A Dark and Starless Forest

De: Sarah Hollowell

Narrado por: Tara Sands

When her siblings start to go missing, a girl must confront the dark thing that lives in the forest - and the growing darkness in herself - in this debut YA contemporary fantasy for fans of Wilder Girls.

Derry and her eight siblings live in an isolated house by the lake, separated from the rest of the world by an eerie and menacing forest. Frank, the man who raised them after their families abandoned them, says it’s for their own good. After all, the world isn’t safe for people with magic. And Derry feels safe - most of the time.

Until the night her eldest sister disappears. Jane and Derry swore to each other that they’d never go into the forest, not after their last trip ended in blood, but Derry is sure she saw Jane walk into the trees. When another sibling goes missing and Frank’s true colors start to show, feeling safe is no longer an option. Derry will risk anything to protect the family she has left. Even if that means returning to the forest that has started calling to Derry in her missing siblings’ voices.

As Derry spends more time amidst the trees, her magic grows more powerful...and so does the darkness inside her, the viciousness she wants to pretend doesn’t exist. But saving her siblings from the forest and from Frank might mean embracing the darkness. And that just might be the most dangerous thing of all.

©2021 Sarah Hollowell (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Bewitching

A fantastical tale of magic and trauma with fat liberation ideology that is so refreshing!

KICK BUTT QUEER KIDS FIGHT BACK

Great story with magic woven into a world that's contained but just as alive as the cast of magical siblings. Some moments gripped me so hard I forgot to breathe. Derry's growth in this story is phenomenal and I love her.

Wonderful read!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. The story was great, the characters were diverse without that being the focus of the story, and the magical aspects kept me engaged. I found myself wanting to skip ahead to find out what was going to happen. The performance of the audiobook is also wonderful!

No apologies for abusers.

This is a dark story, but a powerful one. And it was so refreshing to read a narrative that rejects the idea that sympathy for abusers is the true path to safey, freedom, or healing.

Couldn't stop listening!

Like I took the day off work today and listened all day just so I could finish it - it was that compelling! I loved the characters and the writing and the pictures it painted. Also the different styles of magic were fascinating to me and felt unique and original. If I had a paper book on this one I definitely would have read it in one sitting because I needed to know what happened next!

Couldn’t put it down

The perfect witchy Halloween read, scary and addictive. I love all the kids so much.

Great story with some trigger warnings

Trigger warning:
Violence towards children
Abandonment

The story is well written. I appreciate that this story has a lot of representation from positive body image, non binary, and using ASL to communicate.