Elayne Audrey Becker's debut novel, Forestborn, is one of those rare fantasy books that you truly don't want to miss out on. Trust me!

Rora lives in a world where humans and magical beings both exist – though one could not claim that they coexist. Not peacefully, at any rate. Rora should know. She's a shifter, and she has long gotten used to the entire kingdom looking down upon her.

However, their disdain is not enough to discourage Rora from doing what is right. Even if that means going into the woods of her nightmares to find the cure for her terminal friend – and hopefully save the kingdom while she's at it.

"Fear is just a story waiting to be told. Learn the story and remember every part of it so you can tell me."

Forestborn is without a doubt one of the most enchanting novels I've read this year – and I've read a lot of them! Rora's story is powerful and emotional; it'll work hard to make the readers care about the characters and world.

I am still blown away by this book. I went into it, not sure what to expect, but hoping for at least a mildly entertaining evening. What I got was so much more! This world is fantastic, and I am so grateful that there will be another novel...though I do rather hate that we'll have to wait (so greedy of me, I know).

This is more than just a simple fantasy. Forestborn explores deep concepts such as selfishness versus selflessness, right versus wrong, and the origin of prejudice and fear. It's a powerful read, one that got me thoroughly invested in each character – even the few that I loved to hate.

What I find truly outstanding about Forestborn is that the book and world are LGBT+ inclusive. While there is very real prejudice in this series – it seems to be entirely aimed at the magical beings of the world, such as shifters.

As such, there are many layers to this novel. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes, especially as there is still so much to learn and explore. Personally, I'm especially looking forward to seeing how Rora's character develops in the next book. And admittedly, I'm looking forward to seeing how the politics of this world will be fleshed out – because I do not doubt that it is coming.

Forestborn is an incredibly lush and atmospheric YA debut. I could feel the dirt and mud beneath my feet and the magic of the land. Navigating The Vale is not a simple task. With its ever changing landscape and hybrid magical creatures roaming around, I felt like I was there with the gang. Rora and her brother Helos are shapeshifters who can take on the physical form of animals and humans! It was so incredibly done and eerie at times. I enjoyed Rora's character development, she's selfish to a fault but overall I loved how unapologetic and gritty she is. I loved her relationship with her brother but also with Prince Weslyn. Enemies to lovers and a hint of forbidden love between a human prince and shifter, I'm still not sure what the future holds for these two. The trio had me feeling supportive and angry at them at times.

The writing style is so lush and beautifully written, that alone captivated me but I did struggle with the slow to medium pacing which took me out of the world at times. This is book 1 in a duology and I definitely will be continuing. The stakes are high and I want to know how it all wraps up.

Thank you @torteen for gifting me an advanced copy!

Read if you like:
» lush & atmospheric writing
» shapeshifters
» sister/brother duo
» slow burn enemies to lovers
» land, nature magic
» political intrigue, secrets and plot twists
» ominous prophecy
» quest for a cure
» forest setting & animals
» Melissa Albert and Shea Ernshaw

DNF

The premise of the story really intrigued me but I just didn’t end up enjoying the writing or the pacing of the story. I just found it going by too slow and I wasn’t having a great time whenever I did pick it up.

If you’re looking for a young adult fantasy with interesting magic, shifters, royal princes and a dangerous quest, do check this one out! It wasn’t the book for me but it could be your next favourite!

See this review and more on my blog, The Scribe Owl!

Thank you to Tor Teen for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

Forestborn surprised me! I didn't think I would like it as much as I did, so that's a bonus, but the story was also different than I expected. It isn't dark, per se, but it is a little bit...gloomier than I expected. That said, I really did enjoy this read.

Forestborn served up some moral conflicts with the characters. There was a lot of talk about selfish vs. selfless and how it's not always a black and white concept. The characters themselves were great! Rora was an interesting character, to say the least, and Wes was adorable. Not quite sure what I think about Helos, but I'm sure we'll get some of that later.

The writing was fantastic. It set the tone of the story perfectly and had just the right amount of figurative language. The writing style is one thing that never really changes over time for an author, so this is definitely a good sign for this debut author!

The one element that really tripped me up was the pacing. For the first quarter or so, it was slow goings. I didn't really like the book yet, and I was barely getting through it. But then that second quarter was nonstop action. Stay-up-until-the-night-becomes-the-morning-to-read action. And then we went back to a lot of walking. It was just a little all over the place, but it's not unfixable for later books.

I'm still riding the weird wave of emotions from the end of the book, so please excuse the weird tone of this whole review! It really was a good book, and I can't wait to read the second!

