#darkfantasyreads

A clever, grown-up Grimms’ tale with duty, desire, and a forest that bites back.

Pre-Reading Thoughts

The blurb promises bargains, mysterious lords, and fabled forests, so I’m expecting intrigue, careful plotting, and a protagonist who’s clever enough to outwit supernatural expectations. I’m hoping for a darkly whimsical tone with a sense of slow-build tension.

Post-Reading

As I thought… The tone is spot-on—Grimm-like, a little sinister, and utterly compelling. The characters feel real, even the ones whose behaviour can be frustrating, because their motives are clear. Katrien is clever and empathetic, and her training period is more engaging than I expected, full of clever lessons and quiet tension.

It surprised me by… …how much I enjoyed the careful pacing. Even though I misread the blurb and wanted faster forest action, the story’s focus on preparation and the relationships built during that time works beautifully. The romantic tension with Zaviera is delicate and earned, and the looming presence of the Redwood Man keeps the stakes high without rushing the narrative.

Music Pairing

🎵 Featured Song: “Breathe Me” – Sia 🎶 Vibe Album: Dark Fairy Tales: Strings & Shadows (imaginative mix!) 🎧 Artist Recommendation: Florence + The Machine (for the ethereal, tense energy)

Vibe Check

Colour Palette: Deep forest greens, muted browns, and soft candlelight gold Soundtrack: Darkly whimsical, suspenseful, a touch romantic Season: Late autumn – crisp, shadowy, and mysterious Mood: Clever, tense, quietly romantic Scent: Damp earth and old parchment

Tarot Pull

The High Priestess – Katrien embodies intuition, careful planning, and inner strength. Like the High Priestess, she navigates the unknown with wisdom, slowly uncovering secrets, balancing duty with desire, and trusting her instincts to guide her through the Redwood bargain.

For Fans Of

Book: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (for the fairy-tale-with-edge vibe)

TV/Film: Pan’s Labyrinth (for grown-up fairy-tale tension and clever protagonists)

📚 Book Review : Hollow by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti

⭐ 3.5

🌶 1.5

Hollow is a dark fantasy with a very different vibe, mixing spirits, necromancy, and a haunting atmosphere. The book grabs your attention right from the start, with shocking moments early on that immediately pull you into the story.

The main character, