I received an e-galley from the publisher through Netgalley and that did not alter my review.

4/5 stars

I was really confused for a bit of this book as to what was going on or what the story was. It altered viewpoints between a witch in the forest and a teenage girl in what seemed similar to present day. The characters were all a little bit quirky and interesting in their own way so I kept reading, and I'm glad I did. The confusion from the beginning started being answered by about halfway and was completely answered in the end. This book had a very whimsical and quirky feeling to it and I was in just the right mood for and very much enjoyed it. I will forewarn others that this book is definitely not going to be for everyone!

Soooo... this book. I was pretty excited for it. Not gonna lie. The cover drew me in. The synopsis is super intriguing and I thought for sure that I would love this book. That obviously did not happen.
The writing was juvenile at best and weird. And the dialogue was terrible. Ugh I just don’t know how I feel!

4/5 Stars

The Waking Forest is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Kind of. It’s creepy, melancholy, and atmospheric. I loved every page.

There are two stories in this book. Eighteen-year-old Rhea Ravenna lives in a small town with her mom, dad, four sisters, and Gabrielle, her pet fox (!). Rhea is plagued by visions and nightmares – she sees a dark and menacing forest in their backyard, even though there’s nothing there, and she sees images of death in the attic. The nightmares are getting worse, and now Rhea is sleepwalking – her nightmares are drawing her upstairs to the attic. Desperate for the nightmares to stop, Rhea begins sleeping in the attic, where she begins to see a shadowy young man, who comes to her every night (and possibly watches her sleep, a la Edward Cullen). She can’t see his face, but he is familiar to her, somehow. And he wants to play a game – if Rhea can guess his name, he will break her “curse” (his word!) and free her from her nightmares and visions. But instead of breaking her curse, Rhea’s nightmare deepens: every day, one of her family members disappears, and no one remembers them. What is a dream, and what is reality?

"It should not be this easy for people to vanish. Disappearing should be difficult, rough and bloody. They should have to claw, tear, rip their way out, enduring some of the torment felt by the person left behind. There should be firecrackers bursting in their eyes; and stars snagging in their skin; and lighting bolts tangling in their hair, thrust under their fingernails. Explosions, abrasions, shudders, and shouts. Disappearing forever should not just be the quick and quiet opening and closing of a door."

The second story is that of the Witch, who lives in the forest. She sits upon a throne shaped like a tooth, surrounded by foxes, and grants wishes to the children who visit her in their dreams each night. Her alter is made of scabs, baby teeth, and shadows: gifts from the children in exchange for granting their wishes. Now, the Witch has a new visitor: a young man who is sometimes a fox: the Fox Who Is No Fox. Each night, this young man tells the Witch a story about a magical world with manticores, nymphs, sphinxes, and humans who must hide their magic. The Witch is enchanted by his story.

"All right. I’ll tell you. But be warned: fairy story is a misnomer. There aren’t any fairies in it, you see, but there is a princess, and a curse, and a king, and a prince, and a future queen, and a gray gorgon, and a nymph, and a bright girl with bright magic. There are foxes and sphinxes and manticores. There is darkness and sleeping and magic and light, lots of light. there’s an attic and a castle and screams that put together what has been torn apart. There’s foolishness and laughter and love. Speaking of love – there’s also a boy, a great necromancer. He has many names, some of which are long forgotten, and others that no one will ever dare to forget. Oh – and there’s a witch. Still want to hear my tale, a fairy story that is no fairy story at all?"

At first, the alternating chapters about Rhea and the Witch seem completely separate, but the stories merge halfway through the book. The story shifts entirely; it’s a bit jarring because the shift is so sudden, and it took me a few chapters to adapt. But I loved this book. This story is nightmarish and haunting, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

The Waking Forest is noticeably inspired by Strange the Dreamer, so if you’re like me, and need something really good to read after finishing Muse of Nightmares, you will love this book: it has magic that shapes dreams, blood or spirit that is filled with magic and can be extracted, and the characters have two hearts. Like Laini Taylor’s books, The Waking Forest celebrates the power of storytelling and the magic of dreams.

