No exaggeration, this is one of the most gorgeously haunting books I've read in my life. Eowyn Ivey is SO good at combining a her signature fairytale cadence with the harsh realities of the Alaskan wilderness, creating a landscape (and characters) who are beautiful, brutal, and oh-so-evocative. This broke my heart and crawled under my skin and instantly transported me north whenever I sat down to open another chapter--

I devoured this story.

(Special shout-out to how convincingly Ivey writes from a child's perspective? Emaleen's chapters were my favourite. Time really is a circle.)

Wow, a difficult book to review. I felt up and down about this one. I was a huge fan of The Snow Child. Ivey's writing is absolutely beautiful. I just had a little more trouble suspending belief with Black Woods, Blue Sky. It is a very intriguing story, and once again the setting really draws you in. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I am shamed to say that I have not read a book by Eowyn Ivey before receiving the ARC version of Black Woods, Blue Sky. I have owned The Snow Child for many years but have failed to open it.

With that, I went into this book with no knowledge of the author or what to expect. My best description is a retelling of beauty and the beast with an unsatisfied ending. I appreciate that the book was written from different point of views. Each character, who was able to tell their story, had a very well developed sections. I often feel when a book has different POVs, there tends to be weak characters - this was not the case with Black Woods, Blue Sky.

Without spoilers, Part 3 was my favorite section of the book. It did end with leaving me with questions and not understanding the last line!

Thank you for an advanced readers copy of this book! I look forward to reading more by Eowyn Ivey.

I'll say it off the bat: I may harbor a slight bias, because I love Eowyn Ivey's books. The Snow Child—an impromptu read based off of the pretty cover—turned into one of my all-time favorite books years ago, and so when I heard she was at long last releasing another one returning to the familiar backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness, I instantly tried to get my hands on a copy. You can imagine my excitement when the e-ARC arrived in my inbox.

There's something so haunting about this book. In part a Beauty and the Beast retelling, in other parts hinting at Frankenstein or of Mice and Men, in a fairytale style it depicts the contrast between the capacity for humans to be wild and destructive, but also protective and loving.

At its core, it's a simple story. It follows two characters: Birdie, nicknamed after her constant search for freedom and peace from her rough childhood, and Emaleen, her five-year-old daughter who has a relatively isolated childhood and bears the brunt of her mother's bad decisions.

And then there's Arthur. A recluse who, despite his mysterious past, is simultaneously capable of great love and great cruelty.

In a similar style to The Snow Child, it's set in the Alaskan wilderness, where isolation poses a threat to all three central characters. And while it's not classified as horror, some scenes will stick in your head because of just how vivid and real they feel. I could feel everything—from Emaleen's desperation and fears of her mom leaving her, to Birdie's warring desires for a new life but also loyalty to her daughter, to Emaleen's fears that her younger self tried to cover dark truths about her childhood with imagination. With every step these characters took, and the impossible choices they faced, I hurt with them and hoped they would get their happy endings. Somehow.

Speaking of the ending, it was close to perfect. Ivey excels at these endings—the ones that walk the thin line between being tragic and hopeless and being hopeful and resonant. Despite how dark this story turned out to be, the ending was more uplifting than I expected.

This is a beautiful story. Read it in winter, in the dead of night, with the light of a candle, preferably with hot chocolate with little marshmallows. Or chamomile tea with honey. Iykyk.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Such a unique, beautiful story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

Black Woods, Blue Sky is the long awaited fantasy novel by Eowyn Ivey. Like The Snow Child, the setting is the Alaskan Wilderness. There are three main characters, Arthur, Birdie and her young daughter Emaleen. I loved all three.
There is something very odd about Arthur but Birdie and Emaleen form a strong attachment and that begins the story that kept me riveted to the very end. Eowyn Ivey has once again created a wonderful story.

Really enjoyed this. The first two parts are just about perfect -- tense, evocative, beautifully written, and very compelling. However, I struggled quite a bit with the third part, which is really an epilogue, and which to my mind very nearly destroyed the success of the first two. I understand Ivey's aim in including it, and I think some readers will be moved by its efforts to resolve and conclude the emotional complexities of the main storyline, but for me it was a heavy-handed clunk at the end of an otherwise subtle, spare, and resonant novel. I won't say much more -- don't want to spoil anything -- but I really wish it hadn't been there at all, or had been many many pages shorter. It's hard to feel moved by an x-years-later rehash of something you read as a scene not 100 pages prior. But there's really nothing else to critique here, in my view. Ivey will always be a must-read writer for me, and the the imperfections of Black Woods, Blue Sky's structure are more than made up for by the superlative qualities of her prose and narrative imagination.

Thank you for the review copy. This book was sad to me but I enjoyed reading it. I liked the magical realism.

Melancholy and intimate, Black Woods, Blue Sky is a tale that will linger in my mind for years to come.

Readers follow Birdie, a single mother trying her best to raise young daughter Emaleen. Birdie feels a visceral connection with the land and longs for a simple paired down existence. When the mysterious Arthur enters into their lives, Birdie is given the opportunity to leave the mundane behind and her and Emaleen embark on a unforgettable journey into the Alaskan wilderness with the ever stoic Arthur.

I have never in my life wanted a happily ever after for characters as much as I did here! Not only are the three MC's brilliantly written but the supporting cast of characters are depicted so evocatively that it's impossible to not feel a kinship with them. They are each flawed and nuanced in a way that introspective readers will empathize with. The story itself is a somewhat quit tale but the moments of happiness and beauty are tangible. The "mystery" is one that is easily spotted but I was mystified with how each character chose to embrace the truth of it all.

Folks who demand shiny happy endings might balk at the ending but I found it to be just perfect!

Thank you to Random House for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book that will give you a hangover. I found myself absolutely captivated by the story, the scenery, the characters and finished in tears.

The story follows Birdie, a young single mother struggling to raise her daughter, Emaleen. Abandoned by her own mother, Birdie struggles emotionally and longs for a freedom from her hard life and motherhood that she doesn't understand. A quiet recluse, Arthur, enters her life and gives Birdie the opportunity to explore that freedom. Birdie ends up finding that it leads her back to Arthur and Emaleen - to love and acceptance.

The reader also gets a very intimate glimpse of the young child Emaleen while she explores her world, finds her independence, and quietly fears being abandoned by her own mother.

Black Woods, Blue Sky is so much more than a spin on Beauty and the Beast. Their isn't a fairytale ending, and the only fantasy world that the characters live in is the one of their own making. Do not expect a sweeping love story, but a beautifully written story full of strong characters, intense imagery, and powerful symbolism throughout. This is a powerful story of human nature, what draws us to love, to feel lonely, the wild, and the call to be free.

Thank you to Random House for the opportunity to read this book. This is one that will stay with me for quite a while.

Another beautifully written, unique, and powerful winter read by Eowyn Ivey! I’d recommend sitting down with it curled up in a comfy chair by the fire with a mug of hot cocoa (and maybe a peanut butter and honey sandwich)!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was eagerly awaited and I was so excited to receive an ARC. The novel was amazing. I couldn't stop reading. Very beautiful descriptions of the natural surroundings, just like Ivey's past novels. It was extremely sad in parts, but not every beautiful novel has to have a happy ending. Highly recommend.