A review by sophiesmallhands
Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 The first thing I loved about this book was that the glossary was at the front of the book. This may seem like a bizarre thing to like but reading it before starting the story meant of lot of the heavy lifting had been accomplished in terms of trying to orient myself in this fantasy world – particularly the magic system which is based on Hmong shamanism. 
 
I did enjoy that romance wasn’t the main focus of this story. It focussed more on the strong friendship between Sirscha and Saengo and they’re journey to make sense of the events unfolding after Sirscha somehow brings Saengo back to life (not a spoiler! It’s in the blurb). A lot of the story also explores self-worth and how, in the beginning of the story, Sirscha ties her self-worth to what she has to offer to other people. Towards the end of the book, you start to see her take more value in herself for her own sake, rather in what she can offer for other people. 
 
My biggest issue with the book is that I felt rather detached from the plot and the characters. As much as I loved the focus on friendship, the one between Sirscha and Saengo didn’t feel overly fleshed out and Saengo’s character felt a little 2-D at times. This made a lot of the stakes in the story not as high as they should’ve because I just wasn’t very invested in these characters. 
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