Alyssa Wees’ writing is gorgeous. The imagery is lush and vivid; it’s just delicious to read. This book is perfect for a dark and stormy night. Curl up with a mug of tea and read this book in one sitting.

Release date March 12, 2019, available for pre-order now!

ARC provided by Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.

The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Hello, I will add this review to my Instagram, blog, and goodreads on February 26th, 2019. The review will also be added to Amazon and Barnes and Noble on the publication date. Links to the reviews will be added when they are public, thank you.

Title: The Waking Forest
Author: Alyssa Wees
Publication Date: March 12th, 2019
Rating: 2.5 stars
eARC provided by publisher through NetGalley

The Waking Forest follows young Rhea and her visions of a witch in a forest. A boy comes and visits her in the darkness of her family's attic and stranger things continually happen. She must uncover the truth before its too late.

I was pretty hyped to read this book and in some ways it lived up to that hype and in other ways it fell short. This book is categorized as young adult/teen but I would say it is more middle-grade. The plot of the book was intriguing and the way she wove in a lyrical story in between was magical. The book is written with two perspectives and eventually they collide into one which is very unique and something I have not seen before. Usually I am one to complain about slow pacing but the problem for me was that in this case it felt rushed and some of the plot was not fleshed out enough.

The characters were also a let down for me. I didn't feel connected to them and that killed a few of the plot twists. There wasn't enough background to any of the characters, including Rhea.

Overall, I liked the plot of the book and it was different than others I have read before but the lack of character development is what ultimately lost me.

I don't even know what happened or what I read or what's going on, just that I'm legit confused. This was a story within a story within a story or more like a dream within a dream within a dream or maybe I should just say another version of Inception that was more confusing than the movie. The writing was different and that was a strength, but as the story progressed the lines between reality and dreams and fiction blurred to the point where I was edging towards a schizophrenia twist, but that was obliterated after the 60% mark. I struggled to finish this late in the early morning hours because I wanted to finally be finished so I could move on to something that made more sense and didn't hurt my head so here we are. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC; this was an interesting one.

<b>I can't tell if I liked this book or hated it, but I'm leaning towards the latter.</b>

<i>Big thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC.</i>

Soooo... this book. I was pretty excited for it. Not gonna lie. The cover drew me in. The synopsis is super intriguing and I thought for sure that I would love this book. That obviously did not happen, proving once again that I am not a psychic. Darn.

The writing was GORGEOUS at times, super lyrical and velvety. Then at other times, it was just straight up weird, almost juvenile. Think of the weird semi-stoned feeling you get when you read Alice in Wonderland. If you enjoyed that, this may be the perfect read for you.

I can tell that this is one of those books that is better the second time around, after you know what you know by the end. I didn't like this one enough to ever reread it though, personally. This book does a bit of mind trickery on you.

This review is kind of all over the place, just like this book.

There were some parts that were extremely cool, like the shadow boy. Wow! What a cool concept. I can totally see the Pan's Labyrinth comparison that this book is claiming in the blurb. I also think that this book would make an awesome movie. There's lots to see and feel but while it's a little too much all at once in the book, in a movie I think it would be stunning to experience.

The dialogue was pretty terrible at times. I kept thinking to myself, this is not how people talk. By the end, it kind of makes sense as to the reason why the dialogue is so off, but again, not gonna reread this book in this lifetime. So yeah.

Also, the main character is supposed to be 17, I think, but she's giving me major 13-year-old vibes.

All in all, I'd call this book Pan's Labyrinth Jr. if it were up to me. I think you'll love this book if you're a fan of magical realism and mind trickery akin to Alice in Wonderland.

DNF @ 16%
This book seems to be told in alternating POVs - Rhea, a teenage girl who has weird "visions" & the Witch, who lives in a forest & grants wishes to children with only foxes for companions. I didn't like any of the characters and I think the author was trying to hard to confuse the reader with her language and trying to create a "dark and mysterious" scene. I couldn't find it in myself to plow through this to figure out what was going on.

