I liked how the main character Sirscha took initiative to fix problems and how she came to realize her worth. Having come from an orphanage Sirshas had to fight for everything shes ever had. Her fierce determination to accomplish her goals had me cheering her on. I didnt understand why she kept feeling bad for saving her best friends life. It just didnt make sense to me, especially compared to the alternative, but I did love their strong and thoughtful female friendship. The book doesnt have any romance so we get to focus on Sirshas character development and her friendship with her fellow soldier Saengo. She got major respect from me for joining the military to gain some independence from her noble family.

Sirschas mentors grumpy attitude had an endearing charm to it. I really hope we get to find out what's going on with her in the sequel. Even though we dont get to see much of her I still got a good sense of her complexe relationship with Sirscha. We also meet Prince Meilek who has always been kind to Sirsha. I really felt for him as he struggled between his loyalty to his sister the queen and helping those in need. The Spider Kings motivation weren't totally believable, but I still thought he was an intriguing character. I really enjoyed the banter between his guest Theyen and Sirsha. I also loved the older female guard Sirsha was assigned once she arrived at the Spider Kings home.

I loved the worlds intricate magic system and the precarious kingdom politics, but my favorite parts were probably the forest filled with vengeful souls and the dinosaur looking creatures the soliders ride. The shamans and shadowblessed have wide variety of amazing powers. I liked how their eye color matched the type of magic they could do. I also think it's awesome how they have animal familiars to channel their power. The religion with the sister deities was a nice little addition to the setting. I really enjoyed visiting the port city of Birth with its stacked houses connected by high bridges and winding canals. I can't wait to get to explore even more of this world.

The plot starts with Sirsha trying to win the spot of the Queens shadow to work as her spy and assassin, but after a shaman attack she's sent to work for the Spider King instead. On top of having to prevent a war and stop the spread of the forest of souls Sirscha must also find a way to save her best friend. Despite those high stakes some parts of the story werent as gripping as I wanted them to be. I'm guessing that's because I found a lot of the reveals predictable and the antagonist didnt feel like an immediate danger until the very end. That aside the ending seriously elevated the stakes and Im excited for the sequel. I think this series has the potential to get better and better.

Forest of Souls is an epic fantasy adventure of magic, friendship, and secrets. Sirscha is a loyal friend, determined to protect Saengo as they are both pulled into the world of shamans and secrets. Saengo is the quiet but perceptive friend, bound to her friend by magic and secrets that have already cost her life once before. The world of the Forest of Souls is built on tropes typically found in this genre but spares readers the complication of romance and love triangles. There are many parallels to historical events from many cultural backgrounds in this story. Shamans are stripped of their powers in the Queen’s kingdom and forced to work as slaves. Through Sirscha’s experience, readers understand the conflict of being marked as a shaman and having powers that serve a purpose beyond her understanding.

The story moves at a rapid pace, drawing readers into the fictional world on the brink of war. There is a diverse cast of characters, contributing to the mystery and suspense throughout the plot. This is an easy, engaging read, not presenting challenging situations or plots. I would readily recommend this to readers looking for an engaging and simple fantasy.

I'm not sure if this book was just overly hyped and that is why I was slightly disappointed in it. Have you ever been given a recommendation and the person/people just keep going on and on about how much you'll love it, so by the time you read it you are hoping for one level and you get something completely different?

I think that's what happened with Forest of Souls. I found Sirscha a wonderful MC. The world building felt like it was to much of an information dump, The plot, while exciting, was rushed feeling. There were times that the story was so original, but then times that I felt like it was predictable. It wasn't a bad book, but I felt like it was rushed.

Above all, I loved the way this book focused on the friendship between the main character and her best friend. It's something you don't see much of in YA and it was really refreshing. I also liked the magic system and the setting was extremely atmospheric. That being said, I couldn't connect too well with the characters and the plot couldn't keep my attention so unfortunately, I lowered the rating because of that.

REVIEW WILL GO LIVE ON LAIR OF BOOKS ON 8/4/2020 AT 8AM EST, LINKS WILL BE ADDED.

