This tale was dark and creepy and I loved every second of it!!! It was a quick easy read and I really enjoyed the idea of tree sirens. They were really cool. I thought the writing style and the characters were done really well. It got me out of a book slump I was in and held my attention. Overall, it was a fascinating story and I highly recommend it!

"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑘𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛."

𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚.
𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕
𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔.

Into The Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer is a Beauty And The Beast Gender Swapped Re-telling. Into the Heartless Wood is the story of impossible love between a monstrous tree siren and a boy who lives at the edge of her wood. I am completely in awe with the author's writing style. It is very captivating. We see use of poetic verses as well as prose in this book.

We see a powerful witch which has lured men and women using their song, in her heartless forest for years. She has three daughter's who are her slave in hunting for souls. For years, they have always listened to their mother's command and followed it blindly. We see Owen Merrick, whose mother was killed by the siren. One day he visits the woods to find her 2 year old sister, Awela.

One of the siren's daughter - Seren () saves him and his sister instead of killing them. He starts visiting her regularly.... and the story begins. We see alot of magic induced in this story which is just fabulous. The book is full of different emotions, and the ending + the epilogue deserves all the attention. Hats off to the author for writing such a phenomenal and unique re-telling.

We see the character development of both the characters progressing very beautifully and swiftly into the story. The world building is good, but a bit slow in the start. BUT THE END IS WORTH IT !!!!

The concept of trees and oaks, along with the music and hint of stars is basically everything I love in the book. The book is filled with epic history of the kingdom of Tarian, the king and witch fighting for their own benefits. Gwydden's Wood has been there for years and it's in the hands of Owen and Seren, the future of this wood stands.

I can absolutely go on and on about this book, but if I speak more I am sure it will lead to a spoiler filled review, which I definitely wouldn't want. I really want everyone to read this book, as we see Love, Loss, Friendship, Heartbreaks, basically everything packed in one book. And I hope this book makes it way to the Indian Market.
________

Releasing - 12th January, 2021.
Thank You to NetGalley and Page Street Publisher for eARC in exchange for a honest opinion.

The cover is stunning and was the main reason I was attracted to the book in the first place. I did not know much before going into the book and that made me have the most amazing experience. This is the most unique 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling I have ever read. When the book ended I was crying profusely. It had awoken emotions I did not even know was present in me. I finished the book in fourteen hours, in a single sitting. The writing style is very soothing, it gave me a sense of serenity while I was reading the book. The concept of the beast and how it is varying throughout the book is fantastic. I liked the concept of the family especially when Seren goes to her brothers or when the scenes of Owen and his mother are written or Awela in all her might. I am spellbound by this work. This is my first read by the author but I look forward to reading more from her and I will pick her backlist titles. Initially, I was a little skeptical as to whether I would like this book because not much happens, there is no adventure or action whatsoever, but I was pleasantly surprised when I started liking even those portions, maybe way too much. The chapters are fast-paced and I adore the narration and writing style. I highly recommend everyone to pick this up. This is one of the best stand-alone fantasies I have ever read.

I loved the plot and the writing was incredible! I got caught up in the story since the beginning, dying to know what would happen to Owen, his family and Seren. For me, the plot was well writing, the author was able to insert the reader in this new world, without leaving them lost in the middle of the reading. The only thing that bothered me was the romance between Owen and Seren, I think it happened a little to fast, but still liked them together, I just wanted more development for this couple. It was a great experience and I loved the ending.

I've been a big fan of Joanna Ruth Meyer since her debut, and I thought for sure that no book would ever top my love for Echo North. Well, JRM has done it--she knocked her own book out of the top spot in my mind! INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD is one of the most captivating, magical, and emotionally-charged books I've ever read. Owen is such a wonderful protagonist, full of heart and compassion and goodness, and Serene is such a complex, interesting character. Watching her challenge her world-view and who she wanted to be, to fight against the labels and the restraints others had placed on her was so powerful. And the relationship between these two had me gripping the book and pressing a hand to my heart every single time I sat down to read!

I felt like my heart was in my throat for the entire book and at the end, I wept both tears of happiness and sadness. I felt like I had been on this beautifully cathartic reading journey and I didn't want it to end. Meyer has an achingly poetic way with words and with every turn of the page, she cracked my heart open even further! This book is BREATH-TAKING and I adored every single word of it! I cannot recommend enough!

