This is so boring and I'm not hooked on the voice after 30%. Some books just aren't for everyone, unfortunately. DNF.

When I first started reading, I thought this would be an interesting fantasy story about two people who become unlikely friends. I didn't imagine there to be a romantic element, but it was so well executed. The relationship between Owen and Seren felt so natural despite being natural enemies. I loved how they started off as fearful of each other, but they kept their minds opened and fell in love with each other over the course of the story. It was really nice to see their relationship grow as the story did as well.

Of course, there was a little bit of animosity especially with the people surrounding Owen and Seren, but I loved that they went against the wishes of their minders and went after each other anyway. Their love definitely had that innocence factor to it and there wasn't anything beyond a few stolen kisses throughout the story. I felt like the main focus of this book was these two characters. While there was conflict to be had, it felt almost secondary to knowing these characters and the decisions they make to save each other.

The story itself felt like a fairy tale. I'm surprised it didn't start off with "Once upon a time," because the atmosphere really conveys that fairy tale-esque dreaminess. It's also pretty dark with a lot of gore, blood, and death. I loved that it had this dark element to it despite feeling like a light read. It was poetic especially in Seren's chapters that are written in what looks like a rhythmic meter. I really loved using a specific writing style to convey Seren's chapters. As a tree person, it definitely showed you how she's not wholly human, but as you continue to read you see how that really changes with the style. I liked that touch a lot.

While I really loved this story, there were a couple of things I couldn't overlook. The first thing was that there's very little information about the villains. Both the Soul Eater and the witch had a backstory that put them in the positions they are in now, but not a lot of it was fleshed out. I don't think it was very important for the rest of the story, but I feel like it would have brought a level of depth to it. I wanted it to be one of those "don't make the same mistakes I did" story, but that didn't happen.

Also, I'm not a fan of convenient plots and some of those components were obviously convenient. Knowledge on how to defeat someone before even looking into it doesn't really compel me to keep reading. But again, it didn't seem that important in the context of the story because the story was so focused on Owen and Seren.

Overall, I loved this story. I loved the characters and the little romance between them. Honestly, this story read like a novella, but when I realized it was over 350 pages long, I was surprised. Perhaps it's a nod to how compulsive this read was and how it kept me entertained and within the story. But I really wish there was more to it.

I would highly recommend this book to folks who love a love story filled with drama and suspense. It's a heavy read with the level of gore and death, but at the same time enjoyable while I read it.

Into the heartless wood is a gender bent Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring tree sirens, a magical forest, and beautiful love story.

I am going to be honest and say I am not sure why I initially requested this ARC. It is not my typical genre. That being said, I am so glad I did, because I really enjoyed this book. It drew me in immediately, and I did not want to put it down.

The story alternates point of view between Owen, the human, and Seren, the tree Siren. I don’t typically care for it when authors write in verse, but in the case of Serendipities, it worked perfectly, and it didn’t bother me at all.

There is a lot of violence, blood, and gore throughout the book, so if you don’t like dark, twisted stories, this isn’t the book for you.

Into the Heartless Wood is comprised of a truly wild and visceral beauty. It's harsh and painful in a way only nature can be and yet, it is so so beautiful I LOVED it. This is a story that has continued to haunt me in the several days since I've read it, and most likely will continue to do so. Part fairy tale, part coming of age, part action adventure...and (despite its title) at its heart it is a beautiful love story, and not just romantic love, but a bigger greater kind of love.

Both lyrical and chaotic like nature itself, the way in which this story is written makes it impossible to put down. At first you are caught up in the dangerous and fragile relationship that develops between Seren and Owen, which features such emotive and visceral language (along with stream of consciousness like structure in parts) that you''re carried away right with them into this harsh yet strangely beautiful world. The second half opens up more, into the world beyond these two as they face the consequences of their choices and the unforeseen events that begin to erupt around them, here the story ties into the bigger story arc, where forsaken love and bitter revenge - in the guise of near-immortals - play out their war across the cosmos, and mans armies must gather to fight the magic of the wood.

