Daughter of the Forest

Book Title: Daughter of the Forest

Author: Juliet Marillier

Series: Sevenwaters #1

Date Started: April 18th 2019

Date Completed: April 25th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Historical, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

Every now and then there comes a story that knocks you off your feet, leaves you near unable to put down the book, consumes your thoughts. Really, I shouldn’t be surprised that it came from a retelling of The Wild Swans which is by far my favourite fairy tale. Daughter of the Forest feels written for me, and I fell in love with it completely, utterly and wholeheartedly.

Marillier presents the fairy tale in all of its dark, historical, fantastical, emotional and epic majesty. Maybe if you only know Disney and the Grimm brothers this might be a little different, for it feels a lot more brutal and melancholic than the dark and twisted versions that we’re slowly starting to remember existed before Disney. It also blends in the historical feuds and cultures well with the fantasy. It was natural and compelling, the genres didn’t feel at odds with each other but like our world really was full of enchantment and magic once.

A lot of retellings try hard to distance themselves from their source material and try and make something new, but in that they lose the heart of the story. For me, Daughter of the Forest struck the perfect balance between doing justice to the original while letting it breathe and blossom into its own story. As well versed as I am in the original, this book still gave me twists and depth, and added embellishment and detail onto the foundations set by the fairy tale.

Most of this was, of course, because the characters were no longer nameless heroes and figures but tangible people. Sorcha is now up there with some of my favourite heroines, and I’m so impressed by how Mariliier was able to give her character and a full, satisfying arc despite the fact she couldn’t talk for the majority of the book. I think there’s a current issue with the ‘silent heroine’, or female protagonists who ar at the centre of a story but remain passive because they’re limited in their decisions, usually because of how little they speak and, consequently, how assertive they are. I think Sorcha’s a really good example of how you can manifest power in women in their actions (which we really need to see more of).

As with a lot of fantasy, the novel boats an awfully big cast. However, unlike several fantasy novels, there’s a real diversity to the large cast and, somehow, I could keep up with them pretty well. Even with the six brothers, each had a distinguishable mannerism or interest. How different the Irish and British cultures were was maybe less obvious, but half the point of the conflict is showing there isn’t really that much difference between humans when you come down to it. A nice balance between the two, and definitely more than enough to make Sorcha’s world feel developed and organic.

The conclusion to Daughter of the Forest was bittersweet but certainly satisfying. I know the next book follows the next generation and I’m sad that I won’t properly get to see another instalment about Sorcha and Red and Finbar and Ben and Margery and everyone else (though I’d be surprised if they don’t pop in with cameos). Regardless, I have the first trilogy in my basket (since my paperback lost the last six pages in my enthusiasm to finish) and as soon as I feel like treating myself I’ll happily continue with the series.