I am a huge fan of Joanna Ruth Meyer, but this one fell a little flat for me. It was atmospheric, beautiful, lyrical, all the things I've come to expect from her writing. I just couldn't quite connect with the story and the pacing. The first half was a bit slow for me, and then the second half felt very rushed. I wanted to know so much more about the world and the backstory for the Soul Eater and Gywdden. I loved the characters, I just wanted more!

Into the Heartless Wood was a maddening blend of heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Meyer created such original characters and settings, I feel I could read them again and again. Beautifully crafted, this tale is perfect for lovers of the old stories.

Beautiful, fascinating and magical!

Into the Heartless Wood is a saga of an ancient hatred, of betrayal, of revenge, rage, magic and love. So much love. It centres around Owen, son of the astronomer to the king who lost his mother to the heartless wood; and Seren, and their forbidden love.

The writing in this book flows like poetry. I could not help but marvel at it. There is so much emotion, so much pain, and so much grace in the words that were written. The story alternates between two point of views- Owen's and Seren's. Right from when the book began I was hooked. Captivated beyond measure.

The richness and beauty of the words just lured me to them. The plot of the book made it simply unputdownable. So many interesting twists, turns and revelations!

The character development is simply MARVELLOUS. I loved both the characters and especially Seren. The way her struggles were highlighted, her choices, her nature, her change of heart, it was endearing. And so was the setting! I loved how descriptive the book got when it came to describing the forest.

The book is fast-paced. Hence, there was never a point in the book wherein, as a reader, I felt dull or bored. The ending of the book just shook me and I was overwhelmed with so many, many emotions.

Into The Heartless Wood has my heart and I would definitely urge fantasy lovers to read this book when it comes out. It is a brilliant work of fantasy fiction.

Owen lives with his young sister and astronomer father on the edge of the wood. The wood is controlled by the witch, who has been harvesting souls for centuries. The wood is dangerous. The wood killed his mother. The wood is calling Owen...
When Owen survives an encounter with a tree siren, his world changes. The siren and her sisters are dangerous. Yet Owen keeps climbing over the garden wall to see her in the wood. Owen gives her a name, and much else besides. She says she is a monster, but what happens when a monster wants to become human?
A wonderful fantasy story, a fairytale of a young man and a tree siren, who between them change their world, and themselves.

ECHO NORTH solidified Joanna Ruth Meyer as one of my favorite authors. It doesn't help that she's super sweet on social media. So when this book was announced, you bet your bum bum I was refreshing Edelweiss and Netgalley for the arc.

So here's a HUGE thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

Meyer has a way of pulling me into her books and never letting go. Just like the heartless trees in INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD. This gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast follows star gazer Owen and siren daughter, Seren as they meet amidst their own stories of heartbreak and sadness.

The setting is welsh inspired and does not disappoint in its creepiness and lore. Gwydden's Wood is run by the sirens who lure people into their wood to feed off their souls and fuel the heartless trees into doing their bidding. The woods have been destroying more and more of Tarian, wrecking railroads and attacking trains.

Owen Merrick lives on the edge of the woods with his father and toddler sister. After the death of his mother, Owen's father built a wall around their home, vowing no family will ever become prey to its evil. But when his little sister wanders into the woods, he has no choice but to go after her. He meets a tree siren who subsequently saves his life and the life of his sister.

Seren is different from her sisters. She sees something in Owen and soon her curiosity of the human boy becomes dangerous not only to herself but for Owen's family. She battles with the monster she thinks she is and the person she wishes to be. She falls for Owen, and that propels her into a situation of life or death.

I loved Owen. My little cinnamon roll who loves his little sister and wants nothing more to protect his family. I mean, it takes a lot for a boy to fall for a monster (as it does for a girl). He loves the stars and music and chasing his little sister around and it warms my cold dead heart to read about a boy who cares so deeply. Owen and Seren together form a star-crossed relationship that is so deep, one overlooks the outer shell of the other, instead, falling for their heart and what lies deep inside

.Atmosheric, brutal and poetic, Meyer completes yet another masterpiece of spellbinding beauty. I cannot stress this enough, if you are not reading her books, you are missing out.

I absolutely adored the cover on this but I couldn’t get into the story. The writing felt a bit heavy but I did really like the mc!

Beautifully lyrical prose, entirely monstrous sirens, and a love story that will take your breath away.

The tree sirens were once trees, but they were created by the Gwydden to steal souls to feed the heartwood tree. Her youngest daughter, has slaughtered many when she first saves Owen and then his little sister Awela. Owen knows he shouldn’t trust a siren, but he can’t help going back to the woods. No matter how dangerous.

A gender-swapped beauty and the beast retelling, Meyer creates something new out of familiar fantasy elements. From character development, to pacing, to romance, readers will be like Owen... unable to keep from going INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD.

From the stunning cover to the beautiful blurb, I knew I had to request this book and I was thrilled to be approved. Look at that green, the font--just wow. I quickly dove in.

Owen has always lived at the edge of the woods where the sirens prey. Gwydden and her eight daughters have no mercy, luring townspeople into the woods, stealing souls in a wake of blood. Owen lost his own mother to the woods, and when his two year old sister Awela is lured away, he doesn't hesitate to go after her. Because of this, Owen meets the youngest daughter, a monster both terrifying and beautiful, and their meeting will change the course of their lives and everyone's lives around them.

Wow. I loved this book so much.

I didn't know where this would go at first. Siren songs have been done countless times, and it's hard to transform a classic into something that doesn't feel like a trope. Here, Meyer succeeds. The relationship between Owen and Seren is wonderfully developed. From their first meeting to the very last page, I was invested in their story and couldn't wait to see how it would unfold.

Several times as I read, I was struck by the lyrical prose. Meyer's writing is exquisite, her storytelling full of imagery and music, and I couldn't get enough. The story itself blended oral tradition, fairy tales, and myth. I got some serious Moana vibes at times, but a more mature rendition--and in the best possible way. It is an effortless read, but that should not be mistaken for simple. Seren's struggle with her mother is wrought with metaphor and symbolism. Obligation versus free will. Family versus love. Duty versus morality. Owen, too, deals with all of these things, and their parallel struggles reflect the symmetry of their love.

This is a story you will fall in love with. The words bleed off the page. I could see this becoming a shelf staple in my house because it is that beautiful and complex.

This is a story that will make you question your own heart. What does it mean to have a soul? What does it mean to have a heart? Can one exist without the other? Are we bound to be only what others expect of us? Accessible enough for a YA audience, but definitely profound and lyrical to stand on its own legs with an adult audience, too.

Overall, Into the Heartless Wood is a lyrical, powerful examination of love and obligation that will take your breath away. If you're a fan of fairy tale narratives, ethereal mysticism, or you love epic battles of good versus evil, this will be the book for you. I highly recommend adding this one to your 2021 TBRs now.

Huge thanks to Page Street Kids and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

This book was absolutely stunning. Atmospheric, poetic, haunting. The descriptions were positively gorgeous and I was just blown away. I was captured from the first few pages and couldn't stop reading this strange and bittersweet love story between a gentle boy and a monster tree siren. This was a dark and mysterious fairy tale (everything I love!) and I think my own heart has officially been stolen by the heartless wood. Five stars doesn't seem enough.

This book started off really strong and even moving at parts but after that great beginning, the plot didn't start fast enough to hold my attention. And even though the relationship between the characters (an adult and a child) is tender and moving, pages of mundane description weren't enough to want me to continue reading the story. The story started on a very intense note but then mellowed out, when perhaps it would have been better to continue to learn more about the scary water nymph and what the current stakes are.

**4.5 but rounding up**

“Into the Heartless Wood” weaves together a tale about a boy living on the edge of the forest which holds deadly sirens eager to do the bidding of their creator by collecting the souls of their victims except for the the youngest daughter who wishes to be more than a monster.

I really loved the pacing of this book and how it managed to give us so much and not weigh the story down. We get a good amount of the mythology and setting up the antagonists in a way that feels organic and it only continues from there as we watch a bloodthirsty siren tear apart villagers but then slowly understand that there could be more to her life that just death and watching the growth between herself and Owen was everything.

The story itself is a bit like The Little Mermaid meets Maleficent and I think those two worked together nicely so you had some of the familiar beats but the way the setting expanded from the sea to the woods was a lot of fun as the threat appeared to be growing closer to its ultimate goal with each new sapling.

I think this was a really great book and I’m glad it lived up to the praises I’ve seen so far from other readers and it’s definitely one I think is best read on a cozy night outside where you could let yourself be surrounded by the trees and the creatures that might be lurking amongst them.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Into the Heartless Wood is derivative of the wonderful Disney modern stories Maleficent and So This is Love, but unfortunately does not possess their magic.
Despite passionate characters and a creative plot, the gore and grim fates overpower.
The book reads as a middle grade novel but contains adult content.

Thanks for the ARC

I really did not think I was going to like this book because I can never connect to books with male main characters. I really enjoyed this book despite that and I will definitely read it again. I love books with romance so if you like that this book is great for you!