Title: Daughter of the Forest [Sevenwaters 1]
Author: Juliet Marillier
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Length: 560
Rating: 5 Star
Book Series Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6
Description/Synopsis:
Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.
But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.
When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all…
Review – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
I read this book as part of my romance book club Vaginal Fantasy.
Wow. Its been a really long time since I have read a fantasy book that had me so caught up in the story it was weaving.
The writing style was really refreshing and interesting, and it just oozed with the feeling that it was one of those old fables or stories. In this story we are presented with our main character Sorcha and her seven brothers in a kingdom surrounded by woods, and one day their father bring homes a new queen who turned out to be evil and turned her brothers into swans who turn back into men on the solstices. Sorcha managed to escape the curse and the fey or fairy folk tell her that she can get her brothers back to their human for good if she makes seven shirts out of a needle type of plant, all by herself, and never makes a noise until her task is complete. Because of this, most of the book is mostly happening with thoughts rather than dialogue, and I really loved this aspect of it.
Now the fey. I have a love hate relationship with the fey. I love the fact they were in the story and how Sorcha was part of their world and she could hear the trees talk to her sometimes and they mourned for her when she was hurt during some of her many, many trials. However I bloody hate the fey because I love Sorcha. They dick around with her so much and put her through so much hell and you know that it only barely matters to them and only because she is a pawn in their bigger picture.
I loved her relationship with her brothers in the beginning, but as the story continues and we reach the end of the book I started to dislike them. She went through so much for them and at the end they treat her like she isn’t even there most the time. I will cut some of them some slack though because they went through stuff too, and not all of their endings were great.
Of course the story wouldn’t be complete without the romance. Red is our love interest and oh gosh I love him. The two of them come from completely different worlds who hate each other but they come together anyway. Slowly, building the trust and love. Gah, just so good. I almost died at the end. Sorcha leaves Red behind because of her love for her brothers and I wan panicking I tell you. If they didn’t end up together in the end I would have died, but luckily Red leaves his world behind to be with her. I was a very happy camper though I felt sorry for Red.
I think ever lover of fantasy should pick this series up. I started the next book the second I finished this one. Because of how it ended, I was also very interested in how the story was going to continue because I don’t think it will be through Sorcha. One of her brothers perhaps? Also anyone who loved old shows/movies such as The Storyteller, The Dark Crystal, or Willow should give it ago. Be warned though, there are dog deaths and cruelty in this book, and some of the content is seriously disturbing.
Till Next Time…