Reviews

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

daralexandria's review

emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Antisemitism, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

karaklos's review

2.0

I was excited to read The Forest of Vanishing Stars based on the glowing reviews and beautiful cover. I loved the premise of a woman helping Jewish refugees flee the Nazis and live in the forest in Poland. Unfortunately, this one really missed the mark. It was such a weird book where everything about it felt strange, cringey, or implausible.

The story follows Yona, a woman who was stolen from her parents at the age of 2 and raised in the forest by an elderly prescient woman. Yona learns to live off the land and is highly educated, speaking multiple languages and learning about all kinds of topics (politics, religion, science, languages, medical care) from the elderly woman. All of this comes in handy when she needs to help Jewish refugees hide from Nazis and live off the land.

Riddled with stilted dialogue, bizarre romance, and a plodding plot, this was a boring read. It was also very preachy and repetitive with religious themes.

So many refugees were introduced that I stopped paying attention to all the names and relationships. The initial theme of magical realism was largely abandoned. Why was Yona considered special? The storyline with her father was disappointing.

I wish Harmel had written the book from one of the refugee’s perspective. The magical realism made a very real human suffering story seem like a fairy tale.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

nikischmidt's review

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

kell_ann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

dawn_sedor's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

cklear's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

juliapr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

4.5

superknitgirl's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

kearstenmh's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

lisadorsey4's review

5.0

This book was so good, I could not put it down!