This book was truly delightful to experience. Amazing found family vibes, unique and diverse forms of magic, mysterious and creepy plot, and pacing that will have readers flipping pages as fast as possible.

The story is much darker than I expected, but Hollowell balances it out with beautiful found family moments so the book never ends up feeling too heavy. Things get super dark, the danger feels real, but the things worth fighting for always remain the forefront of the story, which I appreciate.

Hollowell is definitely an author to watch. There are so many things to applaud about her debut, including the broad diversity of her cast. The main cast includes characters of many different races, sexualities, gender identities. There are characters who are deaf, characters who are fat, and characters dealing with many different aspects of mental health. There’s something for everyone and aside from the beginning of the book where all the characters and their traits are listed, it never comes across as anything other than a naturally occurring microcosm of individuals.
It was especially cool to see sign language featured so prominently in the story, as I feel we don’t often encounter that. I personally found great joy reading a book where the fat girl was the fully capable hero, rather than a nerdy sidekick or someone to mock.

Another great quality of this book is the intricate plotting. This story isn’t afraid to go places, unraveling a ton of additional mysteries along the way. I constantly found myself questioning the things happening, trying to map out what was connected and to anticipate what was coming next. It was all great fun. Just as soon as I thought I’d figured something out and hit a comfortable stride in the story, something exciting would happen to shake things up and drag more questions to the surface. It was a wild ride that was always difficult to put down.

I also really enjoyed the magic system in this book. Hollowell leaves a lot to our imaginations (which is fine) but I liked how each character had their own individual, seemingly random set of abilities to nurture. No ones magic was even remotely similar and some were inherently stronger than others, but that was always framed as being perfectly okay. I loved how natural and fluid it all seemed. I always really enjoy forms of green magic, so following Derry’s growth was especially enjoyable to me.

Overall, a super strong debut from an author I’m sure to check out again in the future. Great characters, exciting plot, a quick and twisty ride. Would definitely recommend without reservation.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Clarion Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciate this book and what it wanted to do, but I just didn't vibe with it. I would still recommend this book to friends but I'm not the biggest fan.

A Dark and Starless Forest is a is a wonderful and incredibly rich fantasy novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building/plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

I quite enjoyed A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell, who I followed on Twitter even before she announced her book deal. I was drawn to the concept of the creepy forest, and yes, to be honest I was also drawn to a book that dared to put a fat character front and centre, though I was pleased to see that the characters' physical attributes did not play a significant part of the plot and that she didn't hate her body or lose weight and all her problems were solved. She was just fat, and that was part of the book's diversity.

I think my favourite part of this book besides the narrative voice, which was smooth and strong and engaging, was the sibling dynamics. It reminded me of one of my favourite YA fantasies of all time Entwined by Heather Dixon Wallwork, which is based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale. I wondered, due to the number of siblings and their tendency to slip away from their (over-)protector by travelling through a secret and magical tunnel to have their own introverted version of a party, if this book was at all inspired by the same fairy tale, but I think the similarities are just coincidences. Derry loves her siblings and has an individual relationship with each one, and boy am I ever a sucker for the found family trope, I just adore it. I love how Derry even acknowledged that it took years for the strangers living in the same house to actually become siblings, I just think that concept is so precious.

The worldbuilding was really great a well. I felt like there were very strong rules around the magic system, even if there were some unanswered questions around other aspects of the world. The siblings weren't necessarily aware of how far their power could grow, since their guardian was an emotionally abusive asshole. Speaking of which, I really liked how Hollowell approached this, with Derry aware that was being manipulated, but still unable to break free for a large amount of the novel. it was really great character development, and it was easy to empathise with Derry and her feeling of being trapped in an unlocked room that she COULD walk out of... if she wasn't so dependent on this emotionally abusive asshole.

And that's why I love YA, because Derry was still a teen, her emotional development and confidence was not at the level it would be as an adult. I feel like this story would not work so well if it was a book starring all adult characters, so I feel like not only does it fit into the YA space but it stands strongly as part of the YA canon. Yay!

