long time until all of a sudden, they collide and everything is revealed almost at once. So overall, I did not find this to be an "easy" read--and that's not a bad thing! But I know that not all readers will appreciate the beauty in the subtleties.

5 STARS

TW: gore, parental death

If you're looking for a book that blends fairy tales, dreams, and nightmares into something lyrical and short, this is definitely the book for you.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I started The Waking Forest based on the summary, and it certainly wasn't the same book as the one in my head at the beginning. Sometimes that goes poorly, but this time around, I think it went extremely well. 

For starters, I absolutely loved the flowing, almost haunting nature of the prose in the sections about the Witch of Wishes, because the fairy tale feeling was INTENSE. You got the sense that this was some hazy nowhere, magical in every way, and yet entirely unapproachable save for the lucky (or unlucky...) few. In the Witch's chapters, it's a world of foxes and bones and bleeding flower hearts stitched up time and again, while in Rhea's chapters, it's a whirlwind of family and anxiety and the creeping itch that there's more somewhere out there, somewhere close.

The alternation between the two POVs was done well, too. It was a perfect way to bring two plot lines into convergence, and the slight tonal shift from one to the other was carried out elegantly, if you ask me. This book was balanced, in a way I hadn't anticipated, and I actually enjoyed the POV swapping. It's a nice change of pace to enjoy that when I've recently read books with POVs I just couldn't bring myself to care about. 

Basically, give me a POV just dripping in atmosphere, and I think we'll be all set.

I also really liked the characters a lot. This seems to be a standalone, based on the ending, so we don't get the kind of depth and complexity you see from series, but as it stands, I was really pleased! Especially since there is this heavy fairy tale element, not everything or everyone has to be particularly grounded. Some characters are more ephemeral than others, and it seemed right that way, the arrangement of the cast. 

What struck me most, though, was Rhea. As interesting as the Witch of Wishes was, Rhea was even more interesting, because here is a girl of eighteen who loves her family more than anything, especially her three younger sisters, and yet she has to grapple with visions and nightmares that plague her day after day, and well into the night. Her family is a loving one, tightly knit and such a refreshing change from the strained or absent families so often seen in YA, and I felt so strongly about each one of them as their fates unfolded in Rhea's world.

And thematically? I suppose I needed this book. Amidst all that anxiety is a path towards healing and collective good. It's ultimately a story about patching up old wounds and carrying yourself and everyone around you forward instead of dragging everyone down. Somehow, that works well with the book's fairy tale quality; healing tends to feel impossible sometimes, like a story people tell themselves just to feel better. And yet The Waking Forest also feels grounded in its approach. It may seem like a story, but healing can happen. It can hurt, but it can happen.

Overall, I'm beyond impressed with this book, and if you're looking for something to scratch that fairy tale itch you've got, then this might just be the book for you. Be sure to pre-order it or request it at your local library before it releases on March 12th, only a little while away!

[This review will be made available publicly on The Words Gremlin around 10am EST on 2/25.]

First of all, this illustration is gorgeous! I was drawn to it before I even read the synopsis. After reading this novel, I'm still drawn to the cover of this book.



Where do I start? How do I begin? This story is unique and original. I want to say it's some form of a fairy tale retelling. In a way it is, but in a way it isn't. I haven't read any review on this novel yet. I have a feeling there will be a lot of mixed reviews on this. But you know, that's okay. Why? Because it will be one of the most talked books of this year. Mark my words.



What I mean by unique, this book is divided into two different stories which will throw you off. It did throw me off at first, but I kept on because it was interesting. The accounts held my interest. It is a very dark fantasy novel if you're into that type of thing.



This is not for light or fast reading. Just take your time and enjoy it. There is some area where it's lyrical and magical reading and some area where the writing just weird (but the one I read is an advanced reader's copy, and it's not final, so hopefully it will improve.)



As I said, it was one of a kind and kept my interest, but it's not something I would reread in the future.

I'll give it a 3 and 3/4 stars.



