Into the Heartless Wood was everything I love in a good fantasy.
Owen Merrick lives on the edge of the Gwydden Wood, where for centuries tree sirens have lured men and women to their deaths to feed the heartless tree. Owen Merrick knows full well the toll of the heartless wood's ferocity when he lost his mother to the wood a year ago. Now, Owen takes care of his little sister and his father, but when he comes face to face with a tree siren who spares his life, Owen finds himself drawn into the wood as they get to know each other. The tree siren Seren finds herself equally drawn to Owen, fascinated by the boy who charts the stars, and finds herself wanting to be more than the monster her mother created her to be. But war and a shifting of the stars bring long-held secrets to life, and soon Owen and Seren find themselves on the precipice of a conflict that will affect the course of kingdoms both man-made and natural. But both Seren and Owen find that for their love to endure, a sacrifice of blood will have to be made, and they must soon figure out if it is a price they are willing to pay.
I adored everything about this book. Into the Heartless wood is one of those super unique fantasies that is lush and atmospheric. Meyer's writing style is absolutely spellbinding and it really lends itself to the story that she is telling. I loved the world-building and mythology of the tree sirens and the Soul Eater was really interesting to read. Owen is a wonderfully sweet main character, and I love how kind and cinnimon-rolly he was in contrast to the brutally complex Seren. This dynamic of a cinnamin roll boy falling for the monster girl is a dynamic I live for. The character development with these two is also really well-rounded as the two of them overcome their perceptions of themselves and their world into a place of redemption and acceptance. Into the Heartless Wood gripped me with its haunting and beautifully dark prose that is whimsical at the same time and I couldn't look away. Full of heart, this modern fairy-tale is one of forbidden love, family devotion, and a testament to the power of redemption when a person chooses that fate for themselves. Into the Heartless Wood is a stunningly perfect piece of fiction that reveals that love makes mortals of monsters, as well as making mortals into monsters.

I loved Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer so I was excited to read this one . I still love her writing style and voice. She is an atmospheric writer for sure, and I LOVE that. I didn't quite warm up to these characters like I had hoped but still I enjoyed Meyer's storytelling abilities and her writing style. And the cover is beautiful!

A story about forbidden love is always one of my favourites to read, and this certainly packs an emotional punch. Add in an atmospheric woodland landscape and myths and this became a wonderful read.

Owen lives on the edge of a wood, raised by his astronomer father and helping to look after his younger sister. Seren is a tree siren, made from vengence and anger, she steals the hearts of those who wander the woods. The two are never suppose to meet, let alone fall in love, but that's exactly what happens. And their love is full of tension, lost moments and beautiful escapes as the two discover what it is to love another, as well as discover more about themselves in the process. Yes, at times it feels very quick, but their love is never seen as an easy thing. Getting a small amount of dual perspective helps the reader see through both their eyes, allowing for a growing emotional connection to the pair that I otherwise would not have gotten. For Seren in particular, this meant I could start to see her as more human just as Owen comes to the same realisation.

As briefly touch in already, the writing and atmosphere really made this book for me. The woodland descriptions really set the fairy tale tone of this, with haunting trees and danger that lurkers around every corner. The prose also helps capture this feeling, as we are fully immersed in a magical environment straight out of a Grimm tale.

Atmospheric and magical, with a love that feels timeless. A great read.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Into The Heartless Wood

Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 2/5

Recommended For...: fantasy lovers, retelling readers, ya readers

Publication Date: January 12, 2021

Genre: YA Retelling

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNFed

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Pages: 368

Synopsis: The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain.

When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her.

Review: I DNFed at 16% in. While the story seemed pretty good, it was really confusing to read. The writing was kind of all over the place. The writing also feels so middle grade when it's adult and I feel like it's luring kids into reading stuff above what they might be comfortable doing. The character development and world building was also hit and miss.

Verdict: It was a weird book.

This is so boring and I'm not hooked on the voice after 30%. Some books just aren't for everyone, unfortunately. DNF.

