This book has so many things that align with my taste, I wanted to love it more than I actually did. For me personally, this fell into the "great idea not entirely well executed". Sometimes the writing really hit the right note, other times it was just confusing or trying too hard. By the time I hit the halfway mark, I didn't feel like I had anything to ground me in the story or make me want to continue on. There was so much to like, but I just never fell in love or was truly engaged and I skimmed the last fourth. /:

I opened this book and fell in. The imagery is dark and breathtaking, the prose is lush and macabre, the characters are vivid and utterly unique. This is not one of those books you read, it's one you get lost in. This book will stay with me for a long, long time, and will take a coveted spot among my all-time favourite reads.

I didn’t finish this book. I wasn’t able to get into the world. I found the charcters confusing. The main character, Rhea has so many sisters that I dont know which is which. I hate when authors pick names that all start with the same letter. It makes it hard to remember who is who. The a has these weird dreams that she calls a vision so it makes me confuses if she’s actually asleep or not. Her one little sister also has these weird dreams and believes these people to be real that aren’t. The town seems to think the girls are odd and are witches. Which makes me wonder about the witch in the forest. This book switches point of views from Rhea to the witch. I actually don’t like either of the point of views. So far it hasn’t made me want to continue reading. I was never hooked into the story like I need to be.

Written with a Gothic sensibility and lush and formal language, this book is like a lovechild of The Virgin Suicides, Hans Christian Anderson, and every banal YA about Girls With Powers who are also, unfortunately, not very intelligent. Characters are described to the nth degree, everyone is Mysterious and Dark, dreaming is waking and waking is dreaming and visions are reality and reality is---who cares? I suppose this was intended to be "darkly beautiful" with intrigue and secrets at every turn, full of magical animals and magical people and non-magical people and some kind of ideas of what is Just and Fair, but it's a hot, boring mess.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Waking Forest is the fairy story that I never knew I wanted. The prose is beautiful, the characters are complicated and amazing, and the world is lush and creepy.
The story follows Rhea, a girl who is plagued by nightmares both while asleep and awake. One day when a strange boy who only exists in the dark appears, Rhea is thrust into a game and discovers who she really is. I don’t want to go into the plot because of spoilers, but this book is everything!
I got major “Pan’s Labyrinth” vibes from this book. This dark fantasy is phenomenal and I highly recommend you pick this one up!

This book was not at all what I expected and I loved it. Rhea starts the book being burdened with visions and a lurking darkness but ends with a light. This book was magical.

3.5 out of 5 stars - rounded up to 4 due to the strength of the first half and the beautiful writing

I'm having a hard time finding where to start on this review. It follows two main characters, Rhea and her family and the Witch of Wishes and her foxes. Rhea sees things, visions of a world of nightmares in the waking world. The Witch waits in dreams, casting wishes to children that can find their way to her.

The first half of the book switches between Rhea and the Witch, two characters that feel like they are on a collision course and the story of a third world. Of magic that is forbidden, mythical creatures that inhabit the woods and a princess that sleeps. Its not hard to pick out where the book is going, the author does a nice job of weaving a story that eventually all comes together. The writing is beautiful, there is a whole paragraph where Rhea speaks of Rose that I went back to read at least three times, I loved how well it was written.

Where the book stumbles for me is the second half of the book, where the three stories come together and we leave dreams within dreams for reality. The second half is not nearly as lush and mysterious as the first half of the book, sometimes I felt like I was reading a complete separate story that just happened to have the same characters. The revelation of what the king was up to actually did catch me by surprise, I had an idea but the author took it to a darker step than I had anticipated. The second half still feels like it is missing something and I think it falls back to the way the first part of written. A more modern day life and a mystical world of dream, such a lovely contrast between the two worlds that the third world of the second half just doesn't match up to.

Overall a really good first outing and I look forward to see more from Alyssa Wees.

