The Darkest Part of The Forest by Holly Black

Black, H. (2015). The darkest part of the forest. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

When Hazel and her brother, Ben were younger, they played pretending to be knights who killed evil creatures. As they grow older, their childish games and fantasies are over and other people and interests become the center of their attention.  Now as teens, they go to parties and Hazel is interested in boys and kisses them, while Ben hangs out with his best friend Jack, who himself has an intriguing past.

This is the story of the strange town of Fairfold where humans and Faerieland exist side by side. The faeries' seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be. Here there is a casket that contains the center of attention, a beautiful boy with horns and pointed ears. He has been there, unconscious, for as long as anyone can remember. The town is in love with him, or the idea of him. Hazel and Ben are no exceptions. The children of Fairfold believe the horned boy to be a prince. But one day the unexpected occurs and surprisingly he awakes.

Hazel realizes that there is something strange about Fairfold, the Folk, her brother's best friend Jack, and the horned boy. Then Hazel and Ben agree to find the boy with the horns, but their search doesn’t come without a warning. Jack warns them not to pursue that idea, but they ignore Jack and decide to go after the object of their fascination. Little did they know that this awakening has also woken up a horrifying and disturbing monster of the forest. This monster can destroy anything and everything on its path.

In the end, Hazel finds love. It turns out that Jack and Hazel have loved each other since first time they saw each other. Hazel leans over, they hold hands and kiss. Then Hazel opens up her locker and a walnut rolls out, it has a message from her brother Ben, who has chosen to stay in Faerieland. The message reads, Full moon is in three days’ time. Come to the revel. Not everything has to rhyme. She smiles.

This book is set in a contemporary world definitely in modern times. Holly Black does an excellent job of constructing the story and putting in place all of the fantasy elements, with a modern world twist. From the setting to the characters to the thickening plot, she is able to create that special spin to the story. A high school reading teacher could use this story to teach the elements of fantasy to high school students ages 14 through 18.

Hazel’s, Ben’s, and Jack’s scenes where they portray feelings and emotions of holding hands and kissing reminded me of Adolescents emotional development and how they struggle to control their body’s hormone levels. This is the age where they become arouse and have a hard time controlling their feelings. Just like I mentioned in the beginning, Hazel’s interests have changed and is just interested in kissing boys as she is now a teenager, yet she doesn’t settle down with just one until the end of the story.   

This book consists of 328 magical pages. If you enjoyed reading this book, perhaps you may also be interested in reading, The Modern Faerie Tale Series, written by Holly Black as well.