The Treachery of Beautiful Things in Into the Forest

Mar 25, 2018 Jalilah rated it really liked it

Shelves: folk-fairy-tales, fae-faeries, into-the-forest-2018-challenge

This novel is steeped in the folk and fairy tales of the British Islands. On Goodreads I see this book shelved as romance and disagree. While there is a love story in it, the entire story does not revolve around it and the book should definitely not be shelved as a romance. I enjoyed this book quite a lot! It is most definitely geared more towards young adult readers, but is a fun read for adults who love traditional folk and fairy tales. Edited to add: Don't be deceived by the cover, as it is v ...more

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Apr 23, 2018 Margaret rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fairytale-myth-inspired

What The Treachery of Beautiful Things does really well is combine multiple retellings in a single narrative without it ever feeling clunky or too much. The central retelling is A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Titania and Oberon holding opposite courts in the forest. But then Green Man mythos is entwined, with the May Queen arriving in the protagonist Jenny, who's trying to find her brother. And a Jack of the Green guarding the Edge of the Wood, and becoming Jenny's guide. Then there's also Tam ...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Beka rated it liked it

I read this book way back in the summer, so some of my memories may be hazy. I'll try to give the overall impression I felt of this book. Please note that my opinions are merely that--opinions. To find out what YOU would think of it, I recommend you read it for yourself. Now, onwards...

First of all, the author has a flare for lyrical, descriptive prose. While reading, I felt Jenny's entrapment, felt the awe and wonder and terror of this creepy, beautiful world into which she had stumbled. The fo I read this book way back in the summer, so some of my memories may be hazy. I'll try to give the overall impression I felt of this book. Please note that my opinions are merely that--opinions. To find out what YOU would think of it, I recommend you read it for yourself. Now, onwards...

First of all, the author has a flare for lyrical, descriptive prose. While reading, I felt Jenny's entrapment, felt the awe and wonder and terror of this creepy, beautiful world into which she had stumbled. The forest is a character of itself, deceptive and treacherous. It was horrifying and enthralling!

Looking back, this book had a very "The Labyrinth"-esque feel to it, what with a girl having to save her brother from some sort of otherworldly creatures. I loved that aspect--it offered a mythical feel to the world. As well, the author draws on Celtic and, I believe, Norse mythology in order to create the background of the story. As someone not as well-read in these as I would like, I did not quite understand the importance of some of the characters. For instance, there was one scene with Jack and another character that I felt had layers to it, but because certain aspects weren't explained, it was very vague.

Perhaps that was my biggest issue: for all the dreamlike, gorgeous quality of it, the story was vague in that I could not quite connect to Jenny and Jack as "real people". There are not many characters in the story--there's Jenny, Jack, her brother, Puck, and then a lot of fairy creatures that do not get any development at all. Jack and Jenny are the main characters, and for most of the book, the plot revolves around their romance.

To me, this detracted from the more emotional plot line of a girl searching for her brother, a brother who has been missing for so many years.

As well, because the book did not have a lot of characters, I felt it could have been shorter. It was almost 400 pages long, but there was no wide range of characters to make those pages sparkle. So at places the plot dragged.

But, I believe this is the author's debut novel, and with such beautiful writing, I would definitely pick up another of her works! ...more

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