The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.
Until one day, he does…
As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?
First of all, even though I haven’t read many of Holly Black’s books, I’m constantly and consistently intrigued by them and I have basically all of them on my TBR. THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST–a middle grade story about siblings and faeries and a boy with HORNS all sleeping in a coffin like Snow White–sounds excellent, and right up my alley.
Plus, I’m really curious about this sibling angle going on. A brother and sister in love with the same faerie? Well, yes, I WILL read that, thank you. And any synopsis that mentions “shifting loyalties” and the “sting of betrayal” will instantly pique my interest. I’m beyond excited that THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST is going to be at BEA this year because I can’t wait to read it!
THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST comes out January 13, 2015 from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
THAT COVER.