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#BookReview: Sorrow’s Forest by Kaitlin Corvus @KaitlinCorvus

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Hi everyone! Today, I have a book review for an author I first discovered back in March this year. I enjoyed her book so much, I jumped at the chance of a free ARC copy from the writer: Kaitlin Corvus >>>

Book cover for Sorrow's Forest by Kaitlin Corvus ... dark tree in shape of black heart. Menacing feelAbout the Book:

At twelve years old, Mackie King had done something no one had ever done before: he had snuck into the forest, where Queen Sorrow reigned and had unintentionally stolen one of her devils while she slept in a death-like sleep.

In as little as an hour, the devil named himself Blue, fit almost seamlessly into the Kings’ life, and the Township of Lakeview.

Now, Mackie and Blue are grown, Queen Sorrow has awakened, and she wants her devil back.

In a fit of uncontrolled rage and desperateness, she snatches any that match Blue’s likeness. When their identities are revealed, she ruthlessly casts the bodies aside. Each murder is met with the town’s hopeless ignorance. A dark enchantment is sweeping over the land, dulling the minds of the townspeople to the supernatural violence.

Mackie has always been resourceful, but it will take every bit of ingenuity he and Blue have to thwart Queen Sorrow and her minions, save the town, and free themselves from the shadow of the bittering forest.

My Review:

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Many thanks to the author for a free ARC of this book.

A fun, dark urban fantasy

“Life is full of hard truths and soft lies.” … from this intriguing opening line, the reader is propelled straight into the weird world of Lakeview and Sorrow’s Forest. Magic and mayhem abound in this wonderful urban fantasy, as does an all-pervasive evil, which leaks out of the forest and claims victims on a regular basis. Nobody in Lakeview ever discusses such things or questions. As the book progresses, the reasons for this become apparent. And the forest residents are not above using a bit of glamour here and there.

On a dare, Mackie enters the forest as a teen. His mates all run. In the forest, he comes across Blue and takes him home. At the door, he expects his mother to ask who his new friend is, but she blinks and responds as though he’s always lived with them. From there, we jump three years without any warning, and it’s left to the reader to work this out as the next chapter unfolds.

The narrative contains violence and bullying, as well as smoking and drinking, and graphic male/male sex scenes. I connected with the two main characters, and the supporting cast did a good job too. The world building was done well, and I found it easy to believe in it. The plot and pacing also felt good, and this read kept my attention throughout. Some of the narrative is passive and too full of filter words such as, ‘he wonders if’ and ‘he can hear’ and ‘start’ and ‘just’ etc. At the same time, the author has written some fantastic lines, which I share below …

‘The dark has never scared him. What lies in it does.’

And …

‘His legs feel half-numb. He uses the half that’s not to run.’

And …

‘Suddenly, she’s a paper bag left too long in a storm, sagging, and threatening to fall apart.’

The formatting is done beautifully, with varying images at the chapter starts. All in all, I enjoyed this read immensely. It gets 4 solid stars from me. I will be reading more of this author for certain.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

 

You can find my February review of Nighthawks HERE.

 

For anyone interested, here are the Amazon links …

UK … https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08R8XRTB2/

US … https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R8XRTB2/

 

28 Comments on “#BookReview: Sorrow’s Forest by Kaitlin Corvus @KaitlinCorvus”

  2. As always, a wonderful review that gives us the gist of a story with some great details. Not really my genre, but I always love your reviews. <3 xx

  5. I love the lines you chose to share from the book, Harmony. Very descriptive! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Sounds like another winner!

  8. Such an intriguing book cover & story idea. It’s such an interesting concept too! Thank you so much for sharing your review, Harmony.

  10. Thanks for the review, Harmony. The blurb intrigued me as well as the question as to why no one seemed particularly by disturbed the disappearances/murders. I’m not sure the book is for me, but it does sound like it has many strengths. Congrats to the author.

  11. Some great pull quotes in this one. The story sounds a little too graphic for my current tastes, but it sounds like a solid book for the right audience. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.