THE 411...
We don't often see YA Fantasy with a strong female/female friendship at its core but they're SO needed! Forest Of Souls has ZERO romance my fellow book lovers, instead we got the ride or die friendship of a lifetime. Our MC Sirscha was orphaned at a very young age & then recruited by the Prince/Queens Army. On the side she trains for the coveted/competitive spot of Queen's Spy where she is trained by Kendara, an older woman who is the current spy for the Queen. Challenged & tested every day with hopes that she gets selected but unsure of who her competitors are, Sirscha is determine to prove everyone wrong. She has no house to claim her & no wealth to back her, she is looked down upon & often taunted to get her to leave her training. The only friendship she's managed to make is with Saengo who has the complete opposite of upbringings. The daughter of a well respected prominent family, Saengo trains in the Queens Army as a way to rebel against expectations placed upon her. She isn't disciplined when she steps out of line but that isn't for want. Saengo craves to be treated like every other soldier & hates seeing Sirscha get the brunt of the discipline for the both of them.

When side tracked during their camps travels one day, they find themselves in a world of danger & consequences are set in motion. All eyes are on Sirscha when in a moment of life or death, her Shaman abilities are activated unbeknownst to her. Bringing Saengo back to life after an attack from a Shaman wielding the fire element left her for dead. The only issue is that in this world there is nothing worse than being a Shaman. To be discovered to have Shaman abilities is to live a life imprisoned or be killed. This is because the Queen had her own family wiped out by Shamans and since then has not been able to pardon any who cross her lands. This of course poses a conflict since Sirscha was a top contender for the title of Queen's Spy. Word gets out & gets back to Ronin, the Spider King who is in charge of The Dead Wood where souls can be found trapped within the trees. No one dares go into the Dead Wood without an invitation from The Spider King & even he can't promise you complete & total safe passage. Ronin takes interest in Sirscha believing her to be the only living Soul Guide which puts her in a odd position. Her powers seem to control the souls reaching out from the trees & Ronin means to utilize her. Sirscha is up for the task but she wants answers to her questions & to get to the root of the problem. Saengo may be back from the dead but is beginning to show signs of the rot/decomposition. Sirscha will do anything to keep her friend alive especially because they are now bound in more ways than one (spoilery won't say) making it a necessity.

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS
The strongest aspects of this book are within the core friendship between Sirscha & Saengo as well as the message of self worth. Sirscha doesn't know her worth, she constantly feels the need to prove herself to her superiors & craves approval. Driven by that need to be accepted & valued, she is hell bent on the position of Queen's Spy & then thrown off kilter when that seems unlikely. If not the Queens Spy, then who will she become? this is always at the forefront of her actions. Sirscha is honorable, loyal, fierce & wicked with her fighting abilities but she doesn't see her own value. I LOVED her character growth, seeing her reclaim the power within & realizing she is absolutely more than enough. As far as the world building, it's very atmospheric & eerie especially the scenes in The Dead Wood. I only wished there was more exploration of Sirscha's own Shaman abilities. At the very beginning we get a whole Glossary for this world however we don't really see all of it used in the text. I kind of wish we had because some of the abilities in the Glossary for some of the Shaman sound unique & interesting. I also was hoping to get an appearance from the feared Queen herself but that didn't happen. The side characters however were really clutch! Prince Meilek at one point sort of gave me love interest vibes but that may have just been me, I did enjoy his character. The ending of course left me wishing I had the follow-up in my hands. It seems Sirscha's adventure is far from over, in fact it's just begun...

I am deeming my issues of Forest of Souls an issue with me then the book itself. I've tried several times to read it and each time I couldn't get more then 15%-25% in. I was forcing myself to pick it up and read. I wasn't bored, I was interest to see where the story would go but just couldn't make it that far. From what I seen review wise is that this book is already super loved and that gives me hope that when I decide to revisit this book I will enjoy it.

A truly astonishing work that demonstrates a great tapestry of world-building and intelligent plot development.

