The Phantom Forest
by Liz Kerin
Member: Faith_Murri
Basics
The Phantom Forest
Kerin, Liz
I received this eARC from Inkshares via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.
DNF at 19%
I know I said I'd try to read a few more chapters (or even finish the chapter I was on tbh), but this book literally puts me to sleep, and I just can't lie to myself or to NetGalley any longer. I will not be finishing this.
This book feels like a mish-mash of everything that was popular in 2008-2011. It's got the demons from another realm from [b:Angelfall|15863832|Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)|Susan Ee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464206558l/15863832._SY75_.jpg|16435765] and [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432730315l/256683._SY75_.jpg|2267189]. It's got the postapocalypse from [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447303603l/2767052._SX50_.jpg|2792775] and Angelfall again. It's got the girl searching for her sibling from Angelfall again. It's got the angsty love interest with a tortured past from every single Beauty and the Beast retelling ever, of which YA is currently saturated.
In other words, it was generic af and offered me nothing I hadn't seen before, done infinitely better or at least marginally entertaining. I couldn't stand the repetitive and passive writing. The action sequences were dull and the sentence structure lacked pretty much any variety until I felt like a literal robot wrote this book.
The inciting incident, if you can call it that, was so hokey that I was actually baffled that it was in the book at all. Basically, MC Seycia and her brother are at the ritual sacrifice thing and almost get robbed but, while the entire community is chanting the ritual thing around her, this girl beats the crap out of the would-be thief, and then is like "wow, I wOnDeR iF AnYOnE NoTIcEd?"
And I also couldn't stand literally any of the characters, except maybe the Missing Sibling™ Miko, and only really because I got his perspective right before I decided to drop the book and he didn't have a chance to bore me to death yet.
The villain is laughably black and white, with only a little bit of depth that's quickly overshadowed by his cartoonishly evil actions and appearance.
But what bothers me the most is that the average rating is so high, and that the parts I found to be the worst are many people's favorites. It really makes me wonder if we read the same book.
DNF at 19%
I know I said I'd try to read a few more chapters (or even finish the chapter I was on tbh), but this book literally puts me to sleep, and I just can't lie to myself or to NetGalley any longer. I will not be finishing this.
This book feels like a mish-mash of everything that was popular in 2008-2011. It's got the demons from another realm from [b:Angelfall|15863832|Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1)|Susan Ee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464206558l/15863832._SY75_.jpg|16435765] and [b:City of Bones|256683|City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)|Cassandra Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432730315l/256683._SY75_.jpg|2267189]. It's got the postapocalypse from [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447303603l/2767052._SX50_.jpg|2792775] and Angelfall again. It's got the girl searching for her sibling from Angelfall again. It's got the angsty love interest with a tortured past from every single Beauty and the Beast retelling ever, of which YA is currently saturated.
In other words, it was generic af and offered me nothing I hadn't seen before, done infinitely better or at least marginally entertaining. I couldn't stand the repetitive and passive writing. The action sequences were dull and the sentence structure lacked pretty much any variety until I felt like a literal robot wrote this book.
The inciting incident, if you can call it that, was so hokey that I was actually baffled that it was in the book at all. Basically, MC Seycia and her brother are at the ritual sacrifice thing and almost get robbed but, while the entire community is chanting the ritual thing around her, this girl beats the crap out of the would-be thief, and then is like "wow, I wOnDeR iF AnYOnE NoTIcEd?"
And I also couldn't stand literally any of the characters, except maybe the Missing Sibling™ Miko, and only really because I got his perspective right before I decided to drop the book and he didn't have a chance to bore me to death yet.
The villain is laughably black and white, with only a little bit of depth that's quickly overshadowed by his cartoonishly evil actions and appearance.
But what bothers me the most is that the average rating is so high, and that the parts I found to be the worst are many people's favorites. It really makes me wonder if we read the same book.
Publication
Paperback
2019
Inkshares (2019), 336 pages
1947848992 / 9781947848993
Physical Summary
300
5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inch
0.91 pounds
300 p.; 5.5 inches
1
Languages
English
English
Item Comments
The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin (2019)
Identifiers
1947848992
1947848992
System
2019-12-09
176343353
amazon.com books
* Green text is "calculated" text. Calculated text is provided when your own data are absent, and is either based on other columns in your catalog (eg., the "summary" field) or from books in other members' libraries (eg., Dewey, LCC and subjects).