Can't wait for the second book.

I had a couple different thoughts about how the book might have ended but I approve of the one given.

I am, after all, a very very dark soul.

The narrator was wonderful!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one - it was the perfect tonic for a bad reading slump, and I found myself rushing through it. I'm certainly excited to see where the rest of the series goes! For me, good world building is an absolute must for me to even remotely enjoy a fantasy novel, and the world building in this was excellent. Alongside excellent characters, thoughtful and beautiful writing, and an intriguing plot, it was a recipe for success!

I enjoyed this story. It has a bit of a slow start with a lot of descriptions and world building, but the whole journey trope and magic system were interesting. I felt like the characters could have used a bit more emotion/personality, because they often felt very subdued, especially the main character. What really dragged the rating down for me was that not much of importance actually happened. The whole book felt like a setup for something bigger.

At the very first beginning I was really excited about this story. The description sounded very interesting and a little different than various other YA Fantasy books I’ve read so far. I was interested in Rora’s past and how exactly she’s a shifter, but in the first few chapters I found the story just couldn’t drag me into it. It felt a little distant and slippery. Every time I told myself to just keep reading, the story seemed to slip away again. Mostly because of the information and a little because of the writing style. There were quite some passages where the main characters gave me more and more details about her past, about the past of her world and descriptions of the surroundings, the buildings and the forest. Some were pretty interesting, but as it continued it became a little too much. One of the main reasons the story didn’t stay interesting enough for me.
When Rora, her brother and the prince go on their quest, it stays a little the same. The pace increased a little, but I missed quite some dialogue. There are more thoughts, flashbacks and stories that Rora tells to the reader than that there’s actually some action going on. And even though the quest is one of the most important things in the story, it wasn’t exciting enough for me.
Eventually the dialogues increase a little and the secondary characters become more important. As a reader you get more information about each of them, but it sometimes felt a little forced. Like Rora ends up with one of them and they just have to talk to each other. Some quite interesting plot twists happen too, but it just didn’t way heavy enough for me to really lose myself in the story.

Forestborn is a story that, at times, feels steeped in fear. Afraid of her magic, Rora is faced with intolerance and fear. The hatred against her magical kind and how she has struggled to carve out home and relationships for herself. At times, scenes of the ignorance and doubts broke my heart. And you can't help but wonder if there's a way forward for Rora and her magical kind in the kingdom. An element that ended up being one of my favorite was the sibling relationship between Rora and her brother.

The ways she feels selfish compared to her brother, but the love and bond they have. It was so refreshing to see, because I feel like I rarely see brothers and sisters and more just sisters or brothers. Forestborn begins as a quest for Rora to face her fears and past for the ones she loves. But it ends up morphing into a story about doing the right thing. About wondering how, as individuals, we can make change. While the pacing was certainly slower than I expected, as the magical system and world needs to be set up, I ended up persevering because I liked the world.

Review posted on GoodReads (July , 2021)
Review linked.

4/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Tor Teen for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I haven’t read a lot of YA Fantasy books this year so far, and this one really helped me get out of my fantasy genre reading slump.

I think my favorite things about this book were the characters and the world building. I fell into this world immediately. It honestly felt like a world and story that would be really easily translatable to screen. I found the story so interesting and was immediately pulled in from the very first chapter.

I am really looking forward to seeing where this book series goes and look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

I recommend this to anyone who likes YA Fantasy with strong and interesting world building, magic, sibling family bonds, and a fun romance!

Thanks for reading!
Caden

This book was a relatively even paced fantasy story that has likeable characters and a believable villain. The main character, Rora, was relatable in that she was a flawed character who struggles with making the right decisions. I loved the relationship dynamic between Rora and her brother. they were there for each other, but still had moments of animosity like real family would normally have. The romance interest of the MC was a slow build but it was sweet once it finally came to be. I loved that the three main characters were on a quest to save a friend together through a magical land with perils around every corner. The world is a complex, but the way the author describes the land really brought it to life for me.

I did not quite feel a pull into the story until the final third ... it reads slower in the beginning like an epic fantasy would with world-building and descriptions. I do not mind this but it does make it harder for me to be sucked in. At about the final third of the story things seem to speed up and really keep you guessing. For me that is when the story really grabbed me leaving me wanting more more more. I am still left with so many questions. I loved how it was setup for a sequel and am so very anxious to see what happens next with this group.