When I first started reading, I thought this would be an interesting fantasy story about two people who become unlikely friends. I didn't imagine there to be a romantic element, but it was so well executed. The relationship between Owen and Seren felt so natural despite being natural enemies. I loved how they started off as fearful of each other, but they kept their minds opened and fell in love with each other over the course of the story. It was really nice to see their relationship grow as the story did as well.

Of course, there was a little bit of animosity especially with the people surrounding Owen and Seren, but I loved that they went against the wishes of their minders and went after each other anyway. Their love definitely had that innocence factor to it and there wasn't anything beyond a few stolen kisses throughout the story. I felt like the main focus of this book was these two characters. While there was conflict to be had, it felt almost secondary to knowing these characters and the decisions they make to save each other.

The story itself felt like a fairy tale. I'm surprised it didn't start off with "Once upon a time," because the atmosphere really conveys that fairy tale-esque dreaminess. It's also pretty dark with a lot of gore, blood, and death. I loved that it had this dark element to it despite feeling like a light read. It was poetic especially in Seren's chapters that are written in what looks like a rhythmic meter. I really loved using a specific writing style to convey Seren's chapters. As a tree person, it definitely showed you how she's not wholly human, but as you continue to read you see how that really changes with the style. I liked that touch a lot.

While I really loved this story, there were a couple of things I couldn't overlook. The first thing was that there's very little information about the villains. Both the Soul Eater and the witch had a backstory that put them in the positions they are in now, but not a lot of it was fleshed out. I don't think it was very important for the rest of the story, but I feel like it would have brought a level of depth to it. I wanted it to be one of those "don't make the same mistakes I did" story, but that didn't happen.

Also, I'm not a fan of convenient plots and some of those components were obviously convenient. Knowledge on how to defeat someone before even looking into it doesn't really compel me to keep reading. But again, it didn't seem that important in the context of the story because the story was so focused on Owen and Seren.

Overall, I loved this story. I loved the characters and the little romance between them. Honestly, this story read like a novella, but when I realized it was over 350 pages long, I was surprised. Perhaps it's a nod to how compulsive this read was and how it kept me entertained and within the story. But I really wish there was more to it.

I would highly recommend this book to folks who love a love story filled with drama and suspense. It's a heavy read with the level of gore and death, but at the same time enjoyable while I read it.

Into the heartless wood is a gender bent Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring tree sirens, a magical forest, and beautiful love story.

I am going to be honest and say I am not sure why I initially requested this ARC. It is not my typical genre. That being said, I am so glad I did, because I really enjoyed this book. It drew me in immediately, and I did not want to put it down.

The story alternates point of view between Owen, the human, and Seren, the tree Siren. I don’t typically care for it when authors write in verse, but in the case of Serendipities, it worked perfectly, and it didn’t bother me at all.

There is a lot of violence, blood, and gore throughout the book, so if you don’t like dark, twisted stories, this isn’t the book for you.

Into the Heartless Wood is comprised of a truly wild and visceral beauty. It's harsh and painful in a way only nature can be and yet, it is so so beautiful I LOVED it. This is a story that has continued to haunt me in the several days since I've read it, and most likely will continue to do so. Part fairy tale, part coming of age, part action adventure...and (despite its title) at its heart it is a beautiful love story, and not just romantic love, but a bigger greater kind of love.

Both lyrical and chaotic like nature itself, the way in which this story is written makes it impossible to put down. At first you are caught up in the dangerous and fragile relationship that develops between Seren and Owen, which features such emotive and visceral language (along with stream of consciousness like structure in parts) that you''re carried away right with them into this harsh yet strangely beautiful world. The second half opens up more, into the world beyond these two as they face the consequences of their choices and the unforeseen events that begin to erupt around them, here the story ties into the bigger story arc, where forsaken love and bitter revenge - in the guise of near-immortals - play out their war across the cosmos, and mans armies must gather to fight the magic of the wood.

There's a great love to hate villain, as well as the more complicated one, and a pretty awesome epic battle at the end. I don't want to give too many details away in terms of plot, because the plotting really is very good and definitely thickens up into a nice and complex finally. But it's the energy and writing and sheer magic of the first half that really carried me through, and made all the raised stakes of the second half that much more important.