The only problem I had with this book was what I perceive to be a inconsistency that cropped up as part of the climax. It was to do with a characters' magic and the world building, so I'm going to put it into a spoiler: <spoiler>For the entire novel we were told Derry had to be touching the earth to summon her plants, and the plants grew from the earth., We saw this over and over, that her magic was definitely physically linked to the ground, the earth, the soil, and the plants that grew from it. She needed to be touching the soil to summon her plants. At the climax, Derry can suddenly push her hand through someone's chest (how?? she's not super strong!?), and summon plants from inside a person's body, and that just doesn't work for me because it is inconsistent with the entire rules of the magic system established all the way through the novel. She's never done it before, it's not part of her magic even with her training and growing, and the entire thing could have been rewritten so that instead of bursting from inside a person, her plants still attacked and forced their way inside. I just... it was inconsistent with what had been pretty solidly established.</spoiler>

Apart from that, I really enjoyed this book and I would love to read Hollowell's next one.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Clarion Books for chance to review this book!



A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell is a dark and twisted fantasy about a group of girl alchemists who are learning to control and expand their magic. This book has so many diverse characters and great representation.

Derry and her siblings have magic. They live with a man named Frank on his isolated land and they aren’t allowed to leave the house. Frank has always told them that people hate alchemists and that the forest is dangerous. When Derry’s sisters start to go missing, she must confront the forest and figure out what’s happening to her sisters.

I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did. It’s twisted, dark and thrilling. The setting was perfect for the story. I completely fell in love with all of the characters. The plot itself was very intriguing and kept me wanting to know more.

I highly recommend this book if you love thrilling and creepy books. Perfect for the spooky season!

A really captivating witch-y book, blood-spattered and perfect for October with Halloween being almost here.

An enchanting story about the importance of family and magic. Derry lives with her eight sisters in a secluded lake house, next to a forest — things are seemingly okay till her sisters start disappearing while she develops a new kinship for the forest and discovers a new part of herself in the process of protecting her loved ones.

I enjoyed reading this quite a lot, it got me really invested and the plot is quite unique. I loved the forest, the tension and the build-up for many parts. Honestly, i loved Derry’s character development, it’s not ideal but it’s just so fitting with the whole vibe of the book and such a nice touch. The diversity is a really nice addition, too. My only concerns were that the other sisters didn’t really grow on me, only a few did just a bit, and i think there was a lot of wasted potential in that aspect, and that the ending seemed a bit rushed, while the rest of the book had a steady flow.

But I would generally recommend this ! It’s a really pleasurable read.

I enjoyed this book but I found it seemed a bit longer than it needed to be IMO. There were times I felt I raced through it and time I felt it slogged. The ending/main action felt a little rushed.

I did really like the spooky vibes of this story though. I enjoyed the magical elements and the different types of magic each sibling had. It was interesting to see their relationships with each other and their relationship with Frank.

Derry and her eight siblings live deep in the woods where the only adult in their lives- Frank takes care of them and protects them from people who won't understand their magic.
As an adult, I was creeped out from the beginning- all these girls in isolation with this dude?
The story is so much more than that- I love the world-building, the forest atmosphere, the fact that I read it clenching my jaw from the stress of trying to figure it all out- Yep all of that.

CWs: physical abuse, emotional abuse, blood, murder, gun violence
Derry has been away from her parents for a long time. Ever since her magic manifested, her parents drove her to this house in the middle of a forest and left her there. In the house is Frank, her teacher and caretaker, and 8 other girls and nonbinary folk her age, all with powerful magic who need to be taught. They aren’t siblings by blood, but they all consider each other siblings. But then, one of them goes missing, and Derry is determined to protect her own.
This book is a dark contemporary fantasy in every sense of the word. A lot of the book takes place in the titular dark and starless forest, leading to scenes that were creepier than I initially anticipated. It’s also dark as a lot of the book has to do with the emotional abuse they are put through. If physical and emotional abuse is something you are triggered by, this might not be the book for you because it is definitely prevalent.
Derry has an adopted family, so the cast is very diverse. Multiple characters are fat, queer, mentally ill, people of color, and one of the characters is Deaf so sign language is used often. The only downside is none of the characters felt terribly distinct, so I mixed up many of the siblings together.
The actual plot of the book was… just okay. It was very easily readable and I didn’t find myself wanting to put the book down, but, on the other hand, I didn’t find myself entrenched in the story. There was at least one twist that I didn’t see coming that I enjoyed the reveal of.
I think the problem was that the disparate pieces felt very disjointed, like I was reading two different plotlines. Something would happen with Derry and she would think something and I’d be like “oh, I forgot this book is going int hat direction, because these parts of the book didn’t give me that impression.”
I feel like the best comp for this book is House of Salt and Sorrow. This book is less explicit horror than that one, but both deal with isolated families with disappearing children. If you liked those aspects of that book, I think you’ll like this book.
I rated this book 3 stars. It’s definitely perfect for this time of the year, and I will look out for the books Hollowell puts out in the future.

