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tshepiso 's review for:
Into the Heartless Wood
by Joanna Ruth Meyer
adventurous
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Joanna Ruth Meyer is quickly becoming a favourite YA fantasy author. Between her 2018 release Echo North and now Into the Heartless Wood her specific brand of soft, moody fairytales is exactly my style.
Into the Heartless Wood follows Owen the son of an astronomer who lives dangerously close to The Gwydden’s Wood. The Wood is inhabited by monstrous tree sirens that call to humans and capture their souls. As the years have passed The Wood has encroached further and further into the country. On a fateful train ride, Owen is attacked by a tree siren and miraculously escapes. From there he develops a connection to the enchanted forest and one of the sirens that live within it.
Into the Heartless Wood can be described as a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast-inspired tale and it was fascinating to see those well-worn dynamics recontextualized by a male protagonist. There was something unique in seeing a man come to love a woman deemed monstrous. The weight of that framing forced me to interrogate the gendered expectations of these kinds of stories and made for a refreshing type of fairytale.
Outside of the novelty of his role as a male ‘Beauty’, Owen was a well-written protagonist. I’m a sucker for kind, empathetic characters and Owen fits that to a T. He especially endeared me with his fierce love for his father and little sister Awela. There was a softness to him that I always appreciate in male characters and his passion for astronomy and music made him an engaging perspective to flow throughout the story.
The romance at the heart of this book was delightful. Owen and Seren’s romance was the exact kind of ethereal and delicate love adore in fairytales. Joanna Ruth Meyer captured a tender emotional intensity in their love that made my heart sing. Conflict was perfectly woven into their relationship. The external forces keeping them apart made their romance feel urgent but their interpersonal struggles never felt like overwrought or contrived angst. Overall the emphasis on the mutual understanding and adoration these two had for each other made reading about them transcendent.
Joanna Ruth Meyer’s moody and atmospheric writing elevated what could have been a stock standard magical forest into something unique and distinct. Meyer’s descriptions of The Gwydden’s Wood as something alive and filled in equal parts with a terror and beauty stood out. The vivid descriptions of the earth, trees and electrifying air stayed with me for weeks after finishing the book.
Joanna Ruth Meyer has solidified herself as a favourite author. Her take on fairytales is stunning and her novels are always a treat. I’m definitely planning on reading anything she comes out with next.
Into the Heartless Wood follows Owen the son of an astronomer who lives dangerously close to The Gwydden’s Wood. The Wood is inhabited by monstrous tree sirens that call to humans and capture their souls. As the years have passed The Wood has encroached further and further into the country. On a fateful train ride, Owen is attacked by a tree siren and miraculously escapes. From there he develops a connection to the enchanted forest and one of the sirens that live within it.
Into the Heartless Wood can be described as a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast-inspired tale and it was fascinating to see those well-worn dynamics recontextualized by a male protagonist. There was something unique in seeing a man come to love a woman deemed monstrous. The weight of that framing forced me to interrogate the gendered expectations of these kinds of stories and made for a refreshing type of fairytale.
Outside of the novelty of his role as a male ‘Beauty’, Owen was a well-written protagonist. I’m a sucker for kind, empathetic characters and Owen fits that to a T. He especially endeared me with his fierce love for his father and little sister Awela. There was a softness to him that I always appreciate in male characters and his passion for astronomy and music made him an engaging perspective to flow throughout the story.
The romance at the heart of this book was delightful. Owen and Seren’s romance was the exact kind of ethereal and delicate love adore in fairytales. Joanna Ruth Meyer captured a tender emotional intensity in their love that made my heart sing. Conflict was perfectly woven into their relationship. The external forces keeping them apart made their romance feel urgent but their interpersonal struggles never felt like overwrought or contrived angst. Overall the emphasis on the mutual understanding and adoration these two had for each other made reading about them transcendent.
Joanna Ruth Meyer’s moody and atmospheric writing elevated what could have been a stock standard magical forest into something unique and distinct. Meyer’s descriptions of The Gwydden’s Wood as something alive and filled in equal parts with a terror and beauty stood out. The vivid descriptions of the earth, trees and electrifying air stayed with me for weeks after finishing the book.
Joanna Ruth Meyer has solidified herself as a favourite author. Her take on fairytales is stunning and her novels are always a treat. I’m definitely planning on reading anything she comes out with next.