Lovers of nature and woodlands, Fae, Dryads, and Celtic/Welsh Mythology will love her visceral descriptions of both nature and nature's magic. It's both perfectly feral and beautiful. And this blend is echoed throughout the story in multiple ways, reinforcing its primal feel. Truly a beautiful beautiful story.

Beautiful, imaginative and emotional: Into the Heartless Wood takes your heart and soul, dances them through young love and sorrow and gives them back to you awe and wonderstruck.

When I first read that this was supposed to be a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast, I had a different narrative in mind for where I thought the story should go. For me, it felt more like The Little Mermaid, with a girl who lives in a different world and falls in love with a boy from another.

The characters were amazing, including the villains, and the world-building was so stellar that it perfectly matched them and gave them a world perfect enough to neither eclipse nor overemphasize.

This book surprised me more, I feel, than any other book I picked up in 2020. I don’t even think I had any expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised and will most definitely be purchasing this book for my personal collection to match Echo North. And, of course, anything else Meyer writes in the future because she’s on auto-buy for me now.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, for which I give my own opinion.

Into the Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Genre: YA Fiction, YA Fantasy, YA Romance
Page Count: 368
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Warnings: There is some gore and violence.

Quick Look (out of five):
Plot Rating: 1
Character Rating: 1
Romance Rating: 0
World-Building Rating: 0
Writing Style Rating: 2
Recommended?: Absolutely not.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. It has so many elements that could make it a good book, but it is a swing and a miss. To be blunt, I hated this book. I dislike being really negative in reviews, because I think most books have some good things amongst the bad. Yet, I genuinely cannot think of anything I liked about this book. I am so disappointed, because this book’s concept has so much potential that remains entirely unrealized.

Into the Heartless Wood is told in the alternating first-person point of view of the main characters. It tells the story of Owen Merrick, a boy who lives with his astronomer father and baby sister on the edge of a magical forest. Owen has lived by the forest his entire life, and he knows to fear the song of the witch’s tree siren daughters. While travelling into the city, Owen’s train is derailed by one of the tree sirens. The tree siren kills everyone on the train, except Owen. Owen needs to know why he was spared and begins seeking out the siren. He forms a kind of friendship with this girl and learns that she does not want to kill people but her mother demands it. As the final battle between the witch and the King for control of the country looms, they each become embroiled in the preparations of the opposing sides.

Sounds interesting, right? Unfortunately, the novel fails to deliver a compelling story or interesting characters. I found the tree siren somewhat interesting, but Owen had the personality of a lifeless doll. The plot starts off reasonably well, but quickly grows confusing and illogical. There are too many big events happening with little to no foundation or windup. By the end of the novel, the only character I cared about was Owen’s two-year-old sister. I was continually frustrated by the lack of a believable love story and the increasing dramatics of the plot. I rarely give only one star to a book, but this one more than deserves it.

Owen Merrick is 17 years old and helps his father make star charts for the King. This is his one and only interesting characteristic. Despite claiming to be devoted to his family, Owen’s interactions with them feel empty and forced. His decision making skills are questionable at best, and Owen often does things without thinking about them at all. Owen simply feels like the cardboard cutout of a person, lacking in life and personality.

Seren is the tree siren who spares Owen. I appreciate that the novel leans into her monstrosity. Seren is not simply a beautiful girl who has some tree-like qualities. She is nearly a foot taller than Owen and has silvery skin that looks and feels like bark. Her eyes are yellow, and her hair is silver and filled with leaves and violets that seem to grow from her head. She dresses in a gown made of leaves. Seren is definitely not someone who seems beautiful at first glance. This becomes irrelevant when Owen switches from finding her horrifying to finding her beautiful – without any explanation or buildup. Outside of her feelings for Owen, Seren lacks interests and desires, but this makes sense considering she often feels more akin to trees than people. Overall, Seren is a fine character, but nothing remarkable.