Interesting, I just found out it's for YA and kids.



I received this unique ARC from Random House Children's /Delacorte Press through Net Galley. Thank you!

Weird and wonderful! So happy I was able to read THE WAKING FOREST in advance of publication. It's both a witchy fairy tale and story set in the modern world with a dreamlike quality reminiscent of Inception—always a question of what's real and what's imagined.

Rhea, the MC has strange visions and her chapters alternate with the Witch of the Woods. The story lines run parallel to each other—and tangle in the most unexpected way.

The story itself is full of darkness and heart, and the writing is strange and dreamy too. Each page blooms with atmosphere. Read this book as much to enjoy the language as the story. I loved it so much!

“Let’s start with the Witch in the Woods.”

This is going to be such a hard book for me to review. Mostly because this debut novel has some of the most beautiful writing I’ve ever read. I was so positive that I was going to five star this leading up to the half way point, but I feel like things just started to fall apart and the story got harder and harder to follow. So, even though I’m not giving this the highest of star ratings, I still am really impressed by the author’s craft and I can’t wait to see what they do next because their prose was seriously nothing short of magical.

The Waking Forest is a story that is telling two very different tales with alternating chapters. One is a girl in our world, living in a beach house with her family, and she has suffered from nightmare like dreams her entire life. The second is a witch in the magical woods, who grants children wishes with her heart, and she is being told a story by a very different kind of fox. These tales simultaneously go on and weave together that is actually really beautiful.

“What if I told you that there’s a boy in the attic? And he seems to know me even though I don’t know him? And I don’t know where he came from or how he got there?”

➽ Rhea – The sleepwalker, who keeps experiencing these nightmares, and is finding herself more and more close to understanding who the boy of shadows in the attic is, who only she can see.

➽ The Forest Witch – The granter of wishes to different children who visit her each night, but her newest visitor is a fox that is unlike the rest who live in her forest.

“…after my encounter with the Darkness, that if we have secrets, they aren’t juicy at all. I think, more likely, our secrets are bloody.”

Sadly, it is when the tales come together that the story started falling apart for me. I feel like the author has so many amazing concepts, and she was weaving them separately almost perfectly. It is when they came together that I started to get so confused and so uninvested. Like, I take really extensive notes while reading and this story was so damn hard to keep straight. And I felt like my beautiful lucid dream while reading the first half, turned quickly into my own personal nightmare.

But another thing I did really like about this story is that it mentions, on page, many times about living with anxiety and how much it will and can impact your life. A couple of the characters bring it up many times, and really show how you can live a normal and happy life with your anxiety, even if at times it feels like it is something that is constantly holding you back. And as someone who lives with anxiety, it was just something that I really appreciated.

Overall, I really loved the first half of this book, and I am still completely and utterly blown away by the beautiful prose. And I know I’ve talked about the writing in this review a lot, but the atmosphere is actually perfect, too. The descriptions in this book were always equal parts frightening and beautiful and I had goosebumps while reading many passages. And you all know I have a very special place in my heart for stories about entering people’s dreams. And even though I lost interest with the last half of this book, I am still so impressed with the writing quality, and the way that Alyssa Wees wove her words together, that I can’t wait to see what they do next.

This book was like a tamer (more child friendly) version of Pan’s Labyrinth as well as a crossover with Sleeping Beauty. It was kind of amazing in the way that this story was developed in that reading it felt like stepping into a dream. This story was split into two parts; the witch in the woods and the story of a family of 6 with the four daughters and the parents being super close. The witch in the woods granted wishes, while Rhea, the eldest in the family of 6 had visions while asleep.

Without giving too much away here, I do have to say that these two parts are all a dream and the real story is developed between the lines. That ending was one I did not expect in the sense that it sort of took me by surprise because although I suspected a lot of the events, the whole dream aspect of it, took me by complete surprise.

Fun and the just the right amount of spooky. With a solid storyline and poetic prose, Wees weaves a story that is sure to become a favorite among those who love YA.

** ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.**

"A witch, a witch, a witch in the woods. And suddenly I feel the witch, there at the center of the woods, just as I feel the boy in the darkness. She's a shadow falling across my heart, a rose blooming in the total dark. And she's screaming."

This is the story of Rhea whose three sisters and parents all have their own quirks. One doesn't really sleep, the other runs away a bunch, and one seem to see the future. They are all ecentric, labeled as witches in a modern time. Then we follow to witch in the woods and the fox that was not a fox (aka a super cool creepy woods vibe). Rhea and her siblings, the entire storyline there was a bit difficult to keep straight, not gonna lie. However, Rhea can feel the Darkness breathing around her at night, has conversations with "him" and man is that part of her story pretty awesome and angsty. Her family story...well that gets pretty confusing as well as you read, but that's the general gist of things.

" "Rhea Ravenna, you have returned." Again he uses my name like a spell, an incantation somewhere between sinister and sacred, demonic and divine."

This is an impressive debut novel in so many ways. The prose in this novel is beautiful, I highlighted and tabbed a ton of lines in my eARC. I mean, seriously, so pretty. The lore of the Witch in the Woods, the stories told about her and the vibe of her throne in the woods made from giant teeth, YES! Give me all of it. I'm impressed by the way that Alyssa was able to create this vivid world full of magic with words that truly are so memorable in their beauty.

"I have a scratchy, restless feeling, as if my soul were grinding against my skin, my bones, not necessarily wanting to get out but urging my body to go to impossible places, convinced I can touch the stars and not burn."

However, what this story lacked for me was a connection to characters and a plot that made sense. There is so much I want to say about this story and so little that I can without giving away spoilers but even though the confusing aspects of this novel are explained on the page midway through the novel, I still had NO idea what the heck was going on. In theory, everything about this story works but in execution, something fell short for me, personally. How do you rate and review a book that you enjoyed but left you frustrated, confused, and feeling like something was missing? But honestly, the writing was great. So torn!

"It sounds like anxiety. It sounds like you have panic attacks. And that's nothing to be ashamed of. It doesn't make you weak or not able to handle things, and it doesn't make you any less of a macula than me, or anyone else."

We get representation for anxiety in this novel, which is always interesting in a fantasy novel. This is a dark story, a twisted story about a witch who rips flower petals from her chest to grant wishes to children then sews herself back up. It's a story about sacrifice, love, family, sisters, and darkness. It's a love story in many ways and it's a fast read, one that keeps you reading but sometimes, maybe mainly, because you want to figure out what the heck is going on...I never really did. Also, man, those chapters about the witch are compelling! The story of Rhea and her man Darkness...so gripping. I was here for them.

"My name is cradled in your bones. Because your heart sounds the same as mine. Because a sky is just unremarkable darkness without the stars... I don't know much, but I do know this. I am an inhale. And he-he is an exhale."

I buddy read this with the amazing Melanie from Meltotheany and I cannot wait to hear her thoughts. Overall, the writing was great, the concept was amazing, the vibe was phenomenal but the plot and some of the characters fell short for me. I apologize if this review made no sense, but my head is still a bit messed up from this story. They say it's for fans of Pans Labyrinth and The Hazelwood and I can see it...but this just didn't work as well for me. I don't think I'm meant to still be scratching my head over this days later.

"There is relief in destruction."

Trigger warnings for loss of a parent, slavery, murder, and blood. Also, some general themes of darkness and oppression.

They had me at a mysterious forest. Honestly anything could happen with a plot device like that. While the story is beautiful in execution the prose are a little heavy handed and the plot moves quite slow. I was expecting more of a heart pounding danger around every turn sort of story. I would recommend it because it is lovely, it's very visual!

It’s been awhile since I set down a book. I made myself read up until 34 or 35% of the book and I just couldn’t do it anymore.
I had absolutely no idea what was going on because it was practically incoherent and continued to become even more incoherent the further I read. The writing seemed to be very poetic, but this wasn’t the book for me.

