Into the Forest discussion

This is the spoilers allowed thread for the YA ( or Adult?) winner of our Fae themed group read, September 15-November 14, Except the Queen by Jane Yolen

To my pleasant surprise I ended up absolutely loving this book!
I think of the three novels for this group read it's my favourite, although I enjoyed them all.
There were many things I liked, some being:
The reversal of pov, seeing our world from the persepective of the Fae and the commentary on the strangeness of some of the things humans do.
As a result of this, there was a lot of humour in the book.
The fact the two main characters were "older" women ( and a pretty direct commentary on how they are seen and treated in our culture)
I thought the ending wrapped up nicely. Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder should team up more often!

I am looking forward to reading how others here found this book!

I loved this book too. It's been a while since I've read it. But it was so fun to read and my first introduction to Midori Snyder.

Finished this morning, and I enjoyed it. Definitely the two elderly sisters' perspectives were my favorite aspect of this novel. I found I didn't much care about Sparrow and Robin, both were kind of boring to me, so while the ending was good, it wasn't that interesting to me!

I also like that the sisters find their own separate paths at the end. They still love each other just as much, but now they can be individuals as well sisters.

Roses and Rot is my favorite of this theme's picks, but I've enjoyed all of them!

Margaret wrote: "Finished this morning, and I enjoyed it. Definitely the two elderly sisters' perspectives were my favorite aspect of this novel. I found I didn't much care about Sparrow and Robin, both were kind o..."

Same here! I much preferred Serana and Meteora to Sparrow and Robin. In particular Sparrow made me so mad when she read Meteora's letters and erased the part of the letter where Serana warns her sister about arum! Then when she goes out and buys it and plants it I just wanted to shake her!
I also liked the budding relationships with the two men, Juan "of the flowers" and Jack.

Yes, Sparrow annoyed me. And as the Queen's daughter, I kept expecting her to eventually find her magic and be a bad ass, but she never really did. She didn't have much character.

I really liked Jack! I'd enjoy reading an entire novel about him. I liked Juan too, he just wasn't as well developed.

Sparrow had never been taught to trust, since she came into the Other World. I understood her not accepting Meteora's help. Meteora had Baba Yaga, Serana had Jamie Oldcourse. Then they each had others, too. Sparrow had CPS, after wandering into the campers' campsite.

I liked how Hawk marked his victims.

I liked Robin who is trying to be other than his father wanted him to be.

I really enjoyed rereading this.

Julia wrote: "Sparrow had never been taught to trust, since she came into the Other World. I understood her not accepting Meteora's help. Meteora had Baba Yaga, Serana had Jamie Oldcourse. Then they each had oth..."

I understand that Sparrow learned by experience not to trust, but I still could not help getting infuriated with her, especially when she bought the arum!

I also liked Robin for going against his fathers wishes. Actually, I would have liked to know more about his life before he met up with Serana. Supposidy there is a short story about him that is supposed to be rather violent.

It's a very rich novel and there were many characters who could have their own novel: Robin, Jack's Aunt Vinnie, the Flying Sisters.
Hawk also had an interesting past as it seems he was originally from the Seelie court, if I understood correctly, and it was grief that drove him the Red Caps.

I would be interested in reading short stories about these characters too. That's another way it reminded me of De Lint's novels--so many characters can branch off into their own stories.

I would be interested in reading short stories about these characters too. That's another way it reminded me of De Lint's novels--so many characters can branch off into their own stories.

I just re-checked and Yolen's reply as to if she would write a sequel was:
"I did publish a short story about Dogboy and his father Redcap called "Dogboy Remembers" published in an anthology Unnatural Worlds from a small boutique publisher called Fiction River. But it is a very brutal story."
So

Finally had a chance to read this while I was on vacation last week (and I'm slowly catching up on reviews and posts and such.)

Lila (formerly Jalilah) wrote: "I understand that Sparrow learned by experience not to trust, but I still could not help getting infuriated with her, especially when she bought the arum! ..."

That was frustrating.
If nothing else, she should have done some research on it before buying it. She might have bought it anyway, but be educated about it, at least!

But at least Sparrow's character explains the cover. Until she showed up, I was wondering what the artist was thinking!

Melanti wrote: "Until she showed up, I was wondering what the artist was thinking! "

Probably "How do I signal that this is urban fantasy?"

At least the artist didn't show a full butt pose, like many urban fantasies, though it's close!

Margaret wrote: "At least the artist didn't show a full butt pose, like many urban fantasies, though it's close!"

Or a sexy lady holding a dagger or sword!

or tight leather pants and a gun

LOL

I think we're ready to be cover designers!

Katie wrote: "This was my first read with this group (with any online group) and I really enjoyed it. As many have already noted, I was more interested in the sister's story and how our world appeared to them th..."

I agree with you very much Katie, that a number of characters in this book could have their own stories or even novels much like in the works of Charles de Lint!
I would love a story or prestory of Aunt Vinnie and how Jack came to her!