Book Review: A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell

A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell
Length: 320 Pages
Genres: YA Fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

A special thanks to NetGalley and HMH Books for Young Readers for an ARC of this book!

Trigger Warnings for this book include Violence, Blood, Guns, Death, Mentions of Depression and Anxiety, and Abandonment

"The magic we perform doesn't have words. It is felt. It is the roots beneath our feet. It is the string connecting our fates to each other and to the rest of the world. It is the life-giving water, it is the power in ourselves."

There is one word to some up this book and it is...meh. The plot, characters, the writing, all of it was overwhelmingly okay when I was expecting WOW! My main draw to this book was that the protagonist is plus-sized and, being plus-size myself, I was so, so excited to see an explicitly plus-size/fat character get the spotlight, and to be something other than a skinny person's comic relief! Hollowell really delivered on that aspect -- Derry is fat and it has little to no impact on her plot and life which was a breath of fresh air.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into A Dark and Starless Forest. It seemed interesting enough, with nine magical sisters living in a secluded house and being raised by the mysterious and cruel Frank, a pseudo-father figure with teeth. Derry's magic is related to nature, so she has the ability to grow flowers and vines and connect with the earth in a powerful and sometimes frightening way. The other sisters tended to run together for me, and with only a few little descriptions of their looks, personalities and powers thrown in once or twice I was left feeling a little lost. The catalyst for A Dark and Starless Forest comes when one sister after another starts to disappear and the girls start to question Frank's motives. Meanwhile, the forest surrounding the house starts to call to Derry in familiar voices. It's only when she ventures inside that she starts to discover the dark truth.

I think this was a pretty run-of-the-mill YA fantasy. To be honest, I'm beginning to think YA and I just don't get along. I keep getting swept away by their shiny covers and amazing blurbs but 9 times out of ten I'm disappointed. If you'd be interested in a sort of girl-power X-Men retelling with a malevolent and powerless Professor X pulling the strings, then I think this would be the perfect book for you! I have no doubt there are many who'd enjoy this and I also recognize how amazing it is to have a kick-ass plus-size heroine front and center. Hopefully, Derry is the first in a long, long line.