This book was very different from other books I have read. I love that part about it. To me, this book had a sleeping beauty feel sort of for me. Rhea has visions that are not very good ones. Creepy to be exact! Do you want to play the game with the young man? I really enjoyed this book. It was an exciting and unique read. *This book was given to me for free at my request NetGalley and I provided this voluntary review.*

I thought this was a pretty good book. There were a few times that I got bogged down by the prose though. Look, I love gorgeous writing and settings as much as anyone but this book was full of way too much purple prose and it was a bit hard to get through. I definitely see the Pan Labyrinth-esque feel to it and so that's why I liked it.

I wanted to like this. I tried to like it. But it was truly not for me. I’m sure some people would like this, but the writing did not work for me at all. Why?

Because this book is a poster child for purple prose.

The plot felt terribly slow-paced, with most of the action happening in the last third of the book and overall things were quite predictable.

Disappointing.

Wees writes deftly and the idea had some potential, but unfortunately this one didn't work for me.

The semi-real world component of this piqued my interest when it began to mix with the magical elements of the story, but what happened when they fully fused was a complete mess.

The story dragged, was full of plot holes, and came off feeling like a half-baked idea that meandered around for a while but never got anywhere that made any sense.

Lots of concept, very little substance. The writing is pretty, but the execution of plot was a failure.

I received an e-galley from the publisher through Netgalley and that did not alter my review.

4/5 stars

I was really confused for a bit of this book as to what was going on or what the story was. It altered viewpoints between a witch in the forest and a teenage girl in what seemed similar to present day. The characters were all a little bit quirky and interesting in their own way so I kept reading, and I'm glad I did. The confusion from the beginning started being answered by about halfway and was completely answered in the end. This book had a very whimsical and quirky feeling to it and I was in just the right mood for and very much enjoyed it. I will forewarn others that this book is definitely not going to be for everyone!

Soooo... this book. I was pretty excited for it. Not gonna lie. The cover drew me in. The synopsis is super intriguing and I thought for sure that I would love this book. That obviously did not happen.
The writing was juvenile at best and weird. And the dialogue was terrible. Ugh I just don’t know how I feel!

4/5 Stars

The Waking Forest is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Kind of. It’s creepy, melancholy, and atmospheric. I loved every page.

There are two stories in this book. Eighteen-year-old Rhea Ravenna lives in a small town with her mom, dad, four sisters, and Gabrielle, her pet fox (!). Rhea is plagued by visions and nightmares – she sees a dark and menacing forest in their backyard, even though there’s nothing there, and she sees images of death in the attic. The nightmares are getting worse, and now Rhea is sleepwalking – her nightmares are drawing her upstairs to the attic. Desperate for the nightmares to stop, Rhea begins sleeping in the attic, where she begins to see a shadowy young man, who comes to her every night (and possibly watches her sleep, a la Edward Cullen). She can’t see his face, but he is familiar to her, somehow. And he wants to play a game – if Rhea can guess his name, he will break her “curse” (his word!) and free her from her nightmares and visions. But instead of breaking her curse, Rhea’s nightmare deepens: every day, one of her family members disappears, and no one remembers them. What is a dream, and what is reality?

"It should not be this easy for people to vanish. Disappearing should be difficult, rough and bloody. They should have to claw, tear, rip their way out, enduring some of the torment felt by the person left behind. There should be firecrackers bursting in their eyes; and stars snagging in their skin; and lighting bolts tangling in their hair, thrust under their fingernails. Explosions, abrasions, shudders, and shouts. Disappearing forever should not just be the quick and quiet opening and closing of a door."

The second story is that of the Witch, who lives in the forest. She sits upon a throne shaped like a tooth, surrounded by foxes, and grants wishes to the children who visit her in their dreams each night. Her alter is made of scabs, baby teeth, and shadows: gifts from the children in exchange for granting their wishes. Now, the Witch has a new visitor: a young man who is sometimes a fox: the Fox Who Is No Fox. Each night, this young man tells the Witch a story about a magical world with manticores, nymphs, sphinxes, and humans who must hide their magic. The Witch is enchanted by his story.