Forest of Souls was a super quick read for me ! I enjoyed how unique the magic system and politics were but I really really wish this book had a map. There is a glossary included but that actually didn't help me to get oriented in this world and the different kingdoms and their motives went a bit over my head at times.
That being said I LOVED that this is a YA book with no romance ! Yes thank you Lori M. Lee !
I enjoyed Sirscha and Saengo's friendship, the concept of Shamanborn and how dark the story got at the end.
3.5 Stars from me !
Thank you to Netgalley and Page Street Publishing for the review copy !

Beautiful cover and intriguing premise made me want to read this book. This was a spookier fantasy which YA could use more of. It had a lot of troupes I enjoy like training and discovering new powers. I also liked the best friend character, but wish we saw more with her. This was a rare YA book without romance. The beginning was slow, a typical hurdle for first books in fantasy series. I kept trying to connect more with the book but felt like I didn't get as much from the characters as I wanted. But there was still great world building and atmosphere.

Disclaimer: This review is not sponsored. I was part of the International Blog Tour for this book and I was given an e-ARC of the book by the publisher and author in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by telling you that I picked this book up with the slightest idea of how the plot and the world building would look like. I only know that a.) it was a fantasy novel and written by a badass Asian author, and b.) the cover art was illustrated by Charlie Bowater. I know going into a book blind is risky, but most of the time it turns out to be a wild ride. That’s what happened with Forest of Souls.

Dark, unique and fast-paced. Those are the three adjectives that would best describe this book. It took me by surprise in the best possible way and once the story picked up, I couldn’t put it down! It’s also hard to write this review without getting to spoilery, so I decided to just tell you three reasons why you should add it to your list instead:

1.) This is a story of friendship and sisterly bond.

You can really see how the first book gives importance to Sirscha and Saengo’s bond. Their relationship, I believe, is the anchor and the heart of this book. I loved how their story was depicted, how they would do every thing to protect and defend each other. It’s beautiful to see how, in their moments of being lost, they were each other’s north stars. That alone made me love how this book was written.

2.) There is no insta-love.

Don’t get me wrong! I do love me some good insta-love, but sometimes it comes off as unnecessary, especially when it’s a story about searching for your identity and self-worth. I am still in awe that this book only gave us a taste potential romances but not totally focusing on who likes who. I’m rooting the potential romance of two characters, but I don’t want to tell who because I might jinx it! I’m dying to find out how their stories will play out in the next books (yes, it’s a trilogy)!

3.) If you like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Children of Blood and Bone and Grishaverse, you will love the magic system in this book.

This book is so awesome, it included Shamans! For me, that’s a breath of fresh air. The Magic is reminiscent of all the fandoms I’ve mentioned above. As what Lori said, this is a mishmash of all western fantasy tropes infused with her own cultural influences. I like how the concept of a Familiar (souls of beasts that bonds with Shamans) was presented in this book, and I’d love to explore more of it in the coming ones!

Overall, Forest Souls was a complete experience! I know in my heart that I will be continuing this series, and would love them as much (if not more) as this book. It was surprising, gripping and it serves you twists like a full-course meal when you least expect it! Yes, I still have unanswered questions (thus, my rating), but I’m certain that those will be answered in the upcoming books!

3.5 stars
What an interesting young adult fantasy read. I found Forest of Souls to be an interesting fantasy read where we explore necromancy, you do not see much of that kind of magic in the young adult fantasy genre. I do wish it were explained more or that our heroine showed more aptitude towards it before she used it to resurrect her friend. Especially from previous stories necromancy seems to be hard magic to learn let alone wield. I can understand being able to bring forth magic under extreme emotional distress but come on being able to wield it so effortlessly takes you away from the believability of it. The Worldbuilding was interesting and there were some excellent action scenes to keep you engaged throughout the story. Overall, Forest of Souls is promising first book in a new fantasy trilogy.

This was an absolutely phenomenal read. I have recommended it to everyone. I loved the world the author created, and the characters felt so real! I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Loved the world system and the concept of the familiars and the souls was really interesting.
I thought I wasn't going to like the whole unique chosen one usual trope, but somehow here it wasn't as forced as in some other books. I really liked the friendship and everything the main character did to ensure her best friend's well-being. I'm really intrigued and the story promises a very good sequel!