3.75/5 stars

I thought the first half of this was excellent! The writing style, combined with the characters and the world, was just beautifully done. While I was a bit unsure of how the plot would develop, I still had high hopes...and then the middle came. Around the middle of the book where everything combines and goes on a fast-track, I felt like things started to derail a bit. While the writing and characters were still beautiful, I found things to become more convoluded. Some things were difficult to make sense of at first even though they shouldn't have been. The ending was good, but the events leading up to it just felt wrong. I feel like some reorganizing from around 60-75% would have been great. I still actually recommend it as I felt it's still a strong book, but not as amazing as the beginning led me to believe.

Absolutely beautiful writing! Told from alternating viewpoints of young girl named Rhea and The Witch of Wishes, The Waking Forest is a dark, twisted magical tale with Sleeping Beauty vibes. Rhea is plagued with visions , family disappearances, and a dark, mysterious figure living in her attic. The Witch of Wishes also has a mysterious figure in her life to whom she (reluctantly at first) agrees to listen to his tale. The hunt for her missing relatives brings Rhea and The Witch of Wishes lives together and that of the mysterious figure. As stated earlier, The Waking Forest has Sleeping Beauty vibes, however, this is a completely unique and creative story. The writing is divine!

Fast-paced and intensely creepy, this was one twist-filled story. I am still not 100% sure I figured out what the true situation is, but it kept me hooked and I really loved the characters.

#TheWakingForest #NetGalley
The lush writing and dark fairy tale aspects with a witch, little children, and a creepy forest. What more do you need? Well, maybe a sequel??? The poetic writing and the uneven pacing of the novel throw you off balance. The novel reminded me of the thrill of reading the Hazel Wood for the first time. It was so different and creative that you have to go back. Read it again to get the full feel of the novel. Must Read 2019.

3.5 stars.
The Witch in the Woods grants wishes to children who find her in a dream. Surrounded by her fox friends they play all day and dance all night...but this is not a dream but a nightmare.
Rhea is plagued by nightmares of death and darkness, unspeakable terrors that follow her into the waking world. A dark wood behind her house that only she can see may be the key...but this is not a nightmare but a dream.

The Waking Forest is a children’s/YA fantasy which has a dark fairy tale element involving a cursed witch. Two parallel stories merge when a dark and mysterious boy begins the tale of the witch in the woods. I loved the premise of this novel and the beautiful cover so I was super excited to start reading this one. This novel started out with a very creepy and dark fairy tale feel that hooked me right away. The writing style was beautifully done with evocative of the dark fairy tales I love. By the middle of the book, when the two stories begin to merge, it felt like it lost its momentum both in the writing style and plot. The blending of the two stories didn't seem to come together smoothly and it lost some of its charm for me. This book is written for 12 and up and I definitely feel like this will be a great creepy fantasy for that age group.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*

So this was so-so for me. I wanted to like it, but some things kept me teetering.

This story follows Rhea who is plagued by nightmares both while asleep and awake. When a strange boy who only seems to exist in the dark appears, she is thrust into a game where she soon discovers who she truly is.

This book is pitched with comparisons to Pan's Labyrinth, which is one of my favorite movies of all time so I had some high expectations. As I did not get Pan vibes, I did get some Mirrormask, Oz, and Alice vibes instead. I can see some Hazelwood in there, but I chose to ignore it because that book was a major disappointment for me and I wanted to separate that book from this one.

What I did not like was the flowery writing. The descriptions were a bit extra and took me out of the book often. I found myself huffing and rolling my eyes because some of them just didn't make a lot of sense to me and often dragged out without ending for an entire paragraph. I felt breathless after reading it. Not in a good way. In a way that was kind of like choking on a piece of popcorn.

What kept me reading was the expectation of magic and some cool ass beasts, but that didn't come either. And the intrigue and tension weren't there. I think that this may play out better as a movie and I would watch it if they did adapt it.

I did like Rhea and her family. The love gave me the feels. There was no real romantic love, though I the hint of it was there. It was a quick read with a tied up ending that will leave you satisfied.

