Ronel Janse van Vuuren's Reviews > The Darkest Part of the Forest

Hazel and her brother Ben live in a small town next to a forest where the Folk live – and their town regularly gets visits from the Folk, so everyone knows to leave out milk and to wear protective charms. And if tourists get snatched by the Folk? Well, then they were acting stupid.

Until the boy in the glass casket is awoken and even more terrible things start to happen – to the townsfolk too.

Hazel believes that it is her duty to protect the town and destroy the monster in the heart of the forest – she’d been pretending to be a knight, hunting evil Folk, since she was a little girl. But now everything has changed. Still, she remains steadfast and brave. She saves everyone she can. She goes wherever she needs to for the answers to her burning questions. And she does everything possible to save everyone – even at great personal cost.

Hazel is a great character. She knows what she wants, she has flaws, she has secrets, she’s brave, she’s strong, she doesn’t need others to make her whole.

This is a great book, full of action, adventure, twists, folklore and even a bit of romance.

I recommend this to everyone who loves dark fantasy, folklore and young adult novels.