This book has so many things that align with my taste, I wanted to love it more than I actually did. For me personally, this fell into the "great idea not entirely well executed". Sometimes the writing really hit the right note, other times it was just confusing or trying too hard. By the time I hit the halfway mark, I didn't feel like I had anything to ground me in the story or make me want to continue on. There was so much to like, but I just never fell in love or was truly engaged and I skimmed the last fourth. /:

I opened this book and fell in. The imagery is dark and breathtaking, the prose is lush and macabre, the characters are vivid and utterly unique. This is not one of those books you read, it's one you get lost in. This book will stay with me for a long, long time, and will take a coveted spot among my all-time favourite reads.

I didn’t finish this book. I wasn’t able to get into the world. I found the charcters confusing. The main character, Rhea has so many sisters that I dont know which is which. I hate when authors pick names that all start with the same letter. It makes it hard to remember who is who. The a has these weird dreams that she calls a vision so it makes me confuses if she’s actually asleep or not. Her one little sister also has these weird dreams and believes these people to be real that aren’t. The town seems to think the girls are odd and are witches. Which makes me wonder about the witch in the forest. This book switches point of views from Rhea to the witch. I actually don’t like either of the point of views. So far it hasn’t made me want to continue reading. I was never hooked into the story like I need to be.

Written with a Gothic sensibility and lush and formal language, this book is like a lovechild of The Virgin Suicides, Hans Christian Anderson, and every banal YA about Girls With Powers who are also, unfortunately, not very intelligent. Characters are described to the nth degree, everyone is Mysterious and Dark, dreaming is waking and waking is dreaming and visions are reality and reality is---who cares? I suppose this was intended to be "darkly beautiful" with intrigue and secrets at every turn, full of magical animals and magical people and non-magical people and some kind of ideas of what is Just and Fair, but it's a hot, boring mess.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Waking Forest is the fairy story that I never knew I wanted. The prose is beautiful, the characters are complicated and amazing, and the world is lush and creepy.
The story follows Rhea, a girl who is plagued by nightmares both while asleep and awake. One day when a strange boy who only exists in the dark appears, Rhea is thrust into a game and discovers who she really is. I don’t want to go into the plot because of spoilers, but this book is everything!
I got major “Pan’s Labyrinth” vibes from this book. This dark fantasy is phenomenal and I highly recommend you pick this one up!

This book was not at all what I expected and I loved it. Rhea starts the book being burdened with visions and a lurking darkness but ends with a light. This book was magical.

3.5 out of 5 stars - rounded up to 4 due to the strength of the first half and the beautiful writing

I'm having a hard time finding where to start on this review. It follows two main characters, Rhea and her family and the Witch of Wishes and her foxes. Rhea sees things, visions of a world of nightmares in the waking world. The Witch waits in dreams, casting wishes to children that can find their way to her.

The first half of the book switches between Rhea and the Witch, two characters that feel like they are on a collision course and the story of a third world. Of magic that is forbidden, mythical creatures that inhabit the woods and a princess that sleeps. Its not hard to pick out where the book is going, the author does a nice job of weaving a story that eventually all comes together. The writing is beautiful, there is a whole paragraph where Rhea speaks of Rose that I went back to read at least three times, I loved how well it was written.

Where the book stumbles for me is the second half of the book, where the three stories come together and we leave dreams within dreams for reality. The second half is not nearly as lush and mysterious as the first half of the book, sometimes I felt like I was reading a complete separate story that just happened to have the same characters. The revelation of what the king was up to actually did catch me by surprise, I had an idea but the author took it to a darker step than I had anticipated. The second half still feels like it is missing something and I think it falls back to the way the first part of written. A more modern day life and a mystical world of dream, such a lovely contrast between the two worlds that the third world of the second half just doesn't match up to.

Overall a really good first outing and I look forward to see more from Alyssa Wees.

