Derry and her siblings–only a few of whom are related by blood–were abandoned by their parents to live with Frank, a man who helps them strengthen their magical abilities. Frank is mercurial and emotionally manipulative to the point of abuse, but the siblings are accustomed to his behavior. For them, it's normal, and he's protecting them. Right?

Things begin to go wrong when Jane, the eldest sister, disappears one night. Derry follows her out into the forest outside the lake house, but by that time, Jane is gone without a trace. When another sister goes missing, and things with Frank become worse than ever, Derry investigates the occurrences.

And all the while, the forest calls to her.

What a fantastic debut novel from Sarah Hollowell! The descriptions of magic and the forest are beautiful, dazzling, they completely draw you into the setting. The magic system isn't very defined, but as none of the characters seem to have any real working knowledge of it anyway, that can slide. All of the magic seems to be of the innate sort, rather than the kind one can learn.

Frank is written very convincingly. He's emotionally abusive, unpredictable, and borderline physically abusive. There are some very upsetting scenes, but nothing felt gratuitous. It's well done, striking the balance between over-writing that part to take advantage of the "shock factor" and making sure that he's without a doubt abusive. Though the extremity of some of his actions–the time-out room in particular–did somewhat stretch my ability to believe that they wouldn't try to leave sooner.

I loved how inclusive this story is. The siblings are all different skin colors and despite most of them being girls, there is a nonbinary sibling–Violet–and Irene is transgender. They're also all different sexualities. At some points, it does feel a bit like the author is waving and shouting "Here's representation!!" but honestly, it's great even with the occasional heavy-handedness. I love seeing myself on the page, and this gave me that. The author also goes into their mental health and any disabilities they have–for example, Brooke is deaf and the siblings' use of ASL is an important part of the plot.

The novel is written in first person POV from Derry's perspective. While I was reading, I really felt like I had a direct line into Derry's thoughts, but it wasn't overwhelming. For the most part, first person isn't my cup of tea, but this was done well.

I enjoyed this one! It's perfect for a YA reader who likes stories with magic that are heavily focused on girls. There isn't a romance here, but there is a lot of platonic love between the siblings. It's dark, and there's some scenes that could be considered horror-adjacent, but nothing overly scary. I will definitely be recommending this to people.

A Dark and Starless Forest is a witchy story focused on Derry and her eight siblings. They’re all living in a secluded house by the lake with only Frank as their guardian. One day, one of her siblings goes missing in the forest and it’s up to Derry to piece together what is going on. As truths come to light, we learn not everything is what it seems.

One of my favorite aspects of this story was the strong familial bond. Although, they all come from different backgrounds, their love for one another was impenetrable.
I was also really fond of how much diversity was in this. We have representation for different races, sexualities, genders, body types, and mental health struggles. There was also a character who mostly communicated through the use of sign language, which I know we don’t get often.

The reason I couldn’t give this story a higher rating was because it dragged a bit too much for my enjoyment. Adding to that, I feel we didn’t really get to know any characters throughly, it was all surface level. I wish we could’ve learned more about them individually and saw more of their magical abilities.

All in all, I appreciate this take on a witchy ‘sisterhood’ story. It wasn’t a new favorite, but I am interested to see what the author does next.

*thank you NetGalley for the ARC and all opinions are my own*

This book had me on my toes the whole time. I could not, at any point, predict what would happen. I was hooked into this story immediately and stayed up late in the night to finish it.
I found myself relating to Derry’s character in so many ways. She is plus size , cares about her sisters, but is inherently suspicious of things. I loved reading about her relationship with the siblings and their magic. I loved the entire idea of a magical foster home and this book did not disappoint.
The world building in this book was simple and easy to understand which helped focus the plot very well. The writing style flowed so well in this story that I found myself , as Derry would say, “entrenched” in this magical mystery.

"A Dark and Starless Night" made me so happy for so many reasons. First, we have a beautiful fat protagonist on the cover, looking witchy and wonderful. Then, her fat is mentioned casually as a descriptor (AS IT SHOULD BE), and not as anything negative or "bad". THEN- we have a cast of family members who is perhaps the most diverse set of folks I have ever read about. But the ABSOLUTE BEST PART- is that none of this is written with any kind of heavy handed emphasis. Hallowell writes them as they ARE and crafts a world where acceptance is just like breathing. Trans characters, Deaf characters, Fat characters, Disabled characters, Black characters- these aspects are discussed, but they are not the PRIMARY PLOT. As a teacher and a reader, I cannot even begin to emphasize how beautiful it is to read something like that.

