Daughter of the Forest: Sevenwaters, Book 1

Nancyhua

After this book, I ended up reading every book Marillier published

"The Sevenwaters series is Marillier's best work, so start with this book if you have never read her before. This book led me to read all her other stuff. You fall in love with the amazing characters, especially the female protagonist, and when the book ends you miss them. People face tough decisions that have to do with love, duty, family, sacrifice, and Marillier describes these emotions so powerfully that you feel and admire the characters' struggles. For Sorcha to have to endure so much punishment and mistrust because of her forced silence, when she treats those who abuse her with kindness, you grow to love and admire her devotion to her brothers, to herself, to her community. The effect is more powerful in that she can only narrate these feelings to you, the reader, while the rest of the community has no idea what drives her. Many of Marillier's characters carry pain and secrets that color their lives. That's part of why Marillier's people and worlds are so real: every place and person has a history, a hint of having their own story that no one can fully learn. Even the villains feel their pain and anger so deeply you can't help but understand and fear them. As each book passes, you feel you know the characters like old friends and welcome their return. Due to her wonderful characters, the love story never fails to move me to tears. For Marillier's characters, love is about sacrifice, courage, and hope. The love she describes is so strong and grows in such a complex world that it always comes with pain. The amazing thing is she doesn't get graphic or have many scenes between the lovers for you to feel it. Her ability to get you to invest in the emotions really pays off here: a glance or a kiss takes your breath away because you understand what it took for this love to grow and endure, for these people to even be able to meet again. Marillier is a gifted storyteller who knows how to get into the daily life of each character without it seeming mundane. This approach makes the story so much more real, and Marillier can sketch a complex scene with efficiency. In just a few pages you feel every month Sorcha spends stitching those shirts, all the days she spends healing the soldier; she sucks you into the world by describing even the painful passing years, but her lyrical language (which matches well with the historical fantasy), her descriptions, and the emotions prevent it from being boring. Few writers so skillfully deal with the passage of time, so fully imagine another person in another world and so beautifully show their lives. The world she builds is alive, mysterious, and filled with natural beauty. I also love Ireland and gain pleasure from her inclusion of old Irish lore. I am eagerly awaiting her next book and my next trip to Ireland! ["

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September 6, 2010 Verified Purchase

Lady with a Quill

Scary Yet Beautiful Fairytale

"Please Note: There is a trigger warning at the end of this review. There was a cartoon I used to watch as a kid called The Wild Swans. It was very short, made in the 60s in Russia, and dubbed in English. I would watch it constantly, captivated by the story, the drama, and the romance. Packed into an hour was the story of a young woman on a quest to save her brothers. One of my earliest childhood memories was of a female heroine - is it any wonder I grew up knowing I could be the hero of my own story? Daughter of the Forest tells the same story, differently, with its own spin on the classic fairy tale. It's emotional, scary and beautiful all at once, and it tells of humanity and the good in people, no matter where they come from. It also teaches that evil is everywhere, amongst your enemies and your family. Evil knows no borders but neither does good. There once was a lord with seven children, six sons and one daughter. The wife having died in childbirth, he withdrew in his grief and showed no love towards his children, and so they became a family amongst themselves. Each unique in their own way, they all played together and protected each other, until one day it wasn't enough. An evil sorceress took control of their father, married him, and began to tear apart their family. Casting a spell on the brothers, she stole their humanity, but the sister escaped. In order to save her family, she was sent on a quest to create shirts for each of her brothers, which, when worn by them, would return to them their humanity. But it would not be easy, and she would have to go through many trials of pain and suffering before her brothers could be returned to her. She could trust no one, for enemies lurked everywhere. Of course, in every fairytale, good triumphs over evil. This is that fairytale. I can't tell you how happy it made me to read this book! It brought back memories of that long ago cartoon that was so beloved by me as a child, and I couldn't wait to read it as a tale for adults. Of course, it was much bloodier and terrifying in this form, and I found myself struggling to contain my emotions as I worked through the tale. Sorcha suffered so much for her family, and her brothers suffered as well. It was hard to read as Sorcha witnessed the worst of mankind, but it was eventually made better as she saw the good as well. The hero of this story was Sorcha, but she found a guardian in a man who saw her for who she was, not what she was. When your life is on the line, the line between enemy and friend blur, and both of them realized that the person you are determines who your friends are. Treat people well, as you would want to be treated, and good will come back to you. It may take time, and it may not seem worth it, but in the end, you are better for it. This is the first in a series, first written in 1999, so you have lots of reading to do! This is a wonderful start, written by an amazing author. Highly recommended. Trigger Warning: There is a rape scene in the story, so please keep in mind if that is a concern for you. **I received a free copy via NetGalley and this is my honest review.** ["