There's a great love to hate villain, as well as the more complicated one, and a pretty awesome epic battle at the end. I don't want to give too many details away in terms of plot, because the plotting really is very good and definitely thickens up into a nice and complex finally. But it's the energy and writing and sheer magic of the first half that really carried me through, and made all the raised stakes of the second half that much more important.

Lovers of nature and woodlands, Fae, Dryads, and Celtic/Welsh Mythology will love her visceral descriptions of both nature and nature's magic. It's both perfectly feral and beautiful. And this blend is echoed throughout the story in multiple ways, reinforcing its primal feel. Truly a beautiful beautiful story.

Beautiful, imaginative and emotional: Into the Heartless Wood takes your heart and soul, dances them through young love and sorrow and gives them back to you awe and wonderstruck.

When I first read that this was supposed to be a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast, I had a different narrative in mind for where I thought the story should go. For me, it felt more like The Little Mermaid, with a girl who lives in a different world and falls in love with a boy from another.

The characters were amazing, including the villains, and the world-building was so stellar that it perfectly matched them and gave them a world perfect enough to neither eclipse nor overemphasize.

This book surprised me more, I feel, than any other book I picked up in 2020. I don’t even think I had any expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised and will most definitely be purchasing this book for my personal collection to match Echo North. And, of course, anything else Meyer writes in the future because she’s on auto-buy for me now.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, for which I give my own opinion.

Much like the siren song of the trees, INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD will call to you from the first page until the last, where you will find yourself willingly handing over your heart and soul as a token of appreciation for these words. A gorgeously written dark fantasy reminiscent of the classic and frightening folk tales that we’re all familiar with, this is a story that will become just as beloved.

INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD is the story of a boy named Owen Merrick who lives with his family on the edge of the wood, which creeps closer and closer to their house with each passing day. In the wood is a siren with no name, who’s no longer content to harvest souls for her soulless mother, who longs to become human. A chance meeting between the boy outside the wood and a siren in the wood begins the tale of a love story that will defy possibilities and explore what it means to be human.

I can’t enough about how much I loved this book. A gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast reimagining where a boy falls in love with a monstrous tree girl, where a witch and a king battle for power, all of which is heavily influenced by Welsh mythology. All of the classic fairy tale elements are there and Meyer elevates it with her beautiful prose and her ability to make you feel every single word and interaction between these two characters.

If you only read one book this year, make it this stunner. 5 glorious stars, and I’ll go ahead and call this my favorite book of this year because it’s going to be hard to top how much I loved this.


*eARC received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

3.5-3.75!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this is the kind of retelling I am here for. This was, (IMO) a gender-bent Little Mermaid retelling ABOUT TREE SIRENS Y'ALL, COME 👏🏻 ON 👏🏻. It was dark, it was violent, it was heart wrenching, and it was beautiful. I really liked the fact that Seren was the heroine. She was the one who saved Owen; a reversal of fairytale stories where the girl is saved by the boy. The way that the magic was woven with the stars and astronomy was so magical and really well done. I'll definitely be picking up a finished copy to add to my shelves!

I requested Into the Heartless Wood for two reasons. The beautiful, illustrated cover and because I’d previously read and loved another title by the same publisher, The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, so I thought I’d take a chance on this dark fantasy about a tree siren and a human boy who fall in love after she saves his life over and over. I’m glad I decided to stretch outside of my reading comfort zone for Joanna Ruth Meyer’s novel as it’s a beautiful story about the nature of monstrosity, love, and sacrifice.

Into the Heartless Wood plays with a reversal of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, but it goes beyond a strict adherence to that tale as old as time. Owen has lived directly beside the wood filled will tree sirens that bring people to their deaths for at least a couple of years, ever since the king hired his father to give him monthly astronomical charts. A year before the novel began, he lost his mom to the sirens’ call, and his father had never been the same. But Owen happily picks up the slack—doing the astronomical charts, caring for his two-year old sister, Awela, and cooking—while his father wanders through his grief.

