A review by arapier
Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee

3.0

I have two immediate takeaways from Forest of Souls, the first being that emotionally cathartic moments in this book are very spelled out for readers, which I'm not really a fan of. There's nothing to pick apart in those moments. We can take them at face value because Lee tells us exactly what that scene was for without the bother of metaphor or subtlety.
Second, the end of this book felt very rushed, with a lot of material crammed into the last few chapters, presumably so the cliffhanger could make it in. The progress of the plot seemed very straightforward. With limited exceptions, Sirscha met all the little goals of the plot with token resistance, and moved right along.

I did appreciate how active Sirscha is as a character. She has clear goals and is constantly making plans and decisions to reach those. The story is driven by her actions, instead of the other way around.