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April 4, 2020 Verified Purchase

ViolettePen

Exquisite, heartfelt fantasy tale of love, sacrifice, and Celtic mysticism

"Someone had told me that once I'd read one book by New Zealand fantasy writer Juliet Marillier, I'd want to read them all. Dear heart, now I know why. Marillier's debut novel Daughter of the Forest is an exquisite tale of love, loyalty, and sacrifice that sweeps readers into medieval Ireland. Young Sorcha of Sevenwaters is the only one who can break the curse placed on her six older brothers by her father's new sorceress wife. Her task? To weave shirts for each of her brothers from the fibers of a nettle plant, and remain silent until she's done - a task that proves increasingly difficult when Sorcha is captured by the Britons. Marillier's writing here is simple yet heartfelt, expressing Sorcha's tangled emotions with ease. The romance between Sorcha and Red is also masterfully handled; it's slow-building yet intense, without overpowering the plot. My only critique is that the long chapters (30+ pages on average) made reading this book feel like a marathon. Yet I felt for Sorcha so deeply and savored the undercurrents of Celtic paganism that set this book apart from other fantasy novels I've read. If you're a fan of Ursula K. Le Guin or enjoy a dash of folklore in your fantasy, you really should consider Daughter of the Forest. I'm already looking forward to the rest of the Sevenwaters Trilogy, as well as the rest of Marillier's repertoire. ["

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June 23, 2015 Verified Purchase

Kelly A.

Daughter of the Forest Review by Live, Love, Read

"Official Review on my blog: http://www.livelovereadya.wordpress.com My Review: Note to my reviewers: I wrote a beautiful review of this novel, and then accidently refreshed the page and lost it all. So, brokenheartedly, this review may be shorter and not as heartfelt as what you would expect from me. I don’t think there is any other way to begin this review than to just come out and say it; Sorcha is amazing. I’ve never met a heroine that even comes close to her bravery, determination, and class. She is, by far, one of the strongest female characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about and I thank Juliet Marillier for breaking my heart multiple times, just so that I could meet and fall in love with her wonderful, wonderful heroine. Marillier’s plot doesn’t twist and fall like a rollercoaster; Rather, it rises and falls steadily as the waves of the ocean, pulling and pushing you towards the outcome. She takes you through Sorcha’s life so that you can play, laugh, scream, cry, love, and, most importantly, grow with her. I became attached to Sorcha very quickly not only because of this steady rise and fall, but because of Marillier’s need for Sorcha to be a realistic and lovable character as well. Sorcha encounters darkness numerous times throughout this novel, but she never lets it burn out her light. She holds her head high through the rough times and takes the pain of her burdens with an air of class, dignity, and a sense of purpose. With that being said, there is a scene in Daughter of the Forest that I would like to acknowledge, for it touched very close to my heart. I do not wish to spoil the story and, if I’m being quite honest, I do not necessarily wish to talk about this scene, but I feel that it needs to be said because if you are anything like me, you will spend an hour after reading this scene sobbing into your pillow just trying to mask the cries and put your heart back together again. I will not tell you what scene it is, but you will know once you read it, for it is not only a game changer in the novel, but it is also a very realistic and heart wrenching problem in today’s society. I’d like to thank Miss Marillier for bringing this scene to life and addressing it with an air of dignity and purpose. It was generally torturous and horrific to read, but you put it into your novel so that we, as readers, would know a very important fact about Sorcha’s heart. Having Sorcha go through this issue alone and come out of changed was inevitable. However, Marillier made Sorcha come out of this situation with realistic emotions and reactions that are characteristic of a human being who has been through this ordeal. Because of this, Sorcha is able to become a very real and very hurt character that you can connect to on a deeper level. What I would like to acknowledge about Marillier and her plot is that not only does Sorcha get through this ordeal, but she handles it with strength and, once again, dignity. She does not let the darkness that overcame her that day burn out the light that is still inside her. She grows next to the darkness, but does not let it become her. Many people in our world, the real world, succumb to the darkness too easily after having an ordeal such as that happen to them. With that being said, Miss Marillier heroically created a character that finally is able to be broken by the darkness, but learn to grow passed it and become a stronger woman because of it. Thank you, Juliet. I had never heard of this novel before the #DOTFreadalong. I will openly admit that it has changed my life to read this novel and has moved me in a way that I did not think possible. I am not an easy crier and to have sobbed through this book has proven exactly how much it has earned all 5 of its stars. 5 stars for Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier If you have not read this novel yet, I urge you to get off your computer, go hunt down a copy of this novel, and read it as if your life depended on it. It will move your soul. ["

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March 10, 2015 Verified Purchase