Reviews with content warning for Blood - Forest of Souls

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

11 reviews

katerinovaaa's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

1st POV, 1 POV, long chapters

After years of training, Sirscha wants to be acknowledged for her hard work to prove to everyone (including herself) that she is worthy of becoming the Queen's Shadow. However, as she tries to beat her competitors, she starts to uncover her origins and realizes that her true journey leads through deadly forests and poisonous politics. Is she going to discover who stands behind the slow decay of the empire and the truth behind her power? Read and find out!

🕷️ high fantasy with glossary
🕷️ badass warrior FMC trained to be a royal spy
🕷️ different types and subtypes of magic – not everyone has powers
🕷️ beasts, spirits, and souls
🕷️ self-discovery, personal growth
🕷️ close friendships, bullies, cute friends, and snarky allies

The world-building is very complex, but I didn't get lost, and usually knew what was going on. There is a long glossary at the beginning, which helps a lot. I wish there were a map as well, though. I feel like there's gonna be loads more information in the sequels. 😮‍💨

I loved Sirscha and her determination and confidence. She is extremely skillful; however, I love that she got injured frequently and acknowledged the pain (even for a few days). It made it much more realistic without being annoying.
✨ Dual swords, knives, climbing walls, and merciless bone-breaking are definitely my cup of tea. ✨

❓Romance/spice:

❓Cliff-hanger:

Yes

Trigger warnings: spiders, death of a loved one, blood/gore/violence, terminal illness

"Children are meant to obey those who raise them, but how can respect be born of abuse?"

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adancewithbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

3.0

Thank you to Page Street YA and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway

Forest of Souls is an older YA that first released in 2020. Because of the release of the third book in the series this year, it has appeared back on netgalley. Because I had always been interested in this book I decided to give it a go.

The story starts with Sircha and showing us what her life is like. She tries to become the next royal spy in secret while trudging along amongst soldiers in her day to day life. When it is revealed she is not going to be the next royal spy by accident, her need to show she can do this makes her step into a much bigger situation.

Forest of Souls has some great ideas but it fell incredibly flat on execution. Nothing about this book came truly alive for me.

Sirscha is a very fierce character and that is great. She wants to prove herself and seems very loyal to her friends. However I missed the actual emotions when it came to what was happening to her. She constantly shoots into some kind of idea or action without truly standing still. There is no room for any emotions. This does not at all feel deliberate unfortunately. It created a lack of depth.

The other side characters are very much the same. As much as I instantly fell for Theyen for instance, it is clear he just has a role to play. The same goes for her best friend Saengo. They are a role, a tool to propel Sirscha further.

Adding on to that I found that some of the conclusions that Sirscha was taking when it came to her powers and what was really going on, were a bit far-fetched. She just waltzes in with her new powers that she has no control over and thinks she knows how to fix everything. It was annoying to follow to be honest.

I did truly appreciate that there was no romance or very few hints at any romance for the future.

Would I read on with this series? I'm not sure.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I thought this was an intriguing start to this series! It's clearly very much introducing us to this world (a lot of exposition, which I don't always mind when getting to know a new world lol), and I love when the main character is basically re-discovering themselves like Sirscha did in this book. She has to contend with the new reality of who she is and what she's capable of, and more importantly, what that means for the world / society as she knows it! I will definitely be continuing the series <3

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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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4.0

plot twist plot twist plot twist!! XD Alas, my library doesn't have the sequel *cries*

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tinysierra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book contains:

spiders and spiderwebs
dark creepy forest with faces and souls
Nice worldbuilding
A badass blind side character
threats of war between kingdoms, political intrigue
strong main character who knows how to fight, who turns out to have the rarest magical powers
a focus on friendships
Asian coded characters

I like that the +600 year old Spider King was not a mysterious sexy love interest preying on a teenager. There is no romance plot. The story focuses on the main character trying to figure out her powers and how to stop a war.

This book was decent but it didn’t really “wow” me. I liked the pieces of lore that we got, and I thought the characters were nice but they didn’t amaze me. I didn’t really feel the bond between Saengo and Sirscha. It was described that they cared for each other and they were clearly close but I wish we got to see more of their friendship on page before the start of the book.

I enjoyed Theyen and Sirscha’s sassy banter. They could have turned into a kind of rivals to lovers type romance but I liked that they stayed friends/allies.

I think this is a good book for anyone looking for a fantasy book with magic and politics but without the romance.

I may be mistaken, but I thought I saw this book in a recommendation list for Aro or Ace rep. However, unless I missed something, there are no explicitly stated asexual or aromantic characters. I don’t believe Sirscha states a sexual or romantic preference. But, if you are aro or ace, you’ll probably enjoy the lack of romance whether the characters themselves are aro / ace or not.