I loved the worldbuilding in Forestborn, especially the different forest dwellers! In terms of characters, I really liked Rora and Weslyn’s relationship, and also Rora and Helos’s, and how both relationships changed with time and understanding. I also enjoyed the examination of what it means to be selfish and selfless. Forestborn is perfect for readers who love creative worldbuilding and dark elements.

I thought a book about shapeshifters would be really cool, but unfortunately I found this book to be really boring. Pages and pages pass and nothing much happens, and when something does happen it's resolved too easily. I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.

Forestborn is beyond inventive and beautiful.
I knew I would like this book from the moment I saw it, but after reading it, I was blown away! First of all, the worldbuilding is amazing. From rival kingdoms to magical forests, Becker makes her world both intricate and easy to follow, a must in standalone fantasy books. The forest is especially interesting, as are the animals and the way magic manifests there. There are entirely new takes on magic everywhere in this novel, especially in the main characters themselves!
Rora and her brother Helos are both main characters and shapeshifters. I loved how Elayne Audrey Becker used clear limits in their abilities to create impressive but not indestructible powers in these two. There was also so much symbolism in the forms the characters took and why, which I loved just as much.
Let’s talk more about the characters!!! Usually I’m a fan of side characters and not main characters, but this cast was entirely lovable. We have Rora, a shifter concerned she’s overly selfish but concerned for her friend, Helos, shifter and brother to Rora, and Weslyn, the love interest and older brother of Prince Finley. Finley especially is important because the others have to venture into magical danger to find a cure for the magic plague that he’s contracted which will kill him soon without a legendary cure. Every one of these characters is full of depth and emotion. I especially love the romances in this book, even though they’re absolutely the death of me now (WE DO HAVE ENEMIES TO LOVERS THOUGH).
Basically, Forestborn is a work of art. I’d recommend it to fans of Among the Beasts and Briars and maybe Onyx & Ivory too (haven’t read O&I in a while but from what I remember they’re somewhat similar). This is easily one of my favorite reads of 2021 and I’m so glad to have been able to read it!!!

Elayne Audrey Becker has a fan for life after this book. The world building, adventure and dash of romance kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The characters are well thought out and have deep backgrounds that will allow us as readers to see them grow throughout the series. Rora is an amazingly written character. Her past has left her haunted and her feelings of rejection by her mom, society and one of her travel partners, leaves her pretty messed up. While usually too many internal monologues drive me crazy, I think they're necessary for a character like Rora who isn't used to expressing her emotions to anyone but her brother, Helos. Helos is another broken character, but he shows it differently from Rora. I think his story is just beginning since we only get a hint at his feelings for Fen and only see him act as an older brother and protector. Helos has been protecting his sister for practically their entire lives and I'm excited to see them separate and gain some experiences of their own. Finally, Wes, the crown prince and the final person in the traveling party. He was complicated, closed off and often arrogant in the beginning of the book but we got to see him start to blossom through their experiences in the Vale. He had to learn to rely on two people he has held a lot of anger towards and that made him realize that he misunderstood them. He has the potential to be a truly extraordinary character and I can't wait to see him (and his relationship with Rora) progress through the series.
The plotline and world building of the story took me a bit to get into because it seemed like so much information to remember and understand. I will say that I'm so relieved I pushed through because once the story really gets going, it is exciting, action-packed and occasionally a tear jerker. The set up for the next book makes me think this series will only get better. I'm interested to see how all the pieces and breadcrumbs Becker left for us will start to come together. Though I wish there was a little more romance, I understand that it was nearly impossible with the fast paced, dangerous way they were living.
This book was fairly long, but I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down. If the rest of the series were out, I would be up all night finishing those too. I can't wait to see what happens next.

This book was wildly imaginative and I fully loved it. It was very entertaining and the main characters were so full of depth. Overall great book!

Rora is a shifter who lives among humans who distrust any kind of magic or supernatural ability. A spy for the king, Rora and her brother Helios were taken in by the royal family, and they have become particularly close with the youngest son, Finley. When Finley contracts a deadly disease that is running rampant through the kingdom, the king sends Rora to the magical wilderness she came from to obtain stardust, which should heal the sick. Helios and Finley’s older broth Weslyn accompany Rora on the quest. Throughout the story, the trio must learn how to trust each other, even though they are not close. Their complicated relationships are put to the test as they encounter ever-increasing danger and fight to save their kingdom and people.