Despite his father’s uncertainty and the knowledge that the woods are encroaching on the train tracks, he takes a train to a nearby kingdom to deliver the astronomical charts as he does every year. That is until the train he is on is derailed by a siren with violets in her hair, and he sees her violently kill all the other passengers and steal their souls. Owen is terrified that he will be next, but then she spares his life. Not just once, but several times. And not just him, but his little sister, too. Through this experience, Owen’s idea of what makes someone a monster begins to shift; he begins to see the tree siren, who he names Seren, as beautiful and not dangerous. Monstrosity becomes something that you choose to be, not something that you are innately. And it’s not something that correlates to one’s physical appearance—even human beings can be monsters if they have an evil intention or actions.

That said, it’s not as simple as Owen changing his perspective. In addition, Meyer uses Mary Shelley’s trick from Frankenstein by allowing Seren to tell part of the story through her own POV. By giving Seren a voice and an internal monologue, Meyer ensures that the audience will develop sympathy for the tree siren at the same time that Owen begins to sympathize.

Beyond the theme of monstrosity, this love story is one full of sympathy, betrayal, sacrifice, family, friendship, and loyalty. There are moments that are absolutely horrifying and heartbreaking, but more than anything it's a very compelling read. I didn't want to put it down.

No book is perfect though. In this case, there was a short time in part one where I felt it could've been a little shorter. It seemed like Owen and Seren were on the route to falling in love, but it was far too early in the story for that to happen without major consequences, and I didn't understand what those might be. Once the established pattern in the story changed, however, I was right back to being glued to the page.

If you love YA fantasies, YA retellings, or books that explore complex themes, then Into the Heartless Wood, a mostly, fast-paced read, will have you glued to the page, too. Pick it up on release day!

I kept hearing about this book from Taylor Simonds on twitter and instagram and so I knew I needed to pick it up and let me tell you, it was such a magical experience. It was dark and twisted and honestly took me by surprise!

This follows a boy named Owen and how he lives with his father and little sister. They live on the edge of a forest that is ruled by these tree sirens that can lure people to their deaths and steal their souls. Creepy, right? Naturally, Owen gets into a bit of trouble with the forest and instead of his soul being stolen, the tree siren spares him. Owen and this siren whom he names Seren become unlikely friends.

This alternates between Owen’s POV and Seren’s. It was so interesting to read in both POVs but what I found unique and engaging was that Seren’s POV was told in a sort of verse format (unless my kindle was just being weird well then… whoops). I was really intrigued because Seren was so convinced that she was a monster and seeing her question herself was just really interesting to read.

It started out a little slower paced (which is fine by me except that I didn’t actually know what the plot was so it confused me a little) but once I was into the story, it had really just gripped me and I couldn’t stop reading. Both main characters were so interesting and likeable and I was SO INVESTED.

Things took a serious turn about 30% into the book and from then on I just couldn’t stop. i was just so worried about the characters! I don’t want to go in depth about everything because it would spoil all of the fun of the book. All I want to talk about is how I really didn’t know where the story would go and it was honestly such a ride.

I was extremely surprised by the ending. I don’t think I’ve had an ending take my by surprise like this in a very long time. felt like a dark twisted retelling of Beauty and the Beast mixed with little Mermaid. I was here for every second of it.

Not only were the characters really interesting, the world and bits of magic was honestly so exciting and immersive. I could understand all the characters’ motives and I was so curious about what the deal was with the tree sirens and the forest. Everything was so intense and dark.

The only reason it’s a 4.5 instead of 5 is just because I kind of wanted more interaction between Seren and owen. What we did get was great but it felt sort of disconnected and not as romantic and “soulmate” like as it was portrayed. While the story progressed and made my heart ache for the both of them, I could have shipped them more?

