This book sounded a little spooky and a little romantic. And so of course I had to give it a try. The author was new to me, so I was a little unsure. But I decided to buy this book anyway. Hoping that I would love it. But I did not. Sigh. It may not be so easy to write my review, as I have decided to give this two stars. I'm disappointed.
I truly thought that I would like this book more. I did enjoy parts of it, sure. But I was also annoyed for most of the book. And I did not connect with the writing like I wished. I also very much did not like the main girl, Clara. I tried to love her, truly. But she was not at all making it easy for me. And then it was not a scary book. So rude.
There is so much for me to share about this book. I will probably want to share too much about it, haha. So going to try not to write it all down. This book is told from the point of view of Clara. She is seventeen years old. Clara lives in a village with her grandmother. Her mother went missing in the forest three years before, and her father died at that time too. She lives in a village that is cursed. It is now forbidden to enter the Forest Grimm; the forest will not let anyone in. Unless they are to become Lost. Which was weird, to be honest, the way they talked about the Lost. Anyway. The village was not always cursed. For about a hundred years or so, they were lucky. They had this book where anyone above sixteen could make their one wish that would come true. If shared, the wish was reversed. And then someone wished with murder.
And now they are all cursed. Which is what this book is about. Clara's mother went into the forest after they were cursed. She never returned. Many others did too, during those three years. Over fifty people gone. They all want them back again. But it is not possible to enter the forest to look for them. Clara just want her mother back. She is certain she is still alive. Clara has had her grandmother read her future in cards since she was little. She is fated to die in the forest. Yet all she wants to do is to save her mother.
I wish I could say that this plot line was exciting and heroic and whatever. But I did not find it to be. I really truly wanted to love this book. But I did not. Sigh. It sounded like it would have a great, sort of forbidden, romance. What it started as was a boy who had lost the love he was supposed to marry on their wedding day to the forest. Yeah. And that was the romance. Clara and Axel. And then they were off to the forest to search for her mother and his lost love. Yeah. Not the type of romance I was expecting or wanting at all.
So yes. I was disappointed. Clara obviously loves him. And he obviously cares for her as well. They have some moments. They have been friends for years, in this small village. But never more. And I would have loved this. If it were not for the mentions of his lost girlfriend. Yeah. Big no for me. Ugh. I guess they were not meant to be, him and his past. But that takes forever to be known. So yes. The romance was not at all for me and it just made me very angry. Sigh. It was impossible for me to ship them together, sadly. I tried.
But anyway. This book was not only about the romance. Clara found a secret way of entering the forest without being thrown out of it again, like everyone before her. She took Axel with her. So they could look for the Lost people and break the curse. I would have liked this. They had a great moment their first night there in the forest. But then suddenly Clara's best friend had followed behind them, Henni. And she was there at all times too. I did like her. But I was not expecting it, and it ruined the romance even more. Ugh.
I did try to like the friendship between Clara and Henni. As it was good at first. But then Henni got angry when she found out Axel cared for her. Since she was the younger sister of his lost girlfriend. Yeah. Some drama. I did not care for it at all. Ugh. Anyway. Already sharing too much about this book. And yet nothing about the plot, haha. I'm honestly not sure what to say. There were a few fairy tale characters thrown into the story. And they all sucked, I'm sorry to say. It was supposed to be scary. It was not. At all. I wanted it.
Where was the dark and deadly twists the summary promised? On the very last pages. And that was not very good either, ha. So yes. I was disappointed in that too. Oops. I just. I wanted more from this. More danger, more romance. More exciting things. But I did enjoy parts of it too, I think. The forest was kind of interesting. I liked the wolf, for a moment at least. Did not at all like the writing. Sigh. Clara has a crooked spine, which I liked. I did not like how it kept being written the same all the time, as a bad reminder. Ugh.
There were a few other things that bothered me as well. At one point all of them were stuck in a small cage for over three days. Not one mention of any of them having to pee. The cage was not opened. So, yeah. Bad writing. There was even a ghost in this story. It made no sense at all. I tried to enjoy the fairy tales. But they were just weird to me. And not scary either. There is sort of an ending to this book. But also not. There will obviously be a second one. I'm not sure if I would read it, though. This was not good.
Anyway. I had really hoped to love The Forest Grimm. And I very much did not. But I am still glad that I gave this book a try. And the Fairyloot edition of it that I have is beyond stunning. Just wish the book had been too, haha. Might just be a me issue, though. So you should give it a try too. I have written way too much about this book now. Yet I feel like my review is a little bit of a mess, as I had too many thoughts to share. Mostly this book just annoyed me. But it was easy and fast to read, which I was happy about, ha.