The two villains of the novel, the Soul Eater and the Gwydden witch, are boring. The Soul Eater uses magic that makes no sense, and he does not seem nearly as powerful as the Gwydden witch. I wish we saw more of the Gwydden witch, because I think she could be interesting. However, she only appears on the page to threaten Seren and then for the climactic battle at the end. Outside of her hate for humanity and contempt for everyone else, the Gwydden witch has no personality or beliefs.

I do not buy the romance between Owen and Seren at all. They fall in love entirely off-page; one moment they are tentative allies and the next they are expressing their love. There is no buildup, no romantic tension, nothing that makes Owen and Seren’s professions of love believable. As a first-person POV story, we are completely inside of their minds, and yet, we never see any romantic buildup before the story suddenly announces it.

The moments of action happen too quickly. There is a sense that there is both too much happening and not enough. The best action scene occurs when Seren derails the train Owen is on. The author takes the time to draw out Seren’s steady killing spree, heightening the tension as Seren gets closer and closer to Owen. In contrast, the big battle scene near the end feels disjointed. Too many things are happening with no time spent to create any tension or sense of situational drama.

I do not understand the world-building in this novel. There is no attempt to make the steam-age technology mesh with the magical forest. The forest and city settings feel like they are from different worlds and should not exist right next to one another. The Soul Eater uses both magic and technology, but it never makes sense why he chooses one or the other. His magic has no explanation or logic; the witch uses only nature-based magic, but the Soul Eater can somehow use magic for seemingly anything. The advanced technology he uses is not explained in any way. The rules of the world are non-existent, and the world itself never feels real or logical.

There is nothing overtly wrong with the writing style in this book. I actually appreciate that Seren’s POV is written in a pseudo-verse-style that captures her strangeness. What this book is missing is that indefinable thing that gives life to a story. The writing feels empty, as though the book is missing its soul. The plot threads are stretched thin, with all the events showing the author’s machinations and lacking the feeling of a cohesive story. Everything feels contrived and planned; plot moments come about through the author’s need rather than the characters’ actions. This is the first book I have read that lacks a soul, and it makes for a very sad reading experience.

SPOILERS

Owen’s mother’s death scene is an excess of theatrics. We find out Eira, his mother, has been alive for the past year and chained to the Soul Tree. She speaks briefly with Owen, then carves out her own heart and dies. The book has not given us any reason to care about Eira, making the dramatics of her death feel silly rather than heartbreaking. Her reasoning for staying alive until this point only vaguely makes sense. Sure she has been sort of protecting her family, but she never tried to contact them. Plus, her protective actions are not always helpful, and she does not seem to use the power the Soul Tree gives her in moments that really matter. If Eira has enough power to place a protection on Owen’s soul so that the Gwydden witch cannot take it, she should have been able to do more in the past year to protect her family. Eira’s reason for dying now that Owen has found her makes no sense. The Gwydden witch is still at large, and Eira’s family is probably still in danger. So carving out her heart in front of Owen feels unnecessary and overdramatic.

Usually I love it when books play with the power of names. However, the use of names falls entirely flat in this novel. The book just continually hits you over the head with that theme until you feel like screaming. Owen names Seren and tells her it means ‘star’. I hate that Seren does not get to name herself. Having Owen give Seren her name feels like a mark of ownership and possession rather than a symbol of Seren freeing herself from her mother. Further, Owen loves the stars, but they do not mean nearly as much to Seren. The King is referred to as the Soul Eater, making his actions predictable, and it is obvious that he is a bad guy. It makes the ‘surprise’ of the King trying to steal Owen’s soul quite unsurprising.

