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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Back to Bayern, September 16, 2009
This review is from: Forest Born (Books of Bayern) (Hardcover)
When I found out that Shannon Hale would be writing another Book of Bayern, I have to admit that I was a little bit skeptical. So often in the modern entertainment world, it seems like writers, actors, and movie producers make more of the same thing not because they have another story to tell but because they want to make money off of the public.
However, there were two things that convinced me to read this book. First, "Forest Born" is not a sequel. I enjoyed having read the other books (Goose Girl, Enna Burning, and River Secrets) first, but this one has an enitrely different main character. It could stand alone. Second, I love Shannon Hale's first three Books of Bayern. I trust her enough as an author to write for the sake of the story and not for the sake of publicity. The fact that I am twenty years old and still enjoy reading her books for pleasure (which in my mind is one of the main joys of reading), should testify to her writing ability.
All that being said, I bought "Forest Born" and loved it. What made it stand out was not the plot (although the plot was captivating) but the character development. I could understand and relate to Rin more than I ever have to most literary characters. Reading her story was a little like looking into myself.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, whether or not they've read the other three Books of Bayern. Full of excitement and insight, I can't wait to reread it again.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I liked it but not my favorite, September 26, 2009
This review is from: Forest Born (Books of Bayern) (Hardcover)
I love Shannon Hale's writing. I've been a huge fan since Princess Academy. Then came Goose Girl. I snatched each one up as soon as they came out because I couldn't get enough. Not only can she tell a good, original story, but she does it with flowing language and beautiful imagery. Forest Born has that same voice but I can't say that it's my favorite.
Rin is Razo's younger sister, the youngest of the siblings, and as it often happens, she has a hard time figuring out who she is. She tries to shadow her Ma, Razo, and even the trees. Especially the trees, which seem to speak a language she can understand and get lost in. But there is something else about her that is ugly and black and wanting to get out. It's an internal battle and only she can fight it. It's teenage angst told in Bayern style.
As with all of Shannon Hale's characters, I fell in love with this one. I loved Rin's character and I wanted her to find herself but the journey was filled with so much self-loathing and self-pity that the only moments of relief are the scenes with Razo, Isi, Enna, and Dasha. I understand the the journey of self-discovery is a long one and often a difficult one. I didn't have a pleasant adolescence so I get that. And I don't mind dark and twisty stories. But it's difficult to read about someone's inner tortured angst for 300 pages. The action starts to pick up towards the end and that is when Rin begins to make progress. By then, I just wanted to find out how it would end.
I wanted to like this book. I was so excited to hear that another Bayern book was coming out. But like Rin, this book feels like a shadow of the other ones. At first I thought the author was stretching to create another story but when I finished the book, I realized there were parts of the story that had not been completed or explained and she did so here. But something was missing. The writing is still enchanting, the language about the forest was magical but I wasn't spellbound. The other books, I couldn't put down. This one took days to finish because I found it difficult to want to pick it up again.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grade A+ book, October 18, 2009
This review is from: Forest Born (Books of Bayern) (Hardcover)
Rin has had a happy childhood in the Forest of Bayern. But as she grows older, she realizes that she doesn't know who she is, what she is supposed to be--or if she even likes what she might become. To discover herself, she leaves the forest, her beloved trees and even more beloved family, to become a handmaid to Isi, her brother Razo's friend--who also happens to be the Queen of Bayern. War has only just ended, but a new, mysterious threat faces the monarchs. Rin joins Isi, Enna, and Dasha (the three mysterious "fire sisters" who can speak the languages of wind, fire, and water) on a mission to save Bayern and the queen's own son. Rin soon realizes that in order to be truly helpful, she must find her own self (and maybe her own language) along the way.
Shannon Hale is, in my opinion, one of the best contemporary authors, so it means a lot when I say that Forest Born is one of my favorites of her books, and that Rin is my favorite character. Upon beginning the book, I felt a little disappointed with Rin, feeling that her character wasn't as well developed or interesting as Bayern's other heroines--but then I was knocked over with Shannon Hale's ability to use a seeming flaw as a crucial element to the plot. I hate spoilers, so I won't give anything away...but Rin's struggles and victories make her arguably the strongest Hale character yet. For those of you who follow Shannon Hale's work religiously, I felt that Forest Born's plot was not as heart-stopping as Enna Burning's or as well-paced as Princess Academy's, and that the humor was not quite up to the level of River Secrets. (But they're still very good.) On the other hand, her descriptions and metaphors are better than ever, and...the characters! Every book has its own particular strength and Forest Born's is the characters. Rin is inspirational, and you'll be pleased to see the old cast of friends come back into play.
Readers will love Forest Born, but I should add that writers could use it as a lesson in creating a story that can simultaneously follow a protagonist's growth, learning and development as well as an intriguing action plot. These elements, to me, are what made Forest Born one of the most enjoyable stories I've read this year.
(You can read my full review, and more of my reviews at my blog: [...])
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