A great read, kept me on my toes. I had many theories on what could be going on and it was a very gripping story, where you want to know the mistery desperately - no dropping the book down. I really liked the grey character that Derry was with a moral sense all her own. I regret that the characterisation of the other "sisters" was so minimal. This is really between Derry and Frank, and everyone else take second seat. I think this is what creates the big tension of the book and keep us on edge and focused. I would have liked to know the other sisters better, they remained vague throughout for me, even at the end I feel like we don't know them that well, but that is a very minimal issue.
This book has a wide and pleasant representation of characters and explores many interesting topics. Highly recommend it.

Thank you Clarion Books for the opportunity to read this eARC.
This book was a fun and quick read. I loved all the representation on it, there was such a diverse cast of characters though sometimes it was really hard to tell them apart.
Although I enjoyed reading this book there was many issues with it, some character decisions that made no sense at all, the plot had sometimes a weird pacing and there was an aspect that really irked me and made me want to scream (I will not say what is since it's a little bit spoilery). I know it's supposed to be YA but sometimes it almost felt like I was reading a middle-grade book. Since I was expecting a dark ya fantasy read I was really interested in reading it but I got slowly disappointed.
Overall I guess this book was just not for me but I hope the targeted people people can enjoy it nonetheless.

as a plus size reader, the fat rep in the book is praise worthy, it was just naturally introduced to the character. this book is a nice blend of magic and mystery but the pacing is what put me off track.

One of the best books I have read all year! Every character felt real and fleshed out, nobody was a stereotype, which pleased me. Sometimes it’s hard to digest how magic works in fantasy novels, but that wasn’t the case here. The magic system was understandable but still complex and interesting. This novel was dark and beautiful at the same time.

I loved this story so much! It kept me glued to the pages every time I read! It really was an interesting story and kept my interest from start to finish. It was creepy, mysterious, and tense especially near the end. The story started off slow with a creepy feeling, but then rolled into a wild ending with Frank. The story definitely gets dark at times and graphic, but this didn’t bother me. It was gruesome, but it added to this story. It showed the lengths Frank would go to get what he wanted. Also, the idea of the forest and how it was reborn because of Derry is an interesting plot line.

The characters were good, especially Derry. I really enjoyed her character a lot. I liked how her character developed as the story progressed. She become more and more confident in herself and how she can protect her siblings.

This was a good original creepy and dark story with a little bit of magic! I definitely recommend it.

I enjoyed this book! For me it wasn't scary so much as suspenseful, but I loved the dark creepy forest vibes and the relationships between the protagonist and her siblings. Derry was an interesting protagonist, and made choices I didn't always agree with, which I enjoyed. One focus of this book is the mystery surrounding the forest and the other focus is definitely on Derry and her siblings dealing with their abuser, Frank. Light on the worldbuilding but heavy with atmosphere. And it was a pleasure to see myself represented in a fat protagonist who just happens to be fat. With such a big cast, some of the siblings are better developed than others. I appreciated that her siblings had diverse genders, races, and sexualities without it having to be their one characteristic. I also appreciated the use of ASL between all the siblings for the Deaf character Brooke, which felt natural to me (a hearing person).

Overall I enjoyed it and I recommend reading it if you'd like to read more books with fat or Deaf characters, like spooky forests, sibling/found family relationships, and stories that involve the exploration of abuse.