I have never been so disappointed with a climactic battle in my life. The ending scene is shoddily put together, with people dying and soldiers randomly clashing while the King and Gwydden witch face each other. Considering how powerful the King is supposed to be – he did manage to steal the Gwydden witch’s soul centuries ago – he dies absurdly easily. The Gwydden witch kills the King within a paragraph, before he manages to land a single blow. It is so anticlimactic and disappointing. All of this happens as Owen and Seren have a stupid standoff in the background as the Gwydden witch forces Seren’s body to attack Owen. Seren then rips out her heart – Owen seems to magnetically attract women who will tear their heart out for him – and dies. Owen then offers his soul to the Gwydden witch to replace the one the Soul Eater stole, which makes no sense to me. She has been stealing souls for centuries. Why would Owen giving the Gwydden witch his soul fix anything or cause her to suddenly not want to kill everyone? Further, it makes no sense that the reason the Gwydden witch cannot take Owen’s soul is because he is covered in Seren’s heartblood. His mother had a dramatic scene of creating a protection for Owen’s soul, yet this is not what saves Owen’s soul in the end. When she fails to take Owen’s soul, the Gwydden witch’s stolen soul returns to her – a soul I am nearly certain the King destroyed earlier when he consumed several stars. Then, the Gwydden witch simply decides to die and dissolves into the air. The Gwydden witch previously stated that she wanted to cover the world with her trees and destroy humanity. Why would that goal vanish with the King’s death? Nothing about the ending makes any sense in terms of people’s motivations or the flow of the action.

In the end, the final battle is a perfect representative scene for this novel. The plot-flow is confusing and not entirely logical, and the characters fail to interest me. I apologize for having to be so overwhelmingly negative, but I want to give an honest and impartial review.

Much like the siren song of the trees, INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD will call to you from the first page until the last, where you will find yourself willingly handing over your heart and soul as a token of appreciation for these words. A gorgeously written dark fantasy reminiscent of the classic and frightening folk tales that we’re all familiar with, this is a story that will become just as beloved.

INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD is the story of a boy named Owen Merrick who lives with his family on the edge of the wood, which creeps closer and closer to their house with each passing day. In the wood is a siren with no name, who’s no longer content to harvest souls for her soulless mother, who longs to become human. A chance meeting between the boy outside the wood and a siren in the wood begins the tale of a love story that will defy possibilities and explore what it means to be human.

I can’t enough about how much I loved this book. A gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast reimagining where a boy falls in love with a monstrous tree girl, where a witch and a king battle for power, all of which is heavily influenced by Welsh mythology. All of the classic fairy tale elements are there and Meyer elevates it with her beautiful prose and her ability to make you feel every single word and interaction between these two characters.

If you only read one book this year, make it this stunner. 5 glorious stars, and I’ll go ahead and call this my favorite book of this year because it’s going to be hard to top how much I loved this.


*eARC received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

3.5-3.75!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this is the kind of retelling I am here for. This was, (IMO) a gender-bent Little Mermaid retelling ABOUT TREE SIRENS Y'ALL, COME 👏🏻 ON 👏🏻. It was dark, it was violent, it was heart wrenching, and it was beautiful. I really liked the fact that Seren was the heroine. She was the one who saved Owen; a reversal of fairytale stories where the girl is saved by the boy. The way that the magic was woven with the stars and astronomy was so magical and really well done. I'll definitely be picking up a finished copy to add to my shelves!

I requested Into the Heartless Wood for two reasons. The beautiful, illustrated cover and because I’d previously read and loved another title by the same publisher, The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, so I thought I’d take a chance on this dark fantasy about a tree siren and a human boy who fall in love after she saves his life over and over. I’m glad I decided to stretch outside of my reading comfort zone for Joanna Ruth Meyer’s novel as it’s a beautiful story about the nature of monstrosity, love, and sacrifice.

Into the Heartless Wood plays with a reversal of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, but it goes beyond a strict adherence to that tale as old as time. Owen has lived directly beside the wood filled will tree sirens that bring people to their deaths for at least a couple of years, ever since the king hired his father to give him monthly astronomical charts. A year before the novel began, he lost his mom to the sirens’ call, and his father had never been the same. But Owen happily picks up the slack—doing the astronomical charts, caring for his two-year old sister, Awela, and cooking—while his father wanders through his grief.

