Synopsis:
Rin is sure that something is wrong with her...something really bad. Something that is keeping her from feeling at home in the Forest homestead where she's lived all her life. Something that is keeping her from trusting herself with anyone at all. When her brother Razo returns from the city for a visit, she accompanies him to the palace, hoping that she can find peace away from home. But war has come to Bayern again, and Rin is compelled to join the queen and her closest allies--magical girls Rin thinks of as the Fire Sisters--as they venture into the Forest toward Kel, the land where someone seems to want them all dead. Many beloved Bayern characters reappear in this story, but it is Rin's own journey of discovering how to balance the good and the bad in herself that drives this compelling adventure.
Excerpt:
She tried to throw herself in the soothing thoughts of the tree and seize its peace, but she could not forget Wilem. What had she said? She did not want to remember. The harder she worked to shut that out, the more twisted and dark her feelings. Had she simply outgrown her connection to trees? Or was it possible the trees were shunning her for what she'd done? After making Nordra cry, her mother had thought Rin bad and turned her back. After kissing Wilem, it seemed the trees did the same.
Rin ran to another tree, leaned against it to listen, and was accosted by a greasy darkness. She fled to the aspens, and in place of green calm, she felt clutched and pulled down. She sat on the Forest floor with her arms over her head, too lost and confused to cry. If the voice of the Forest was simply silent to her, then she should feel nothing at all, not this loathing as if all the trees in the Forest spat hate and disgust at her. Her stomach turned, her head felt hot, her arms too weak to lift. She wished she could die.
My Thoughts:
Shannon Hale does it again. I have been entranced with her talent since The Goose Girl and she did not disappoint with Forest Born. Once I was into the book, I could NOT put it down. I just wanted to continue.
Rin has to be my favorite character out of the four fire sisters. I think because I see myself very much like Rin--trying to be the shadow, trying so hard to not be seen. I loved that.
I loved the return of Selia. How perfect to end the series with the same villain as the first book. It was an opportunity to observe the change in Isi as years have passed for her as well. She truly has did become the stronger woman.
There was definitely an essence of girl power that didn't seem as defined in the other books in the series. In the other books, the men were just as important to the climatic reveal as the women--it was a partnership. This book felt as though it was all about the women. Which was fine, except it didn't seem to fit the male characters as they had previously been introduced. No matter. It was still well worth the read.
My Recommendation: Purchase
Rating: 4/5 stars
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