I think parts of this one worked, and others really did not. The ending was just….eh. It didn’t fit what came before it. And I think that parts of the book most definitely dragged. But I liked this combination of “The Lottery” and “Harvest Home” that we got in this book.
“The Forest” follows a young woman named Faye. Faye and her family have lived in the village of Edgewood for generations it seems. Faye has struggled since the birth of her son, Jonas. And now that she and her husband Charlie are about to become the new town stewards (replacing Faye’s mother and father) she feels more apprehension. However, things get darker when Faye is told what the annual sacrifice to Edgewood is and decides if she is has what it takes to fight back.
I liked Faye. You get her apprehension of what Edgewood is and her desire to get beyond this place and out into the real world. I thought the other characters were not as developed though outside of Faye’s mother. You definitely get that character and all that is going on with her. But Charlie felt like a non-entity. But maybe he was supposed to? Blossom was interesting, as was Arrow and Faye’s father. We just didn’t get to spend much time with them as we should have due to the book setting.
The book setting moves to different time periods which are “Before the Forest” and then the “Present”. You get to see Faye at different points before the Autumn Equinox and then as it gets ever closer.
The ending though felt like a bit of a cheat to me. I wish Quigley had gone dark (a la Harvest Home/The Lottery) or at least explained things better. Because it just felt like a really confusing “Get out of jail free” card that came out of nowhere.