I loved this story! The fantasy elements are unique and interesting, as is the world-building, and the author’s writing brings this world to life and creates an immersive and engrossing story. Though the plot has elements of the typical young adult quest story, it feels refreshingly unique. The animals, the magic, the terrain, and the other beings Rora, Wes, and Helios encounter are original, surprising, and unpredictable, which makes for an entertaining and suspenseful read.

Rora is a fascinating character and is a young woman who never quite feels like she fits in. She, and the rest of the characters, suffer through some very intense situations, including returning to the place where her father was brutally murdered. She shows such strength, intelligence, and bravery, and I love how capable she is even when she is afraid and everything seems hopeless. Rora is also vulnerable and insecure, and she doesn’t feel entirely comfortable in her own skin. I enjoyed all of the layers to her character and was totally invested in her story.

I also love the sibling relationship. Rora and Helios have their ups and downs, and they don’t always agree, but their love is unbreakable. They have been through so much together, and they are very committed to protecting each other and staying together. I love the messages about family and the bonds of love. These messages are also shown with the prince and his family. They are all so different, but there is nothing they won’t do for each other, and it is clear that there is a lot of love in his family.

There’s a ton of action, political intrigue, a deadly illness, a desperate search through dangerous wilds for a cure, and the uncovering of other shocking happenings during their journey. Loyalties are tested, and the characters have to make many difficult decisions that change the trajectory of their journey and their relationships. I found these aspects of the story really interesting.

There’s also a wonderful enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance that I very much enjoyed. Rora and her love interest appear to dislike each other, but miscommunication and misunderstandings are what led to their strained relationship. As the pair gets to know and understand each other better, they develop strong feelings for each other. However, their relationship is riddled with complications, and I’m curious to see how they handle them as the series progresses. Another relationship is hinted at, and I’m curious to learn more about them and what prompted their separation. Hopefully, we will see more of this pair and their relationship in the next book.

Forestborn is a great young adult fantasy, and I would definitely recommend it to readers who like YA quest stories with fantastic world-building and characters. Thanks so much to Tor Teen, Elayne Audrey Becker, and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

(I will add links closer to pub. date)

Forestborn is hands down going to be on my top reads of 2021 list. I will be shouting from the rooftops for everyone to pre-order this book and anxiously awaiting any and all announcements regarding the sequel to this incredible fantasy novel.

Becker has created a spectacular world filled with the most mystifying magic. The atmospheric writing style will transport readers directly into dazzling and dangerous landscapes alongside the characters as they traverse the unpredictable magical realm and face off against adversaries of all kinds. In this book, the land is a character in and of itself, which is a a concept that I am completely fascinated by, and Becker's impeccable execution makes this a huge home run. If you are a fan of land- or nature-based magic systems, you will fall in love with the Vale and all of the secrets it holds.

Next to the magic, my other favorite element of this book is the character development, particularly with Rora. In Rora, we are given an incredibly imperfect and realistic main character. Her fears and insecurities were things that I was easily able to identify and connect with. Throughout the story we get to see her wrestle with her past failures, the ways she has been hurt, and the negative lens through which she views herself. Parts of her story were difficult to read because they felt so real. She is strong and capable but also flawed and lacking a sense of self-worth. I love the journey we get with her in this book and I am really looking forward to seeing where book two will take her.

The pacing of this book is on the medium to slow side but not at all in a bad way. There is plenty of action and intrigue to keep the plot moving forward. I did feel at times that shorter chapter lengths might have helped the pacing a bit, but it was by no means a hinderance to the story. It was also sometimes difficult to keep track of how much time had elapsed since the start of the book so more indication on that front may have been useful as a reader.

If you're a fan of slow burn romance, this is the book for you. I was here for the tension that building excruciatingly slowly throughout the book, it was so well done and did not feel forced or fabricated at all. I loved how natural it was and how every change in Rora's thoughts or feelings made complete sense. I don't know if I'd fully consider this one "enemies to lovers" but it is probably as close as you can get without being true enemies. I also cannot wait to see where these relationships go in the second book. Basically, I need book two like yesterday.

I will definitely be ordering a copy of this to keep on my shelves and I hope you do as well. Forestborn is a book like none other I have read and it has completely captured my heart.

I thought the story was just okay for me. There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just didn't connect with the characters or the story as much as I wanted and so I didn't really care about what happened unfortunately. I liked the idea of Forestborn a lot and everything about the forest magic but in the end, it just wasn't for me.

A rich, detailed fantasy world with an epic journey through a magical (and terrifying forest). I felt compelled to keep reading, but certain details and parts of the story dragged a bit.

Lovers of high fantasy and immersive worlds will love this story.