“Whisper of the Forest” is the debut of Marlena Joanna Sychowska, although the author’s writing style was already known in the anthology “Z Christmasinki interrupted”, for which she wrote one of the stories
The Whisper of the Forest is the first retelling I had the pleasure of reading. Here we have themes from such fairy tales as Beauty and the Beast , Snow White and Cinderella . After this reading, it is definitely impossible to look at the childhood fairy tales in the same way.
The cover itself catches the eye, it is atmospheric, it has no glamor. In addition, one of the wings has a QR code for the Spotify playlist, thanks to which we can listen to the music that inspired the author while reading. Another advantage is the variety of the first pages of the chapters with the graphics of the forest. There was also a beautifully made map of the Seven Kingdoms.
What is still interesting in the entire composition, are the last pages of the book read? Are you passing it on to someone else? Share your impressions! – I’ve never seen anything like this before. Although I am not an advocate of writing books, and I leave good positions for myself, I like the initiative itself. A good solution for fans of making notes, saving interesting quotes.
Throughout the visual setting, you can see efforts to make the book not only delightful with its content, but also pleasing to the eye.
Heroes
The Whisper of the Forest is a story of three people told just by me, each chapter is a different perspective. We have Eillen, Jahter, and Cedric. Marlena did not take the easy way by using a third-person narrative, only thanks to the first-person – or actually first-person – we could feel the characters more, understand them better.
I expected the heroes to be fairy-tale characters, but they have their own characters.
At the very beginning, the Mirror makes an exceptional statement, mysteriously explaining its role in the whole story.
I liked the performance of the woodcutter Jahter the most. He is a straight man, but has something attractive about him. From my observations it appears that most of the readers went to the forest after reading in search of lumberjacks.
Eillen, on the other hand, is the epitome of an angel. She is delicate and cute. And she must definitely have a typical female intuition, since she was so panicked about the Most Beautiful Ball.
History
The Whisper of the Forest contains not only well-created heroes, but also an interesting story. You can feel a reference to well-known fairy tales – which is not strange, it is finally retelling – but there is something of its own in it. The ending is definitely surprising, it’s not a typical happy ending, it doesn’t shed tears, but it’s magical.
For everyone in Amarata, the Most Beautiful Ball is an important event, and for women it is even desired. The beloved for the king is chosen, but why doesn’t anyone argue that it is held every year?
It practically begins with the prom, it makes everything happen, but it is just a piece of the whole story. In many fairy tales, balls were fairy-tale-like, here it was the bane of the chosen one. Additionally, the love thread – I liked the most that it is not so obvious in the whole story. He shows up but he’s not intrusive, the book doesn’t just focus on him.
There is also humor in the book, especially when Dunhan and Jahter enter the scene, their remarks towards each other can make you laugh, I especially liked the one when our woodcutter was given a job.
Pen
The whisper of the forest in reading is very pleasant, and the author’s style is light. There are many descriptions that can put you in the mood, thanks to them we can not only imagine the places surrounding the characters, but also get there, feel what they feel. We are with them. For this, dialogues are introduced naturally.
The position is not only perfect for summer rest, but I am sure that winter evenings under a blanket with reading in hand will also be a pleasure. I know I will be coming back to Whispers many more times, and I hope this is just the beginning of a good series. Marlena once again congratulates the publication and thank you for your trust when the story was created and I could sometimes give a hint or delight when the book was just being written. I am also grateful for the nice dedication on the first page!