OH MY GOSH THAT ENDING.

I really enjoyed this, it took me a while to get into, but i think that was entirely my inability to read more than one chapter at a time up until ~40% of the way through.

I loved all the boys in this, the Prince - literally so charming, and Theyen, that snarky little shit, and I loved Sirscha, Saengo, and Phaut, and I honestly did not see half of the twists coming.

Can’t wait for the sequel.

Forest of Souls is a darkly twisted story with secrets and magic. We follow Sirscha who has to be training with the shadow queen in secret and is hoping to become with queens' shadow one day. She's working hard trying to prove that she is strong enough and the best person for this job. However, one night when things go wrong, she ends up bring Saengo back to life. Saengo is a childhood best friend, and they end up in a few tight spots, and things unfold from there. I enjoy the relationship between the two, I like the witty and care that they have for one another. Two other characters that stand out are Theyen and Meilek. I found the development between these two characters good and liked how things play out between them. But I also feel like we only got to know the top layer of the characters, but seeing as this is a book on I get that. I also like that there wasn't any romance, with some YA books that usually overtakes everything but that didn't happen with this book; however, there are many different relationships that do play hugely into this story.   
The Dead Woods is a place all it's own. Lori's descriptions really painted a vivid place. I felt that I could see and feel what it would be like to be trapped in a place where all these souls are being traped. I haven't read about many places like this, it was one of a kind, spooky! I like how there was more going on than just a scary place.
The culture and magic were inspired by Hmong shamanism, which was new to me and I enjoyed it very much. I can't wait for the second book, hopefully, we get more magic and get to learn more about Sirscha's 'powers'.

With all that said, I did enjoy this book, the chills, and the magic. This book kinda gave me Truthitch vibes, which I loved. I'm looking forward to seeing where these characters go next.

Review posted on Goodreads (July 9, 2020)
Review Linked

4.5/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review!

This book is my new obsession. OMG I loved this book! What is really interesting about this story for me is that it had no romance. I am usually a reader that needs a book to have some kind of romance in order for me to  love it, but this was an exception. I am, however, really interested to see if a romance does come up in the next book!

One of my favorite things about this book was the world building. Lori  M. Lee  is a fantastic writer. Honestly, I loved everything about this. I could not put it down, and I am so excited to see where the author takes the series. If you love fantasy, then I really recommend picking up this book. It is easily one of my favorite books that I've read so far in 2020!

Thanks for reading!
Caden

Forest of Souls is more of a plot-driven story than character-driven that unfortunately fell hard into the "telling, not showing" trap. More than halfway through, I really started to feel left in the dark and frustrated in terms of where the story wanted to go.

Our main protagonist, Sirscha struggles with being "enough". She's lived a hard life, being an orphan but she's determined in proving to everyone around her wrong, that she's something worthy. Early on, guided by her mentor, Kendara, we see that Sirscha's initial goal is to become the queen's Shadow-- a whisperer of secrets. But after an attack that kills her best friend, Saengo, we soon find out that she's a soul guide-- a lightwender who can guide souls into the afterlife or back to the living. Because of her newfound powers, she's then put on a mission by the Spider King to gain control over the Dead Wood-- an ancient forest possessed by vindictive souls.

It was hard to root for Sirscha. She would constantly repeat her misfortunes but wouldn't act on getting herself out of those misfortunes, to the point where I questioned what was truly driving her? What would truly drive her? In certain moments, we can see that her friendship with Saengo happened to be motivation but there was not much full on action taken overall.

The worldbuilding was quite expansive (elemental powers, shamans, large bipedal lizards to name a few) but underdeveloped and underutilized. The politics and intrigue felt sloppy. The story moved so fast with way too many different goals to accomplish. Was the goal of the story for Sirscha to free the souls from the Dead Wood? To find out why the shamans attacked her and Saengo? To become Kendara's shadow? The plot seemed to be all over the place and it was hard not to feel bored and detached from the story.