3.75/5 stars

I thought the first half of this was excellent! The writing style, combined with the characters and the world, was just beautifully done. While I was a bit unsure of how the plot would develop, I still had high hopes...and then the middle came. Around the middle of the book where everything combines and goes on a fast-track, I felt like things started to derail a bit. While the writing and characters were still beautiful, I found things to become more convoluded. Some things were difficult to make sense of at first even though they shouldn't have been. The ending was good, but the events leading up to it just felt wrong. I feel like some reorganizing from around 60-75% would have been great. I still actually recommend it as I felt it's still a strong book, but not as amazing as the beginning led me to believe.

Absolutely beautiful writing! Told from alternating viewpoints of young girl named Rhea and The Witch of Wishes, The Waking Forest is a dark, twisted magical tale with Sleeping Beauty vibes. Rhea is plagued with visions , family disappearances, and a dark, mysterious figure living in her attic. The Witch of Wishes also has a mysterious figure in her life to whom she (reluctantly at first) agrees to listen to his tale. The hunt for her missing relatives brings Rhea and The Witch of Wishes lives together and that of the mysterious figure. As stated earlier, The Waking Forest has Sleeping Beauty vibes, however, this is a completely unique and creative story. The writing is divine!

Fast-paced and intensely creepy, this was one twist-filled story. I am still not 100% sure I figured out what the true situation is, but it kept me hooked and I really loved the characters.

#TheWakingForest #NetGalley
The lush writing and dark fairy tale aspects with a witch, little children, and a creepy forest. What more do you need? Well, maybe a sequel??? The poetic writing and the uneven pacing of the novel throw you off balance. The novel reminded me of the thrill of reading the Hazel Wood for the first time. It was so different and creative that you have to go back. Read it again to get the full feel of the novel. Must Read 2019.

3.5 stars.
The Witch in the Woods grants wishes to children who find her in a dream. Surrounded by her fox friends they play all day and dance all night...but this is not a dream but a nightmare.
Rhea is plagued by nightmares of death and darkness, unspeakable terrors that follow her into the waking world. A dark wood behind her house that only she can see may be the key...but this is not a nightmare but a dream.

The Waking Forest is a children’s/YA fantasy which has a dark fairy tale element involving a cursed witch. Two parallel stories merge when a dark and mysterious boy begins the tale of the witch in the woods. I loved the premise of this novel and the beautiful cover so I was super excited to start reading this one. This novel started out with a very creepy and dark fairy tale feel that hooked me right away. The writing style was beautifully done with evocative of the dark fairy tales I love. By the middle of the book, when the two stories begin to merge, it felt like it lost its momentum both in the writing style and plot. The blending of the two stories didn't seem to come together smoothly and it lost some of its charm for me. This book is written for 12 and up and I definitely feel like this will be a great creepy fantasy for that age group.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*

So this was so-so for me. I wanted to like it, but some things kept me teetering.

This story follows Rhea who is plagued by nightmares both while asleep and awake. When a strange boy who only seems to exist in the dark appears, she is thrust into a game where she soon discovers who she truly is.

This book is pitched with comparisons to Pan's Labyrinth, which is one of my favorite movies of all time so I had some high expectations. As I did not get Pan vibes, I did get some Mirrormask, Oz, and Alice vibes instead. I can see some Hazelwood in there, but I chose to ignore it because that book was a major disappointment for me and I wanted to separate that book from this one.

What I did not like was the flowery writing. The descriptions were a bit extra and took me out of the book often. I found myself huffing and rolling my eyes because some of them just didn't make a lot of sense to me and often dragged out without ending for an entire paragraph. I felt breathless after reading it. Not in a good way. In a way that was kind of like choking on a piece of popcorn.

What kept me reading was the expectation of magic and some cool ass beasts, but that didn't come either. And the intrigue and tension weren't there. I think that this may play out better as a movie and I would watch it if they did adapt it.

I did like Rhea and her family. The love gave me the feels. There was no real romantic love, though I the hint of it was there. It was a quick read with a tied up ending that will leave you satisfied.