The story itself revolves around Derry and her siblings, all of whom exhibit different forms of magical powers. They live in a house surrounded by an ominous and forbidden forest. They are overseen and taught by a man named Frank (the sole man in the the story), who seems quite controlling, but argues its in order to protect those he oversees- from the forest, from outside people, from everything.

When Derry's siblings start to go missing, however, she breaks the rules and enters the forest in search of answers...and that's when it all starts to go down.

I adored this novel, and will be recommending it to my students and basically everyone else. While the ending feels slightly uneven at times- maybe a little rushed?- overall, this is a book I sort of want to become a series, that's how invested I was.

#YA #book #bookstagram #bookreview #bookreflection #magic #dark #horror #inclusive #trans #nonbinary #deaf #ADarkandStarlessForest #NetGalley

A Dark and Starless Forest was a whirlwind of mystery, magic, and darkness. The diverse characters, including a fat main character, was a joy to read, and I couldn't put this book down. Derry's constant struggle with the darkness she felt inside her was so refreshing to read, as I find many YA heroines to have that pure and good trope that has become tiresome. Not only was the plot thrilling, Derry's voice is a well needed one in the YA world.

I love the fat main character, the queer representation, and the interesting plot. I would recommend for ages 13/14 and up.

What an amazing work of magical realism! Derry and her siblings live in a house on the edge of a forest. Frank, their caretaker, tells them that people in the outside world hate witches (alchemists, conjurers, whatever term appears on the dictionary page) and that the lake house is the only safe place for them. Something deep in the forest beckoned to Derry and she finds herself face-to-face with Clare, a ghost (possibly or something else). Derry soon discovers that all Frank has been doing is using fear and manipulation to keep the siblings under his control. When one, then two, of the siblings goes missing, Derry follows the pull of the forest and discovers that the truth about herself, her life since she came to the lake house. and her beloved siblings has been carefully orchestrated by Frank to keep their powers to himself. Derry discovers the power within herself to do what she was born to do, protect her family. Such a powerful story of who we choose to be our family. The only downside of this amazing book is that I was left wanting more. I want to know about the time before and what will happen to Derry and her siblings.

The story follows Derry has she tries to find out what's happened to here sisters and why they are disappearing into the forest.
I loved this book, beautiful cover, complex characters, the villain you love to hate, mystery, magic! LQBTQ+ characters, a fat woman as the main character in a story that doesn't revolve around her weight or how insecure she is about her body, because she's not, she perfectly content to exist at the size she does and I just love it so much.
Aside from all that, I could not put this book down as the story was gripping in a way every mystery should be. I needed to keep reading to find out what was happing and when I finally got to the reveal, it wasn't disappointing or anti-climatic, it was worth it. The ending was satisfying, there is still more I want to know and I hope there will be another book but there also doesn't need to be.
I really enjoyed it from Derry's perspective but I think it would have been interesting to also see the story play out from some of the other sisters POVs, Maybe even Franks or the forests at certain points, even just for a sentence or two.

I would recommend reading this book and I hope other people enjoy it as much as I did. I think if you have ever had someone in your life that made you feel powerless and small, then you will.

While applying for an ARC of this book on NetGalley, I was curious and intrigued by the description. When I discovered I was approved, I was so excited and couldn't wait to dig in, and I did just that! Boy, did I sink my teeth into this book! I found it so hard to put down and when it couldn't be avoided, I was counting down the minutes and thinking of it as I was anxiously anticipating my return to it's pages. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of the magic element in this book. It was explanatory enough to not leave too many questions yet vague enough to leave an air of mystery and not overtake the whole story. I feel like the focus of this narrative is not so much the magic but the hurdles that these siblings have to overcome. and the bonding that ensues. This book could be triggering for those who have suffered from abuse, depression, anxiety, etc. however it also provides insight to those who have not been through these hardships. Parts of the story are disturbing and have you counting your blessings. Others have you grinning from ear to ear with an "Atta Girl". I delighted in watching our main character, Derry, flourish and grow into her maturity, strength, resilience, and powers! She was such a relatable character that I think most people will be able to connect with and fall for. I also loved how diverse and inclusive this book was! It included and embraced different ethnicities, body types, genders, sexualities and handicaps seamlessly without it coming off obligatory. This was a truly harrowing tale that invoked a myriad of emotions but left me feeling satiated and better for having read it.

This book is pure magic--tender, angry, hopeful, mysterious--with a story so engrossing it's difficult not to consume it one sitting. Readers will happily journey alongside protagonist Derry and will love her siblings are dearly as she does. Highly recommended to any fan of fantasy, especially if they like to be scared.

This book was super spooky but really interesting! I was never bored throughout the entire book and I could not wait to see what happens next. The author did an awesome job at the suspense in the story which made it really good. I will be purchasing this book for my library.