"All right. I’ll tell you. But be warned: fairy story is a misnomer. There aren’t any fairies in it, you see, but there is a princess, and a curse, and a king, and a prince, and a future queen, and a gray gorgon, and a nymph, and a bright girl with bright magic. There are foxes and sphinxes and manticores. There is darkness and sleeping and magic and light, lots of light. there’s an attic and a castle and screams that put together what has been torn apart. There’s foolishness and laughter and love. Speaking of love – there’s also a boy, a great necromancer. He has many names, some of which are long forgotten, and others that no one will ever dare to forget. Oh – and there’s a witch. Still want to hear my tale, a fairy story that is no fairy story at all?"

At first, the alternating chapters about Rhea and the Witch seem completely separate, but the stories merge halfway through the book. The story shifts entirely; it’s a bit jarring because the shift is so sudden, and it took me a few chapters to adapt. But I loved this book. This story is nightmarish and haunting, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

The Waking Forest is noticeably inspired by Strange the Dreamer, so if you’re like me, and need something really good to read after finishing Muse of Nightmares, you will love this book: it has magic that shapes dreams, blood or spirit that is filled with magic and can be extracted, and the characters have two hearts. Like Laini Taylor’s books, The Waking Forest celebrates the power of storytelling and the magic of dreams.

Alyssa Wees’ writing is gorgeous. The imagery is lush and vivid; it’s just delicious to read. This book is perfect for a dark and stormy night. Curl up with a mug of tea and read this book in one sitting.

Release date March 12, 2019, available for pre-order now!

ARC provided by Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.

The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Hello, I will add this review to my Instagram, blog, and goodreads on February 26th, 2019. The review will also be added to Amazon and Barnes and Noble on the publication date. Links to the reviews will be added when they are public, thank you.

Title: The Waking Forest
Author: Alyssa Wees
Publication Date: March 12th, 2019
Rating: 2.5 stars
eARC provided by publisher through NetGalley

The Waking Forest follows young Rhea and her visions of a witch in a forest. A boy comes and visits her in the darkness of her family's attic and stranger things continually happen. She must uncover the truth before its too late.

I was pretty hyped to read this book and in some ways it lived up to that hype and in other ways it fell short. This book is categorized as young adult/teen but I would say it is more middle-grade. The plot of the book was intriguing and the way she wove in a lyrical story in between was magical. The book is written with two perspectives and eventually they collide into one which is very unique and something I have not seen before. Usually I am one to complain about slow pacing but the problem for me was that in this case it felt rushed and some of the plot was not fleshed out enough.

The characters were also a let down for me. I didn't feel connected to them and that killed a few of the plot twists. There wasn't enough background to any of the characters, including Rhea.

Overall, I liked the plot of the book and it was different than others I have read before but the lack of character development is what ultimately lost me.

I don't even know what happened or what I read or what's going on, just that I'm legit confused. This was a story within a story within a story or more like a dream within a dream within a dream or maybe I should just say another version of Inception that was more confusing than the movie. The writing was different and that was a strength, but as the story progressed the lines between reality and dreams and fiction blurred to the point where I was edging towards a schizophrenia twist, but that was obliterated after the 60% mark. I struggled to finish this late in the early morning hours because I wanted to finally be finished so I could move on to something that made more sense and didn't hurt my head so here we are. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC; this was an interesting one.

DNF @ 16%
This book seems to be told in alternating POVs - Rhea, a teenage girl who has weird "visions" & the Witch, who lives in a forest & grants wishes to children with only foxes for companions. I didn't like any of the characters and I think the author was trying to hard to confuse the reader with her language and trying to create a "dark and mysterious" scene. I couldn't find it in myself to plow through this to figure out what was going on.