Despite his father’s uncertainty and the knowledge that the woods are encroaching on the train tracks, he takes a train to a nearby kingdom to deliver the astronomical charts as he does every year. That is until the train he is on is derailed by a siren with violets in her hair, and he sees her violently kill all the other passengers and steal their souls. Owen is terrified that he will be next, but then she spares his life. Not just once, but several times. And not just him, but his little sister, too. Through this experience, Owen’s idea of what makes someone a monster begins to shift; he begins to see the tree siren, who he names Seren, as beautiful and not dangerous. Monstrosity becomes something that you choose to be, not something that you are innately. And it’s not something that correlates to one’s physical appearance—even human beings can be monsters if they have an evil intention or actions.

That said, it’s not as simple as Owen changing his perspective. In addition, Meyer uses Mary Shelley’s trick from Frankenstein by allowing Seren to tell part of the story through her own POV. By giving Seren a voice and an internal monologue, Meyer ensures that the audience will develop sympathy for the tree siren at the same time that Owen begins to sympathize.

Beyond the theme of monstrosity, this love story is one full of sympathy, betrayal, sacrifice, family, friendship, and loyalty. There are moments that are absolutely horrifying and heartbreaking, but more than anything it's a very compelling read. I didn't want to put it down.

No book is perfect though. In this case, there was a short time in part one where I felt it could've been a little shorter. It seemed like Owen and Seren were on the route to falling in love, but it was far too early in the story for that to happen without major consequences, and I didn't understand what those might be. Once the established pattern in the story changed, however, I was right back to being glued to the page.

If you love YA fantasies, YA retellings, or books that explore complex themes, then Into the Heartless Wood, a mostly, fast-paced read, will have you glued to the page, too. Pick it up on release day!

I kept hearing about this book from Taylor Simonds on twitter and instagram and so I knew I needed to pick it up and let me tell you, it was such a magical experience. It was dark and twisted and honestly took me by surprise!

This follows a boy named Owen and how he lives with his father and little sister. They live on the edge of a forest that is ruled by these tree sirens that can lure people to their deaths and steal their souls. Creepy, right? Naturally, Owen gets into a bit of trouble with the forest and instead of his soul being stolen, the tree siren spares him. Owen and this siren whom he names Seren become unlikely friends.

This alternates between Owen’s POV and Seren’s. It was so interesting to read in both POVs but what I found unique and engaging was that Seren’s POV was told in a sort of verse format (unless my kindle was just being weird well then… whoops). I was really intrigued because Seren was so convinced that she was a monster and seeing her question herself was just really interesting to read.

It started out a little slower paced (which is fine by me except that I didn’t actually know what the plot was so it confused me a little) but once I was into the story, it had really just gripped me and I couldn’t stop reading. Both main characters were so interesting and likeable and I was SO INVESTED.

Things took a serious turn about 30% into the book and from then on I just couldn’t stop. i was just so worried about the characters! I don’t want to go in depth about everything because it would spoil all of the fun of the book. All I want to talk about is how I really didn’t know where the story would go and it was honestly such a ride.

I was extremely surprised by the ending. I don’t think I’ve had an ending take my by surprise like this in a very long time. felt like a dark twisted retelling of Beauty and the Beast mixed with little Mermaid. I was here for every second of it.

Not only were the characters really interesting, the world and bits of magic was honestly so exciting and immersive. I could understand all the characters’ motives and I was so curious about what the deal was with the tree sirens and the forest. Everything was so intense and dark.

The only reason it’s a 4.5 instead of 5 is just because I kind of wanted more interaction between Seren and owen. What we did get was great but it felt sort of disconnected and not as romantic and “soulmate” like as it was portrayed. While the story progressed and made my heart ache for the both of them, I could have shipped them more?

However, the dark storytelling was just captivating and told beautifully.

I would recommend this to anyone that likes more dark and twisted fairy tale inspired books. If you enjoy stargazing and discovering true love, fighting for family, lots of emotion and heartache, SIRENS THAT CAN STEAL YOUR SOUL, and different kinds of evil you should definitely read this book. You should read this if you want a sort of forbidden love story, interesting family relationships, love and betrayal, stolen kisses and slow dances, and a whole lot of gasp out loud moments.

Thank you to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to review this title.