This was easily one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and I'm just so disappointed that I didn't enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 3 Stars

When a book is pitched as “perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Susan Dennard”, I sit up and take notice. I add it to my preorder list, I request a galley of it, I add it on Goodreads. These are all things I did IMMEDIATELY after reading the synopsis for Forest of Souls. It definitely didn’t hurt that the cover was easy on the eyes. Given that the book has been compared to books written by two of my favorite female authors, I had extremely high hopes. Hopes that were, unfortunately completely dashed by the middle of this book.

Don’t get me wrong, there were absolutely things that I liked about Forest of Souls! The plot on its own is great and had the potential to be absolutely incredible. The world and magic system created with unique and interesting. The bare bones of the book were great.

Unfortunately, the characters fell flat for me. Which characters, you may ask? Well, all of them. I loved the main character and her best friend in the first few chapters of the book, but somehow by the middle they had lost all personality. The snark, the banter, and all of the other things that I found intriguing about the two of them was gone. There was one character that I liked, Theyen. That being said, I only liked him because he was mean and it was entertaining. His entire personality boiled down to one word: mean.

The other character who intrigued me was the potential romantic interest. While there is no romance in this book, I feel that there is the potential for romance in future books. If he is indeed Sirscha’s romantic interest, I will definitely be curious to see how that progresses, as he was a character that I felt had dimension.

Additionally, the execution of the plot fell short for me. There were no scenes that really got my heart pounding or had me turning the pages hungrily. I felt that at any time, even in the middle of a fight or action scene, I could put this book down and walk away.

I really wish that this had been the book I was hoping for. As a debut, it had potential and I might pick up the sequel just to see where things go.

I read a lot of fantasy so sometimes books start to sound the same but I really enjoyed this one. It had everything I wanted from a good YA fantasy and even made be enjoy it despite by hatred of spiders! I will be recommending that my library purchase a copy of this book so I can recommend it to my customers.

It has been a long while since I finished a book and wanted to immediately write my thoughts down for a review, but Forest of Souls did that for me.

Forest of Souls is a story about a girl who’s determined to not lose everything she’s worked for over a heritage she has no control over.

Sirscha is training to become the next Shadow of the Queen of Evevyn. Her mentor, Kendara, has numeours pupils that don’t know each other but that changes when Sirscha steals a note from a bully and finds out that he is a pupil too. She decides to take over his quest to prove how much better she is, but the quest turns out to be a trapp that ends deadly. And in Sirscha awakes a gift that could turn the world she lives in turn upside down.

The book starts off with a pronunciation guide and some quick explanations on the different kingdoms, animals and magic abilities. I liked the placement of this guide a lot, because it gives the reader some insight and orientation points in the story before the plot takes off. Which it does.

As the reader you are thrown into the story which moves quickly from one point to another. Sirscha and her best friend Saengo are part of the Queens Guard, the military of the Kingdom. Saengo is part of a royal house but Sirscha is an orphan and holds no value in the eyes of the other soldiers, so she’s constantly faced with bullies. While she is trained better than anyone else, she isn’t allowed to show her skills and has to take a lot of beatings and humiliations if she want’s to hold her place as one of Kendaras pupils.
The resentment an arrogance that come with this training are a constant in Sirschas emotional development and I loved that. She is battling through some things on top of trying to right an ancient wrong that was thrown at her.
The book doesn't contain a huge cast of characters which was nice as the introductory book but I do hope that the world and characters extend a bit in the following books. Sirscha isn't one who makes friends easily so seeing her cooperate with different people do to what is right was great.

The books contains some horror elements which I’m not used to but enjoyed a lot. It was creepy and got me some chills, especially the Dead Wood itself.
The book focuses on the friendship between Sirscha and Saengo and they have a lot to go through together.
It's also a lot more political than expected and a lot of what happened in this book will come into play in the following which I'm really excited about. I love it when some plot points extend over more books and show an overall plot.

To finish this off, I just have to say that I enjoyed this book A LOT and can't wait to see where Sirschas story goes in the following.