Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Forestfall

If the first book in this gothic fantasy duology, “Lakesedge”, leaned into the romance and tragedy side of the genre, then “Forestfall” leaned heavily into the darker and more violent side of it. The true golden thread between the two books is Lyndall Clipstone’s elegant and elegiac prose that is woven throughout the narrative like a beautiful trail of words between all the action and dialogue. Those lines shine among the most desperate of scenes, even when our characters are at their lowest and their futures seem the bleakest.

What I love so much about this duology is how Clipstone never pulls the punches on the pain and grief. There’s no pretending everything is going to be okay or that these characters aren’t going to be scarred for life. Bargains have been struck for things they can never get back and sacrifices have been made that have left them forever marked. Our main characters, Violeta and Rowan, exist in a liminal state, existentially: parts of their hearts and souls live both Above and Below, and that leaves them in a gray area the other characters don’t exist in. It’s great character development from the start of the first book, and the supporting characters also experience a good deal of growth by the time the book hits the final page.

While I greatly enjoyed the plot development between the two books, with its tinges of both “Beauty and the Beast” and variants on the myth of Hades and Persephone, I do have to pick a bit on some of the rather forced plot elements in this book; namely, the sisters. I felt like this whole subplot was rather shoehorned in, and it caused a little plot hole or two to sneak in. It wasn’t so annoying as to affect my enjoyment of the book too much, but after the rather Romantic touch of “Lakesedge”, if this book wanted to hit hard on the dark fantasy instead of fantasy romance side of the gothic fantasy genre, then it would have been nice for the book to have as tight of a plot as “Lakesedge” did.

Overall, Clipstone has written an outstanding fantasy duology that feels like a dark, gothic fairy tale, and I’m honestly here for it. I’m here for the love and the pain and the grief and the dark beauty of it all.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, and Henry Holt & Co for granting me access to this title.