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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
Forest of Dreams and Whispers by Katherine Macdonald
4.0
There is always one very easy way to get my attention: With a fairytale retelling! When I saw this retelling on BookSprout I didn't know how fast to press the request button. Sleeping Beauty is a lovely fairytale, but it's hard to retell the tale AND keep it interesting. So, when I noticed that this was gonna be a genderbend retelling of this famous tale mixed with the rich world and lore of the fae I hoped it was gonna be good!
And good it was. All the ingredients of the original tale are there. We have someone evil cursing an innocent little baby, we have a 100-year old sleeping curse planning to hurt the entire kingdom on a birthday, we have the promise that a kiss can break the spell, we have plants going out of control and we have of course a very fierce knight, excellent at wielding a sword and slaying monsters, at the ready to prevent the curse from happening.
But even though all those elements are present and even though therefore the backbone of the fairytale is very much part of this story, there is SO MUCH MORE. In the first place there is a great romance. The book takes a lot of time to show us how that love grew, how it started, how it developed, at what point the characters get feelings for each other and what they see in each other. It's therefore easy to say that there is no doubt about whether or not this is true love.
Secondly there is this rich and amazing world, filled with magic and possibilities. Our sleeping prince is therefore not entirely incapacitated and there is always a lot going on, apart from the romance and curse itself. So, even though this is quite a big book, I was captivated from start to finish, curious what would happen, what the eventual solution was gonna be and how our heroes would find their happily ever after. And after this tale? I really want to read the other fairytales we saw small glimpses of!
And good it was. All the ingredients of the original tale are there. We have someone evil cursing an innocent little baby, we have a 100-year old sleeping curse planning to hurt the entire kingdom on a birthday, we have the promise that a kiss can break the spell, we have plants going out of control and we have of course a very fierce knight, excellent at wielding a sword and slaying monsters, at the ready to prevent the curse from happening.
But even though all those elements are present and even though therefore the backbone of the fairytale is very much part of this story, there is SO MUCH MORE. In the first place there is a great romance. The book takes a lot of time to show us how that love grew, how it started, how it developed, at what point the characters get feelings for each other and what they see in each other. It's therefore easy to say that there is no doubt about whether or not this is true love.
Secondly there is this rich and amazing world, filled with magic and possibilities. Our sleeping prince is therefore not entirely incapacitated and there is always a lot going on, apart from the romance and curse itself. So, even though this is quite a big book, I was captivated from start to finish, curious what would happen, what the eventual solution was gonna be and how our heroes would find their happily ever after. And after this tale? I really want to read the other fairytales we saw small glimpses of!