However, the dark storytelling was just captivating and told beautifully.

I would recommend this to anyone that likes more dark and twisted fairy tale inspired books. If you enjoy stargazing and discovering true love, fighting for family, lots of emotion and heartache, SIRENS THAT CAN STEAL YOUR SOUL, and different kinds of evil you should definitely read this book. You should read this if you want a sort of forbidden love story, interesting family relationships, love and betrayal, stolen kisses and slow dances, and a whole lot of gasp out loud moments.

Thank you to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to review this title.

Into the Heartless Wood tell us the story of Owen, a human boy that lives at the edge of the forest with his family, and Seren, a tree Siren made by an evil witch destined to kill everyone who enters the forest.
Owen and Seren end up meeting and upon that meeting, their lives change.
The prose of this novel is lovely, read like an old fairytale and the worldbuilding is atmospheric.

I couldn't quite connect with the story and the pacing. I would have loved to see more characters development and a little bit more complexity woven in their personalities, I found them to be a little bit predictable.

After falling in love with author Joanna Ruth Meyer's fantasy writing in "Echo North," this book was a no brainer to pick up next. And it did not disappoint! Meyer weaves a wondrous world of tree sirens, fickle constellations, and immortal kings. There were so many plot twists I did not see coming at the end, wow I am winded! This is an ideal read for fans of Leigh Bardugo's writing style and Ashley Poston's "Among the Beasts & Briars."


I loved Meyer's dedicated sense of worldbuilding, especially when it came to the precise plot pacing. Nothing ever felt rushed, and the fantasy world was easy to understand. I grew to love all the characters, especially Owen's family. His friendship with the other soldiers was adorable too, very much in the style of "The Lord of the Rings" series. It wasn't difficult for me to picture what Seren looked like - I'm picturing something like the Ents from "Lord of the Rings," but more lithe, maybe feminine-looking? Anyway, I loved that this is a standalone fantasy story that has a little bit of everything: just enough romance (but no annoying love triangles thank goodness), worldbuilding, plot twists, and character development. The ending - I'd have to give it a chief's kiss!

This retelling of Beauty & the Beast was original & compelling. For whatever reason, sirens seem to be de rigueur in YA right now; this was I think the fourth book about sirens that I read in 2020. However, this one, about "tree sirens," was truly strange, & I liked that original spin on the myth. I also appreciated the complexity of a female monster in this love story. While the pacing was a little slow in the middle, I thought overall that this was a compelling & complicated love story with a fascinating narrow edge between the delicate & the violent.

Initial Thoughts

I was super excited to read this book. I absolutely loved Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer and was so eager to see what was next for her. I love her writing style.

Some Things I Liked

Haunting and lyrical writing. I adored the way everything was described in this book. There was a semi-spooky ambiance that surrounded everything and there was an eerie-ness that I just loved. I’m not one for spooky books but the writing here was just spooky enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.
World building. I also loved the world created. I love that there were railroads and astronomy as well as rich mythology and history for this fictional place. I’d love to see more books set here.
Swoony yet innocent romance. I loved the relationship between Owen and Seren. They were young and neither had ever been in love but I loved the way their relationship developed and how they learned so much from each other.

Series Value

I’d love to see a spin-off where Seren and Owen are legends or myths in this world. I thought the creation of the world was one of my favorite features of this story and I’d love to revisit it.

I’d also really enjoy seeing a story about a grown up Awela, following in her brother’s adventurous footsteps.

What’s more, I’d keep reading anything Joanna Ruth Meyer writes. I only have one book left of hers to read but you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be reading it sometime this year.

Final Thoughts

I adored this book. Honestly, I regret the first book I read in 2021 and should have started here. This book was phenomenal and it left me aching for more of the writing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw – if you enjoyed the atmospheric writing as well as the witches folklore in this story, try Shea Ernshaw’s books.
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones – again, if you enjoyed the hauntingly beautiful writing as well as the lore and plot twists in Into the Heartess Wood, try this standalone 2019 release.