Despite the uneven pacing, readers will find promise in this fairytale within a fairytale.

Rhea has been plagued by visions her parents and sisters cannot understand. When a shadow offers to help her find answers if she plays a game, her life unravels as the story of a witch in the woods parallels her own. Fans of The Hazel Wood will notice the plot-twists ahead of time, and find the larger ensemble of characters difficult to engage with at first, but The Waking Forest is a story about courage and family at its core.

The Waking Forest in my perspective is when Chronicles of Narnia meets into the woods with secrets and as you read on, you will immediately be pulled into the action. It's hard not to follow Rhea's path to her curiosity of the Waking Forest and when you meet the witch and learn about her, it will force the reader to find out not only what happens but learn about the relationship between Rhea and the witch and whose side will they choose and how will it affect the whole story.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will do wonderful in our YFantasy collection and we look forward to adding it to our library collection. That is why we give this book 5 stars!

THE WAKING FOREST is a dreamy fairytale of a book, perfect for Halloween (or any time)!

One of my favorite things about this story is how it combines both light and dark elements of fairytales. We have a beautiful princess and castle, but we also have a foreboding forest and witch. Wees did a wonderful job balancing the delightful with the eerie.

This book has that traditional fairytale feel that we all know and love, but it also turns some tropes on their heads—both in small and large ways. I won’t give away spoilers, but I will say that this book went in a direction I definitely did not expect. Considering the vast amount of books I’ve read, I always love when an author can whip out something new and surprise me.

The writing is undeniably gorgeous. Seriously, this is some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read in my life, and I wrote down my favorite phrases that I never want to forget. Actually, it’s a lot like Roshani Chokshi’s writing style. I do think it was a tad OVERwritten; when every single sentence is this flowery, it’s easy for my eyes to glaze over and start skimming. But in general, I liked the writing.

The entire story has a dreamlike quality to it. Not only is the story about dreams (to a certain extent), but reading it is like actually falling inside a dream. That worked well at times, but at other times it left me confused. I believe at least part of that was intentional on Wees’s part; she seemed to want the reader to feel the same confusion and fear that the main character was feeling. And I did, at first. I was riveted by the initial mystery. But it took SO long before I (and the main character) got any real answers, and by that point I had lost some interest in what was real vs. what was a dream, and how and why any of it was happening.

Even with the above criticism, I really enjoyed THE WAKING FOREST. Wees is an absolute master at creating atmosphere and at crafting a story that feels both modern and timeless.

Also, that cover is stunning!

ARC provided from Random House Children's and Delacorte Press via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This book is like a very strange dream but I think that’s kind of the point?

“The Waking Forest” at its heart is that of a fairy tale. A story with a witch, the darkness and a curse laid upon a girl who only dreams of waking up from the nightmare she’s trapped in. With her world unraveling and whispers in the attic, Rhea struggles to uncover what is behind her fears and comes face to face with what’s been haunting her and with the help of those she holds most dear she sets off to right the wrongs of the past.

This almost has a Wizard of Oz type feel to it with certain similarities that I won’t mention because of spoilers but I have to say I really loved the writing here and though I don’t think I understood it all it was very interesting to read.

There’s a great sort of inversion of the classic fairy tale trope with that of sleeping princesses and the kiss that wakes them versus the scream of a girl lost and a witch who might be trapped herself and it makes this story stand apart creating something that’s new but feels as though it’s been told in hushed tones beside a campfire for as long as you can remember.

I really enjoyed this and wouldn’t hate to see it played out in some form or another be it film or television because there’s just enough mystery and intrigue to match that of the fantasy to keep you hooked and with a world as vivid as this it would be easy to get lost and I really don’t think anyone would mind.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Not exactly sure what the heck I just read and am still totally confused. However, I do see this as a movie being directed by my man Guillermo Del Toro and I would totally watch it!