Okay, so I went into this book expecting a fleshed out dark fantasy. Instead what I got was a story about abuse, neglect, grooming, found family, and probably the foster care system, but with magic. That's not a bad thing, and I think it's a valuable story to tell, just not the one I was anticipating. So I'm letting other readers know: this book may not be quite what you're expecting given the marketing.

That aside, A Dark and Starless Forest very much feels like a debut. A clunky beginning that info-dumps character information and diversity check boxes. (Note that I think the book taken as a whole does a reasonably good job of integrating some of that diversity into character development, particularly for queer, trans, and fat characters, and does okay with the racial diversity. But the way it's introduced reminds me of how Babysitters Club books used to begin: the tomboy, the quirky Asian, the bookish blonde etc.) There are some pacing issues, plot conveniences, character choices that don't always make sense...that sort of thing.

However, there is definitely something here that I think is going to speak to certain readers, and I'm interested to see future work from this author. This does a great job of depicting the emotional effect of ongoing neglect, psychological abuse, and grooming (not sexual grooming in this case, but clearly the magic piece of it is being used as a stand-in). And I think the use of magic helps to create a bit of distance from the topics being addressed in a way that readers who have experienced trauma might find helpful to aid in processing. This mirrors the way that children who are different have been abandoned by their families, perhaps because they are queer or trans. Frank is a predator who is disturbingly good at what he does, making these children feel like they have a safe home. There's a lot to unpack here and I think if you go in knowing what you're getting, you may do better with it. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I'll be honest, I fell in love with the cover and then the blurb hooked me in - it could only have gone well!

It did start off a little bit slow for me, but once it going I was all in. I did clash with Derry as a protagonist on a few occasions, but I didn't actually mind that - it was so well written that I didn't mind. I also LOVED that there was no romance - it was so refreshing to read and I loved it. Full marks as well for the fantastic representation! I would highly recommend this to any YA and Fantasy reader.

Let's begin with this cover: dark, magical, fat girl brilliance. I love this cover so much.

Secondly, the representation in this book is fantastic. Each magic-possessing sibling is their own piece of magic, whether they are gay, straight, cis, trans, Black, white, hearing, Deaf, etc. Reading it was like reading that no matter your differences, you are a little magical being, and I love that message for kids.

The story begins a little slow, as you get to know Derry and her siblings and their abilities. Frank, their guardian, is a little bit of an enigma as well, but as the book progresses, you start to wonder what exactly it is that Frank is doing with all these children in his house, and why he's so overbearing.

Then, the kids start to disappear.

The world building is a little weak, and Derry isn't the most likeable protagonist, but overall the book has strong bones and I will be purchasing it for my library.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free eARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this story!
Derry and her eight siblings are living with this guy named Frank.. He is teaching them how to control their magicks.. Frank is one of those guys who you just dislike.. He takes care of the girls, but he gives praise sparingly.. He is always in control, and makes sure all of the girls know it.. Yet as much as they don't like him, they still want his approval, want him to be proud of the progress they are making..
When Jane one of Derrys sisters... the one she is closest too goes missing this begins a shift in the dynamic of the house.. Frank wont let any of the girls go look for her, and says that she is most likely dead... However Derry thinks she is alive, and more importantly when she goes into the forest alone, she can Feel Jane there somewhere... When a mysterious girl who is deeply connected to the forest appears, and starts telling Derry some of the secrets of her life, things begin to spiral even more out of control.. Derry has to figure out what she is willing to do in order to find her sister.. and if she is willing to pay the price..
I love Derry and all of her sisters.. Some of the younger ones kind of blend into each other a little bit, I think because there are so many.. The way they all band together to find Jane, and the lengths they will go to, to protect each other was really great.. You can feel the love they all have for one another, even when they argue and fight..
The writing really sucked me in, I was fully invested in Derry and watching her grow as a person along side her magic. When they begin to stand up to Frank, it was sooo satisfying.. I loved the dark turns the story took, and how everything played out in the end..
I will definitely be reading more by this author!

I really enjoyed this! To me, there were elements of other things I'd read before, but all of it was done in a really new and interesting way. I loved the diversity, and I especially loved that the focus of this was on the sisters, no relationships or romance to be found.