Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: Forestborn

Author: Elayne Audrey Becker

Year: 2021

Genre: YA fantasy fiction/super adventure/siblings 

Queer shit: gay characters in main circle, character in passing described as ‘androgenous’ and ‘they’ pronouns used (it was like 4 sentences and it mattered so it is here)

Vibe Check: Wow. just wow. This book is an amazing adventure and I now care too deeply for all the characters and need more people to read this book so I can talk through my feelings and cry with someone about it.

Pile of Opinions: This is book one, book 2 comes out this year (2022) maybe in the fall? The story is about a magical plague making people sick and a brother and a sister getting caught up in the king’s court trying to help solve the problem since no one really knows what the disease is or why it’s happening. The siblings are shape shifters but can’t shift into just anything, they each have a specific set of options that show up throughout their lives. I think this book has a really interesting way of acknowledging trauma in a fantasy context which I really appreciated. Trauma happens in like every fantasy book (‘like every’ is not a statistical measurement, merely an observation based on my own experience reading books) and is rarely talked about. I understand characters are usually in the middle of a whole situation and don’t really have time to stop and be like “wow, you just went through a lot and it may be impacting you, do you want to talk about it?” because they often still have stuff to get done before they are safe. This author did a really amazing job of describing characters’ reactions to traumatic experiences in a way that is honest and human (I know they are magical creatures but you know what I mean). Giving character reaction to trauma in a fantasy novel without interrupting the flow of the story or adventure does not sound like an easy task and I love how this author handled it. I found myself rationing out the pages of this book because I was enjoying it and didn’t want it to end. When I found out there was a part two I finished the book very quickly, taking comfort in the fact that my new friends will be back with more stories. I also love books about siblings who (mostly) get along because I also like my siblings and if we were sent on a quest we would absolutely get into arguments but we would also not have it any other way and we would make a great team. Please go read this so we can talk about it.