Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters Series #1)

7:00 pm 24 July 2012
Daughter of the Forest - Juliet Marillier

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. So much about it I really liked, so much about it really disappointed me. Bear with me while I try to put my thoughts into some sort of understandable review.

 

Juliet Marillier is an amazing bard. She's not just an author, she's a bard of the old-fashioned sense of the word. I wasn't just reading a book, I was listening to an old legend brought to life. Her words were magical, and you're transported. My complaints about this book have absolutely nothing to do with her writing at all, more the path that her story took. The bottom line is, I didn't like how Sorcha's story ended.

 

I loved the first half of this book. I was addicted. I loved Simon, in particular. Simon and Finbar. When Simon disappeared I struggled because I loved the relationship between Sorcha and Simon, her patience and his struggle. I felt the love between them. I don't think that the story needed Red, because I would have been happier if Simon had come back from the fairy world holding that lock of hair and they had been reunited. It wasn't that I didn't like Red, I did like him. I just preferred the story that Simon and Sorcha had. For myself, either Simon shouldn't have had such an amazing connection with Sorcha, how about just friends? Or Red shouldn't have. Because one relationship was going to lag, and unfortunately for me it was Red's. And Finbar... so heart breaking, not that I didn't expect it. It was just so hard to love him so much and have his part of the story end so tragically.

(show spoiler)

 

If you are debating picking this book up, please note that my review is a matter of opinion regarding the arch of the story. Not Marillier writing, or the beauty of the story. In terms of how the story progression affected me personally, I want to give it 3 stars. I just can't do it because I know that this book is worth more.