Early Review – Forest of Whispers by Jennifer Murgia (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 328 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release Date: September 9, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1937053567
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 2/5 stars

I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. This book sounded so interesting and magical. However, I was a bit disappointed. It’s an okay story but there wasn’t anything in here all that creative that really grabbed my attention.

Rune is a young girl who lives in the forest and is a Hedge Witch’s apprentice. When the Hedge Witch is burned at the stake for perceived evils, Rune flees into the forest. There she bumps into a young man, Laurentz, with a very sick mother. He is convinced that she can help him. However, she flees before he can talk to her and is captured by Inquisitors and imprisoned. Now Laurentz is trying to find Rune and rescue her so that she can help him.

This book deals with witch hunts in Germany. There is a bit of a fantasy element as well since the main character, Rune, appears to really have some supernatural powers.

Everything about this book fell flat for me. The story was boring, it takes 25% or so of the book before we even get to the part when Rune’s home is destroyed and she flees her house. You would think the story would get suspenseful or engaging, some truly awful things happen in this book. However, there just wasn’t enough description or momentum to really grab the reader’s attention. I constantly found my mind wandering. I don’t know how this book made me feel ambivalent toward the murders of young girls and infants…but it really did.

Rune and Laurentz have got to be some of the most bland characters I have ever read about. They just don’t have any passion or excitement to them. I didn’t care what happened to them. They felt so 2D to me.

It’s also not a very creative story. There are no twists and turns, you know exactly how things are going to play out right from the beginning. The “twist” about Rune’s original family felt contrived and silly.

The writing flows well and the story wraps up nicely. However, it was a very short and simple story and the ending felt very rushed.

Overall this book was very forgettable read. The writing flowed well, but the characters and the plot all fell flat for me. The story was just not exciting or engaging. Some horrific things happen in this book, but because of how the book was written I was more ambivalent to them than drawn in. I was actually hard pressed to even remember the names of the characters by the end of the book. It’s an interesting topic done in a very boring way. Not recommended.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Ebook Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge