Mel’s Reviews > Forest Mage > Status Update

The small moments of Nevare learning to adjust to his new circumstances and being incredibly competent but sad are surprisingly calming????

Nevare’s sudden extreme weight gain after recovering from plague is a physical symptom of him now being a conduit of magic. The Plains-people see being plus sized as an honor because it means he is full of magic. And his physical transformation now doubles as the catalyst for him to realize his society is shallow and dumb and evil. I mean???? Fine? A little heavy handed Robin. Executed in a super mean way? JFC.

Almost a third of the way through this book and suddenly I’m in the first chapter of The Secret Garden? Nevare is just locked in his room and forgotten about like Mary is left alone in her nursery while everybody outside straight up dies of cholera? Child abuse saves the day???? What is even happening at this point?

At least Mama Burvelle has a bigger part in this book than in the last. I like this woman very much. I’d be happy to leave her annoying son and husband behind and follow her story for a bit.

So Nevare’s evil spirit self is possessing him and punishing him for cutting himself off from the tree spirit by making him…fat? Like the punishment is to make him gain an excessive amount of weight in an impossibly short time and then all his family and friends abandon him out of discomfort and disgust? Like that’s really what’s happening rn? This is alarmingly fatphobic out of nowhere. Wtf.

Please do not be weird magical tree Mpreg. Please. I’m anti-any preg in my fantasy. But I specifically do not want teenage boy and magical tree spirit Mpreg. Spare me this, Robin. Please.

Not sure how I feel about the framing of Nevare’s dream self sleeping with the forest goddess? The way this teenage boy is describing it feels like hes ashamed of a fetish? Her size/age keep playing a role in the descriptions. But he also keeps insisting his dream self did that without the consent of his awake self & that makes the shame feel like he is a victim of sexual abuse in some way. It’s ethically murky.