Into the Heartless Wood

Into the Heartless Wood is an intense and haunting fairy tale tinged with horror, romance and magic, and filled with beautiful imagery of nature and love.

The Gwydden's Wood is ruled by a witch who uses her eight tree-siren daughters as weapons, "commanding them to sing, to lure men and women into the wood and devour them." Seventeen-year-old Owen and his sister stumble to the precipice of this fate, but are saved by the Gwydden's youngest daughter, Seren. After his rescue, Owen--intrigued by the "monster" who defies her purpose of being--visits Seren in the forest every night. Their forbidden friendship blossoms into romance, and Seren's desire to "be more than the monster [her] mother created" grows. When secrets and an ancient curse drive Owen and Seren apart, they find themselves on opposite sides of a centuries-old feud and must find a way to break the curse to free themselves.

This fourth YA novel by Joanna Ruth Meyer (Echo North) is gorgeously written, deeply intense and emotionally fulfilling. Owen's and Seren's story is portrayed vividly through a series of moments of euphoria and heartbreak. Whether it's a scene of them dancing on a hilltop until dawn or a tree-siren-caused train derailment, Meyer uses poetic language and imagery to ratchet up the intensity. Meyer also uses a blend of prose (Owen) and verse (Seren) to parallel Seren's transformation. As Seren becomes more humanlike, her short lines and simple sentences become more complex. This all creates an atmospheric fairy tale that is bewitching and unforgettable. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader

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