Review- Daughter of the Forest

Juliet Marillier
Fantasy
544 pages
Sevenwaters Series #1
TOR/MacMillan


Synopsis:
A beautiful retelling of the Celtic "Swans" myth, Daughter of the Forest is a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love... To reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss and terror. When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for Sorcha to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and sorcha will have to choose between the live she has always known and a love that comes only once.


Review:
Although this book is not my recent selection of fantasy, I am forever grateful for reading it. The fantasy world that Marillier has created is fascinating and truly memorable.  The tale she tells keeps the reader enthralled throughout, and had this reader highly emotional {and I don't get emotional often with books}.  I can honestly say that over the course of the book, Sorcha's heart became my own.  I somehow felt every loss and break, and every triumph.  Sorcha's struggle is long but wasn't frustrating for me at all.  Marillier doesn't bog down the story with unneeded twists to keep the reader engaged, which in my opinion happens too often with epic love stories over 500 pages.   She weaves her tale with adventures and strife but doesn't ever lose sight of the original objective. And I was forever grateful to learn that each book in the series is a complete tale from start to finish.


I could ramble on and on about all the parts that I loved, about the beauty of the world and the distinction of the writing, but I'd rather just leave it and hope that by saying "It's a classic" will be reason enough for Daughter of the Forest to make it on your holiday reading list.  


Bottom Line: At the heart of this story is a fairytale; complete with an evil step-mother, a wicked curse, and the possibility that love can conquer all.  


5 stars