“Her whole soul was filled with music; mine brimmed with stars.”
•
This book is absolutely cute. Seren is a tree Seren, obliged by her mother to lure innocent people into her grasp and steal their souls. She thinks she is a soulless monster, but when she meets Owen, everything changes. His soul is so bright that it makes her stand against her mother, it makes her want to be more, to be human. And despite the fact that he should blame her for the loss of his mother, Owen is really enchanted by this awesome creature. She is not only beautiful, but he can see she is strong and she just needs to believe in herself to defeat her mother. This is the kind of love I want to see in books and in real life, the one that makes you see the best part of yourself, that pushes you to be better. This is not only a love story, there is also passion and betrayals and I’ve been really enchanted by the writing style!

A stunning, lyrical gender-bent beauty and the beast retelling.

I was immediately drawn in by the beautiful, atmospheric world-building, especially as someone who is always a sucker for a creepy forest setting. Both our POV's of Seren and Owen were equally intriguing and touching. The way the author changes their writing style to match the character progression of Seren was so cleverly done, and the overarching message of having power over ones own destiny was beautifully crafted into the story. Highly, highly recommend!

*3.25*

I was so eager to read this book from the day it was announced, because it had all of the premises to become one of my favourites. Sadly, I have to say this was not the case, but it was nevertheless an entertaining and lovely story (and much more gruesome than I had anticipated).

This novel follows Owen, a boy who lives at the edge of a wood that it's well known for being cursed. A nymph/witch of the woods and her daughters are seducing men with their voices, leading them to their death.

I always love a story based on foklore, a haunted wood, and some magical prophecy.

Suddenly one time, Seren, the youngest daughter of the tree siren decides to save Owen's life, and the two form a sort of friendship.
This book is also sold as a Beauty and The Beast gender-swap retelling, and I can totally see why, if I have to be honest. At the same time, the fact that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would is completely my fault. I had my expectations too high for this one, and the pacing was what really made me lower my rating. The story is sweet at times, really hard to read at other times, due to the fact that this book really is gruesome at times, but in my opinion these two aspects weren't really well balanced. In some parts the narration was very slow (especially at the end), while in other times it was way too fast.

Owen sometimes was too harsh in his decisions in my opinion, and also too fast in making them. For this reason sometimes he has to go back and re-think them. Seren on the other end was my favourite character, she's so strong and she cares so much, she only wants freedom for herself and for those she loves.

After all, I would really recommend this book if you like fairytales and folklore. I really like this concept and I'm curious to read more books by this author in the future.

Unfortunately, there were some issues with the initial download and then it was not possible to download it again. It was given a good rating so it won't affect its overall rating and sales.

The world building here is mostly very well done, with one problem: the towns that Gwydden’s daughters and forest destroy don't seem to make sense. Sometimes it appears that it's the same town over and over, other times it could be a different one. The train tracks are seemingly rebuilt easily, even though that was not the case at least twice. Still, that confusion can be overlooked next to the love between Owen and Seren and watching that unfold. I can see where YA readers will find this a good mix of romance, magic and age-long revenge.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

I'm so thrilled to have the chance to review Into The Heartless Wood! I love this cover and the book itself was certainly unique. It really resonates how we have to accept who we are but we can also make improvements. Ultimately we are in control of our own fate. Seren and Owen's love story is such a beautiful one filled with heartbreak, acceptance and magic. I loved the setting and the idea of the tree sirens, the astronomy that plays such a huge part in the story and just simply the earthiness of this book. Joanna Ruth Meyer certainly knows how to make nature magical. If you're looking for a unique YA read next year filled with adventure, a bit of a dark story, nature vibes and a love story, don't miss out on this one! Thank you to NetGalley, Page Street Publishing and the actual publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!