DARKWOOD is beautifully written, compelling, atmospheric, richly imagined...but still unsatisfying. Despite Breen's wonderful, polished writing, I felt like I was reading a sketch or an outline - the bare bones of a story that hadn't been fully developed.

I was drawn in from the very beginning by the eerie setting, the barren outpost of a strange land where night falls instantly and the darkness is so complete it strands every citizen inside his or her home until the sun rises again.

And I loved the book's heroine, Annie. She's curious and clever and loyal, a survivor. Like so many lead characters in fantasy stories, Annie comes from a miserable broken family. Her parents are dead, her sister is dead, and she lives with her alcoholic uncle and bitter aunt.

Annie is quiet and obedient, mostly trying to stay under the radar, until she finds out that her uncle is planning to sell her into slavery as a miner. Children are sent to pick precious stones from nooks and crannies where adult bodies will not fit, and they are worked so hard and treated so poorly that few live longer than a year or two.

Rather than accept this horrible fate, Annie runs away. First she plans to save herself - then she decides it's her duty to save all the other children, too. And so begins a series of wild adventures - Annie stumbles rapidly from dizzying highs to devastating lows, chances upon allies who are instantly devoted to her and falls into traps laid by enemies who are always a step ahead. The author lays down obvious clues that Annie ignores for far too long (she encounters the kinderstalk - huge, predatory wolves - five or six times without being attacked...but doesn't stop to question why she's been spared), while Annie warns the king of obvious dangers and he doesn't pay attention.

The thing is, DARKWOOD is pretty short...and a LOT happens. So instead of carefully developing each plot point, Breen cuts corners. And it shows. So even though the writing is fantastic, even though I loved the cast of characters, even though I could drown in the atmosphere, I couldn't get over the weak story. I enjoyed reading, but I was disappointed.

That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to read the sequel. ( )

Darkwood, a coming-of-age adventure, kept me entertained from beginning to end. Thirteen year old Annie is everything a protaganist should be, flawed, but brave and loyal to those she loves. There could easily be a sequel to Darkwood, but I'd be happy with anything else from this author. ( )

I came across Darkwood like I do so many other books: I checked it in for someone at my library! I couldn't resist the dark eerie cover and the determined expression on the girls face, the wolves in the background, and the cats creeping around her. The story inside did not disappoint. It was an incredible adventure story much in the style of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

I loved Annie's character. She had so much courage! Her and her two cats, Isadora & Prudence, steal away into the suffocating darkness to escape her uncle and the adventure begins---and doesn't stop until the very end! The darkness is almost a character of it's own: when it fell, it falls fast and engulfed everyone in complete blindness. The storylines were amazing, changing and twisting throughout the whole book, so that even the characters goals morphed several times. Along the way, Annie finds some very important lost things and discovers alot about her true self.

So many interesting characters help the story along, good and bad. My favorites were the sisters Serena and Beatrice, who take Annie in and care for her like their own, protecting her like mama bears. They are twins but they are physical opposites, one is large and strong, the other is small and slight, but both are so sweet. I couldn't help but love them! As for the bad, there is a character that is named only as the Apothecary who is so terrifying, each of her scenes had my skin crawling!

There is so much here: mystery, adventure, terror, royal intrigue, war, and love! I definitely recommend picking this one up if you get the chance! Check your local library or grab a copy of the newly released paperback! ( )

A young orphan named Annie flees her fate by escaping to the dark, dangerous woods bordering Howland, where she must survive being hunted by kinderstalk before discovering her destiny.

Darkwood is set in a fantastical world where night comes in an instant – without stars, without a moon, without warning, the sky becomes pitch black. The woods are prowled by kinderstalk; wolf-like beasts who supposedly steal children in the night. It is in this world Annie lives. After spending years living with her evil uncle and passive aunt, Annie is sold to the local mine as a slave. She soon discovers things are not as they seem, and the mine may be covering a darker, more sinister secret. After escaping and braving the woods, she decides to inform Howland's Prince of the mine's dealings -- a decision which sets her on a path to discovering who she truly is and what her destiny is to be.

Darkwood has many of the markings of a classic Grimms fairytale. It is a dark, eerie, fully engrossing story in which the heroine must overcome her meager beginnings and insurmountable evil in order to succeed. Because of this darkness, however, it may not be suited for all who can read it. Images of talking wolf-creatures who hunt children and evil men who enslave children and let them fall to their doom may be too intense for some young readers. However, I recommend this book for ages 10 and up, and see no reason it should not be in a middle school libary or in a juvenile fiction section of a public library. Due to the title, cover art, and summary, most children who would read this novel would be drawn to it precisely for its dark, "creepy" atmosphere. ( )

I got this book because I loved the cover and the title. Then I read the synopsis and it sounded very fairy tale like and intriguing and I was hooked. Overall it was an okay book; it wasn't as engaging as I had hoped but it was still an okay read.

Thirteen year old Annie lives with her cruel uncle and her passive aunt. Just when she thinks things can't get any worse she is sold off to work at The Drop, a horrible mine. Rather than do what her uncle wants she escapes and wanders out into the forest to brave the darkness and the Kinderstalk. Soon Annie finds out that she is not like the other children, she can see in the dark. She also finds out that there is a plot that goes much deeper than selling kids off to die at the Drop; she is the only one who knows what it is and it is up to her to warn the king. If she doesn't all her friends will die.

This is a very dark book and is very reminiscent of a Brother's Grimm fairy tale which is what I was hoping for. The book is dark both in all of the misery the characters go through and in the setting; Annie does much of her journey in the dark.

Unfortunately I had a hard time getting into this book. The writing style was okay but didn't match the story very well. With a fairy tale you are hoping for some lush description, and that was missing in this book for me. I also never really cared for any of the characters very much. Annie was too different and strange to ever be personable; she never shows much emotion at any of the horrible things that happen to her. The majority of the other characters were evil and cruel; there wasn't much light in this story at all. I found Annie's path through the book to be a bit wandering and unfocused. In general I just had a lot of trouble with this book holding my attention.

I did enjoy the dark tone of the book and a world where the night is absolute darkness makes an excellent setting for a dark fairy-tale. I just could not get into the characters or the story and found it to be kind of boring in general.

Overall an okay book, not one of my favorites. If you are a fan of dark Grimm-like fairy tales you might enjoy this book. Otherwise I would skip this one. ( )