Into the Heartless Wood tell us the story of Owen, a human boy that lives at the edge of the forest with his family, and Seren, a tree Siren made by an evil witch destined to kill everyone who enters the forest.
Owen and Seren end up meeting and upon that meeting, their lives change.
The prose of this novel is lovely, read like an old fairytale and the worldbuilding is atmospheric.

I couldn't quite connect with the story and the pacing. I would have loved to see more characters development and a little bit more complexity woven in their personalities, I found them to be a little bit predictable.

After falling in love with author Joanna Ruth Meyer's fantasy writing in "Echo North," this book was a no brainer to pick up next. And it did not disappoint! Meyer weaves a wondrous world of tree sirens, fickle constellations, and immortal kings. There were so many plot twists I did not see coming at the end, wow I am winded! This is an ideal read for fans of Leigh Bardugo's writing style and Ashley Poston's "Among the Beasts & Briars."


I loved Meyer's dedicated sense of worldbuilding, especially when it came to the precise plot pacing. Nothing ever felt rushed, and the fantasy world was easy to understand. I grew to love all the characters, especially Owen's family. His friendship with the other soldiers was adorable too, very much in the style of "The Lord of the Rings" series. It wasn't difficult for me to picture what Seren looked like - I'm picturing something like the Ents from "Lord of the Rings," but more lithe, maybe feminine-looking? Anyway, I loved that this is a standalone fantasy story that has a little bit of everything: just enough romance (but no annoying love triangles thank goodness), worldbuilding, plot twists, and character development. The ending - I'd have to give it a chief's kiss!

This retelling of Beauty & the Beast was original & compelling. For whatever reason, sirens seem to be de rigueur in YA right now; this was I think the fourth book about sirens that I read in 2020. However, this one, about "tree sirens," was truly strange, & I liked that original spin on the myth. I also appreciated the complexity of a female monster in this love story. While the pacing was a little slow in the middle, I thought overall that this was a compelling & complicated love story with a fascinating narrow edge between the delicate & the violent.

Initial Thoughts

I was super excited to read this book. I absolutely loved Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer and was so eager to see what was next for her. I love her writing style.

Some Things I Liked

Haunting and lyrical writing. I adored the way everything was described in this book. There was a semi-spooky ambiance that surrounded everything and there was an eerie-ness that I just loved. I’m not one for spooky books but the writing here was just spooky enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.
World building. I also loved the world created. I love that there were railroads and astronomy as well as rich mythology and history for this fictional place. I’d love to see more books set here.
Swoony yet innocent romance. I loved the relationship between Owen and Seren. They were young and neither had ever been in love but I loved the way their relationship developed and how they learned so much from each other.

Series Value

I’d love to see a spin-off where Seren and Owen are legends or myths in this world. I thought the creation of the world was one of my favorite features of this story and I’d love to revisit it.

I’d also really enjoy seeing a story about a grown up Awela, following in her brother’s adventurous footsteps.

What’s more, I’d keep reading anything Joanna Ruth Meyer writes. I only have one book left of hers to read but you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be reading it sometime this year.

Final Thoughts

I adored this book. Honestly, I regret the first book I read in 2021 and should have started here. This book was phenomenal and it left me aching for more of the writing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw – if you enjoyed the atmospheric writing as well as the witches folklore in this story, try Shea Ernshaw’s books.
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones – again, if you enjoyed the hauntingly beautiful writing as well as the lore and plot twists in Into the Heartess Wood, try this standalone 2019 release.

“Her whole soul was filled with music; mine brimmed with stars.”
•
This book is absolutely cute. Seren is a tree Seren, obliged by her mother to lure innocent people into her grasp and steal their souls. She thinks she is a soulless monster, but when she meets Owen, everything changes. His soul is so bright that it makes her stand against her mother, it makes her want to be more, to be human. And despite the fact that he should blame her for the loss of his mother, Owen is really enchanted by this awesome creature. She is not only beautiful, but he can see she is strong and she just needs to believe in herself to defeat her mother. This is the kind of love I want to see in books and in real life, the one that makes you see the best part of yourself, that pushes you to be better. This is not only a love story, there is also passion and betrayals and I’ve been really enchanted by the writing style!