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: Violence, descriptions of blood and gore, bullying, abuse/child abuse mention, giant spider, descriptions of spiders

Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee is book one in the Shamanborn series. This is something I picked specifically because it's my friend Kaitee's favorite book, so I have some complicated feelings. This was a fascinating and great fantasy read; however, it was chock full of spider descriptions. One thing you need to know about me is my intense (and probably irrational) fear of spiders, so this was a tough read for me. *Shudders*

We follow Sirscha Ashwyn, a lowborn orphan in the Queen's Company who is training to become the Queen's Shadow (spymaster). Sirscha has been no one her entire life, constantly being bullied by her cohorts while her instructors look the other way. The only person who doesn't treat Sirscha like dirt is her best friend Saengo. When Sirscha and Saengo try to sabotage Sirscha's rival, Saengo dies, and Sirscha learns she's a Shamanborn (a person born with elemental abilities). The problem with this is that in Evewyn, Shamanborn are oppressed and locked away, because of the Queen's prejudice.

This puts Sirscha and Saengo on a journey to Spinner's End to meet Ronin the Spider King. But as usual, things don't go according to plan, and Sirscha needs to fight to save her friend's life while also figuring out what to do about the Dead Wood. I really loved how much of a survivor Sirscha is. She's pragmatic and can outfight almost anyone. Her friendship with Saengo was my favorite. Instead of focusing on romance, this story focuses on the intensity of friendship. The magic system was fascinating, I love the idea of lightwenders.

We get some themes on prejudice, oppression, and genocide; along with a message about finding your worth and value from yourself instead of others. I did not like how prominent spiders were in this book (why is it always giant spiders?!), and I definitely yelled at Kaitee about it the whole time. The Dead Wood was creepy af and I loved the Drakes. I want my own Drake to ride around. That cliffhanger though. Here's hoping for fewer spider descriptions next book!

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mali33102's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was engaging, but definitely not my favorite. The premise of the plot was intriguing to be certain, yet the entire time I was reading it, though the characters were doing things and time was passing, it felt like nothing was happening. I'm not sure if that was just me or not. There were also times where the author would change the entire topic mid-sentence and it would take me entirely out of the story. The plot "twists" were very predictable. Overall, a promising story with a lackluster execution.

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ice_creamery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I am literally obsessed with this book and I can’t wait to read the next one. The whole vibe was very dark but I also just have to say—THE COVER IS SO PRETTY (but I mean it’s Charlie Bowater we don’t expect anything other than the best). Anyway, I LOVE THIS. That’s it I don’t know what else to say it’s really really good.

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whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

𝘚𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. "𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘢, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴."

After years of training to become the queen's next spy, Sirscha's plans are derailed when shamans attack, and kill her best friend. When she wakes, she has somehow restored Saengo back to life.

I really really enjoyed Forest of Souls, it was such a unique take on a magic system. I loved how sinister everything was, especially the Dead Wood. Which is basically a sentient forest, that murders everyone, and traps their souls in trees 💁🏻‍♀️

What I enjoyed the most about this narrative, was that it's centred around a friendship. Me and romance in fantasy books don't often gel, and I'd much rather read a story that focuses on a platonic relationship. I just loved that what propelled Sirscha forward, was Saengo.

If you love fantasy with a badass female lead, political intrigue, and lots of creepy crawlies, you need this book! The second installment Broken Web comes out the day after my birthday, and you bet I am grabbing a copy! I need more of Sirscha in my life 💃

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sophieink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

"Only dead men fight fair."

Forest of Souls is a captivating YA fantasy that starts with our main character Sirscha who discovers her powers which are not only feared where she lived but she also has the magic that no one has seen for years. so..... PERFECT.
Instead of being captured like she thought she would, she is sent to the ominous Spider King who maintains the peace over the lands with the dead wood, the haunted wood that everyone is afraid of, which is sliced across the them all.

I really liked the set up as it involved so much political unrest and fear. There were many players in the game all balanced precariously and we get to see our main character thrust into it. It brings a lot of tension and uncovering of secrets straight away which I always find interesting.
The political aspect continued to be involved throughout the book so it keeps you captivated and it is very easy to follow.

"Signing a contract agreeing not to act on standing hatreds is not a promise to stop hating."

I thought Sirscha was an interesting main character being an underdog in the world and fighting for her place. It was interesting to see how she would react when it was all taken away from her as everything shifted. Her determination and desire to bend the rules/uncover the truth also made her a great character to follow as she learnt new things and kept getting herself into situations.

I also really liked that there was a female friendship at the front of the book . Sirscha and Saengo has a lot of past and you could feel for their relationship. It was bond over time so I loved seeing that.

The development of the side characters was always really good. I found them entertaining as they always had something to offer in terms of personality or there position in the political 'games'.

I really liked the writing. It was able to build up a haunting atmosphere at times and some of the descriptions with the way it built up people and scenes were really lush. It was easy to follow. Plus I thought the pacing was well delivered throughout. We were always heading towards something and things were uncovered in due time.
I would say that the way that some of the mystery were solved didn't feel as smooth as I would have liked and seemed to jump to conclusions in a way.

The ending was really intense and captivating though as things went down . IT. WAS. ALL. HAPPENING. I think book 2 will be even stronger so I'll be excited to see what happens.

★★★★
Overall, a really captivating start to the series which many strong elements. I thought the mystery could have developed a little stronger and I would have liked to connect a little more to the connect but still a good start which left me excited for the sequel.

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