Student Review:
Review by: Heather R(11th Grade)
Grade Range: 7th Grade and up
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Literary Merit: Excellent
Characterization: Good
Review:
The Wood is a tale of decision making that revolves around a girl named Winter Parish. Winter, as a young girl, knew that the woods outside her house were more than what meets the eye. Her dad, tasked as the guardian for the woods, would always go on patrols into the woods that normal people could not and should not see. Winter was destined to take his role, but she was not supposed to take it at the early age of sixteen. Everything in her life seemed fine until the day her dad went into the woods and never came back. She could hear his words echoing in her head: “Do not travel from the paths. Do not linger after dark. Do not ignore the calling.” To Winter, it seemed like the answers she was getting about her dad’s “death” were not entirely true. As time moved on, she kept up the role of guardian that had been given to her rather quickly. Day after day and threshold after threshold became the daily pattern. Protecting humans from the hallucinations and delirium of the Wood seemed to become second nature to her until the day she met the one human that refused to go back into the threshold from the timeline that he belonged to. On top of that, he knew more than he should have known. That was the moment when she realized that something was not right, at all. Someone was telling lies and she needed to find out who for the hopes that the information from that breakthrough would lead to her dad. It was a long shot, but there were limited ways that she could go about the situation. It clearly seemed like she was going to have to ignore the warnings of her dad and the authority above her if she was going to break through all the lies.

The first element of The Wood that drew me in to it was the simplicity and uniqueness of the cover. One side of the cover had a coloured leaf with liquid dripping off of its edges. The other side of the book had that same leaf on it, but the colour was leached from it to model a significant moment from the book. Overall, the cover did do the book justice for accurately reflecting the content that took place in the book. The book had elements of both fantasy and horror. The pace of the book was set perfectly and there were not any unnecessary events or details added into it. The two main characters of the book, Winter Parish and Henry Durant, were great characters, yet they had some flaws to them. The two of the characters did not seem to develop much throughout the story, but it is very hard for an author to show true character development when the book is not a part of a series. Throughout the book there was a message that working alone does not accomplish what teamwork can accomplish. Overall, the author did a marvelous job at conveying this message.

Librarian Review:
“Do not travel from the paths. Do not linger after dark. Do not ignore the calling.” Winter is the guardian of the Wood behind her house, and she has been trained to follow those rules. She is the latest in a long line of her ancestors to have this responsibility. After her father disappears during a patrol, it’s up to Winter to take responsibility as the sole guardian of her family’s territory of the Wood. Her main objective is to patrol for “travelers” who have accidentally stumbled through a portal from another time and place and ended up in the Wood. One day she meets a traveler who has come to the woods intentionally. He is searching for his parents, and he believes that their disappearance may be related to whatever happened to Winter’s father. In order for them to investigate, Winter must break another rule by allowing Henry, who is from 18th century England, to cross over into the present time.
I have to preface this by saying that books set in modern times that have fantastical elements are not really my jam, so some of my issues with the book might have more to do with personal preference and an unwillingness to suspend disbelief. From the outset, I had a hard time buying into the premise of a magical Wood in Columbus, Ohio. (If there is a magical forest in Ohio, I don’t think it would in or near Columbus...someone would have plowed it over to build a “community” of houses that all look the same). Winter leads a double life: one as a magical guardian against time traveling (in a sentient Wood that becomes bloodthirsty after dark) who answers to a council of immortal beings and another as a high school student with a truancy issue. The mythology of the Wood was just not enough for me to be pulled into the story. A villain from centuries ago conveniently pops up halfway through the book to provide a conflict, and it just seemed contrived and not fleshed out enough. As a time traveler, Henry (unsurprisingly) is astounded by electricity, television, the fact that women wear pants. He also is fascinated by the Rubik's cube and the tv shows Saved by the Bell and Three’s Company. At first, I thought, maybe this is set in the 80s or 90s? But no, there are smartphones and computers, so...I don’t know. I will be interested to see what my student review thinks of this one. Right now, I’m calling this an optional purchase, but her opinion may sway me.