A review by chrissireads
Into the Trees by Robert Williams
3.0
I immediately liked this book when it was described to me during a Reading Spa at Mr B’s Emporium in Bath. I have seen it being shelved as YA fiction, which confused me a little, as I definitely felt like Into The Trees had quite an adult feel to it. Nevertheless, YA or adult, Into The Trees is a decent read.
Into The Trees starts off in quite a fairy tale manner, which of course immediately appealed to me, I love my fairy tales. It starts with Harriet, a baby who only stops crying when she’s in the forest. It takes her parents Thomas and Ann a long time to work this out, but one night, by mistake Thomas is driven to despair when experiencing another night of crying. Thomas drives Harriet around determined to get her to sleep. He finds the woods and Harriet settles down. After a few experiences of this, Thomas and Ann make the decision to move to the forest. They convert a barn into a house and their sleep deprivation stops. There are also two more characters who share the narrative. There’s Raymond, a big man who is incredibly shy. He works at a farm near the barn. He also adores the woods. We’re also introduced to Keith, who isn’t the nicest man… A crime is committed and the book takes a sudden turn. It becomes quite a dark story.
I did enjoy reading this dark fairy tale-esque story, however, I wish more had been made of the why behind the woods soothing Harriet. I was waiting to find out why and I didn’t really get that. Into The Trees is still a good read though. It’s simply written and easy to follow. I just expected more from the intriguing beginning!
Into The Trees starts off in quite a fairy tale manner, which of course immediately appealed to me, I love my fairy tales. It starts with Harriet, a baby who only stops crying when she’s in the forest. It takes her parents Thomas and Ann a long time to work this out, but one night, by mistake Thomas is driven to despair when experiencing another night of crying. Thomas drives Harriet around determined to get her to sleep. He finds the woods and Harriet settles down. After a few experiences of this, Thomas and Ann make the decision to move to the forest. They convert a barn into a house and their sleep deprivation stops. There are also two more characters who share the narrative. There’s Raymond, a big man who is incredibly shy. He works at a farm near the barn. He also adores the woods. We’re also introduced to Keith, who isn’t the nicest man… A crime is committed and the book takes a sudden turn. It becomes quite a dark story.
I did enjoy reading this dark fairy tale-esque story, however, I wish more had been made of the why behind the woods soothing Harriet. I was waiting to find out why and I didn’t really get that. Into The Trees is still a good read though. It’s simply written and easy to follow. I just expected more from the intriguing beginning!