Review Detail

VERY BIG NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT VISIT GERMANY. DO NOT STAY IN A CASTLE. even though it'd be really really really really cool to do so, and would eliminate a thing off your bucket list.

Black Forest Bound by Lorelei Gray is YA fantasy novel that a group of teens, who get stranded in a mysterious dark castle in the middle of Germany's infamous, Black Forest. Which wouldn't be all that bad, if characters from the brother's Grimm fairy tales weren't coming to life and trying to kill them. And the only way to stay alive, is to solve a great many puzzles and escape the forest. Which is easier said than done.

This book easily stole my heart with the mere mention of their being elements of fairy tales in it. As anything involving the brothers Grimm, is a win in my book. But the way Gray blends the mystical elements of a classic fairy tale and the thrill of an adventure, made this book utterly amazing. I certainly can't wait to read more of Sadie and Jenny's adventure in book two, Black Forest Burning.

Though this isn't all to say that I wouldn't change a thing about Gray's book. Instead there simply was too many characters to keep track of. First there was just Sadie. And then there was Jenny. And then there was eight other student characters that quickly became a chimera of character in my head, due to them being so eerily similar. I think slimming down the number of names thrown throughout the book, might have helped clear up the confusion. While bringing Sadie and Jenny into the forefront, with on single POV.

Overall, I found Black Forest Bound to be quite an amazing read. Especially so with it being Lorelei Gray's debut. I can't wait to pick up the sequel, and see where Sadie and Jenny's story goes from here. And what other fairy tales are going to be mentioned.