Forest Demands Its Due

The only way to get past fear is through it. That’s true. But it’s the same for grief.

The only other book I’ve read by this author was a romcom, so I was curious to see how a YA horror would compare. I actually think I might like Kosoko Jackson’s approach to this genre even more. There were some flaws here for sure, but overall, I found this to be a highly entertaining read for the spooky season. The cover reflects the vibes of the spooky forest around the mysterious and prestigious Regent Academy spot-on. I loved every part of the book that took part in those woods and/or dealt with the weird creatures that inhabit them. I also enjoyed how the supernatural horror elements were braided with the more mundane, social horror ones. On one side, we’ve got the scary forest with monsters and curses, but on the other side, we have institutionalized racism. The monsters, come to think, feel friendlier.

I thought that the beginning of the story felt a little rushed, like the author was in a hurry to introduce the exciting elements (there’s something going on in this school! the woods are weird! someone just died and nobody remembers!) and get the action going. I’ve got nothing against getting to the meat of the story fast! I often love in media res beginnings, even. But in this case, it felt like hurrying to get there sacrificed a bit of the set-up and made me struggle for a bit to vibe with Douglas as the protagonist. However, once the pacing evened out a few chapters in and the narrative started feeling more balance, I began to really enjoy experiencing the story through his eyes. He’s a really angry guy, which is understandable given what he’s been through, but underneath that, he’s also pretty kind. I like characters like that. I also really felt for his relationship with his mother.

I do wish the magical powers Douglas got were a bit more strictly defined and less convenient, and that the monsters were somewhat harder to deal with because they didn’t always live up to their own hype. But overall, the power scale felt appropriate enough for a YA book, I guess. And the horror and dakr academia vibes were so good throughout.