I am back with another book review, today it is The Wood by Chelsea Bobulski.
The book follows the story of Winter, a teen whose family has been tasked with being guardians of the woods behind their house. For generations, they have helped travelers from other times find their way back home, guiding them to the tear they came through to get to Winter's time. But after the sudden disappearance of her father into the woods, Winter is forced to take over his duties as the guardian and send the travelers home. Except, there's one who just won't stay in his time. A boy her age looking for his parents, fellow guardians who have also gone missing. He is convinced that the disappearances of his parents and Winter's father are related somehow and together they begin to unravel the secrets that those in charge of time travel, the Council, don't want them to find out.
I'm not too sure why I thought this was going to be a horror book - maybe it was the creepy cover or the synopsis talking about Winter's father disappearing. Because of this random thought, it took me a little bit to get into the story. I had to adjust to what it was actually going to be about. But once I did, I was fully invested. In fact, I read the whole thing in a few hours in one sitting - something that doesn't happen often for me. The chapters were the perfect length to describe what was going on, but make me read just one more after, and then another, and another. By the time I was ready for bed, I was a few chapters from the end and needed to see how things ended.
This book reminded me a little bit of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray, just with the time travel and parent disappearance aspects. Despite these similar echoes, I found the story fairly unique and interesting. I don't typically read a lot of books about time travel because I think it is something that is hard to do right. There are a lot of science-y things that need to go into explaining how and why it is possible. Bobulski didn't necessarily go out of her way to explain the reasoning, but I was able to enjoy the story with the details I was given.
As with any typical YA romance, you get two characters who are similar in age and you're going to get a romance. I don't think the romance took much away from the story because it wasn't a major aspect. Winter knew what she needed to do to get her father back and if Henry could help her, great. Nonetheless, there was definitely some palpable chemistry between the characters, especially towards the ending.
The characters were fairly well portrayed. I liked Winter and how she wasn't so blinded by love to make rational decisions. I wouldn't say she is a particularly remarkable main character, but I liked her just the same. Henry, on the other hand, was fantastic. It was so refreshing to see such a wholesome and gentlemanly character. He's from 18th century England, so it makes sense, but it was still so nice to see his innocence and awe at how the world had changed. He stood by his word and didn't have any ulterior motives, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, this was a really unique book that, while was nothing like what I had imagined, quite enjoyed.
The book follows the story of Winter, a teen whose family has been tasked with being guardians of the woods behind their house. For generations, they have helped travelers from other times find their way back home, guiding them to the tear they came through to get to Winter's time. But after the sudden disappearance of her father into the woods, Winter is forced to take over his duties as the guardian and send the travelers home. Except, there's one who just won't stay in his time. A boy her age looking for his parents, fellow guardians who have also gone missing. He is convinced that the disappearances of his parents and Winter's father are related somehow and together they begin to unravel the secrets that those in charge of time travel, the Council, don't want them to find out.
I'm not too sure why I thought this was going to be a horror book - maybe it was the creepy cover or the synopsis talking about Winter's father disappearing. Because of this random thought, it took me a little bit to get into the story. I had to adjust to what it was actually going to be about. But once I did, I was fully invested. In fact, I read the whole thing in a few hours in one sitting - something that doesn't happen often for me. The chapters were the perfect length to describe what was going on, but make me read just one more after, and then another, and another. By the time I was ready for bed, I was a few chapters from the end and needed to see how things ended.
This book reminded me a little bit of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray, just with the time travel and parent disappearance aspects. Despite these similar echoes, I found the story fairly unique and interesting. I don't typically read a lot of books about time travel because I think it is something that is hard to do right. There are a lot of science-y things that need to go into explaining how and why it is possible. Bobulski didn't necessarily go out of her way to explain the reasoning, but I was able to enjoy the story with the details I was given.
As with any typical YA romance, you get two characters who are similar in age and you're going to get a romance. I don't think the romance took much away from the story because it wasn't a major aspect. Winter knew what she needed to do to get her father back and if Henry could help her, great. Nonetheless, there was definitely some palpable chemistry between the characters, especially towards the ending.
The characters were fairly well portrayed. I liked Winter and how she wasn't so blinded by love to make rational decisions. I wouldn't say she is a particularly remarkable main character, but I liked her just the same. Henry, on the other hand, was fantastic. It was so refreshing to see such a wholesome and gentlemanly character. He's from 18th century England, so it makes sense, but it was still so nice to see his innocence and awe at how the world had changed. He stood by his word and didn't have any ulterior motives, which I really enjoyed.
Overall, this was a really unique book that, while was nothing like what I had imagined, quite enjoyed.