A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell

Available Now

CW: child abuse, child death

I had so many reasons to be excited to order A Dark and Starless Forest for the Library:

• It’s a magical story centered around witches

• Wonderful fat girl rep

• Tight knit group of siblings

• Queer, ace, nonbinary and trans characters

• Moody, magical forest

• Amazing reviews from other readers

So it came as no surprise that while cataloging the book, I instead started to read the first few pages and was instantly hooked. I highly recommend reading this book in front of a fire with a spooky playlist, Pandora has one literally titled “Spooky Forest,” but I am sure that you will fall in love with this story no matter where you read it.

Derry lives with her eight siblings in a lake house far from town and prying eyes. They spend their days honing their magical abilities, guided by their ever present guardian Frank. Frank protects, clothes, and shelters Derry and her siblings from harm, but he is far from a fatherly figure. When her oldest sister goes missing, Derry refuses to give up hope of finding her. She is convinced that her sibling is somehow lost in the forest in a way that can’t be seen and the mysterious girl that Derry sees there holds the answers Derry seeks. But as the days go on and another sibling goes missing, Derry and her siblings find Frank’s behavior more and more disturbing and Derry finds herself drawn to the forest and it’s mysterious inhabitant.

This book is absolutely amazing! I loved every minute of Hollowell’s masterful worldbuilding and the mystery surrounding the witches and their magical abilities. The siblings all had very different lives before they came to live with Frank and their magical abilities were just as diverse. Even a power as deceptively simple and gentle as growing flowers quickly became dark and ominous when you realized how many flowers were also poisonous. It was fascinating to see how Hollowell was able to show both the light and dark sides to each person’s magic and how that weighed on them. The characters were so well written and complex that they truly felt like real people with real lives.

Hollowell has delivered a truly compelling story that instantly grabbed my attention and had me invested in the characters. The outside world was an ever-present threat to Derry and her sisters and you could feel how that impacted all of their decisions. No matter how hard Frank pushed them or how isolated they felt, the threat of other people constantly hung over their heads. They fully realized they were children and teens with no one to help them and no way to survive on their own. While it broke my heart over and over again, I knew that this story was not going to end tragically-how could it? Underneath everything, this was group of powerful witches who practiced their skills daily. I knew an epic ending had to be waiting for me at the end and Hollowell did not disappoint.

This is an absolutely fabulous magical adventure that definitely left room for more stories within this universe. I highly recommend you add this to your reading list and the list of anyone who loves dark, witchy tales.

If you would like to add this amazing story to your shelf, you can find ordering information here:

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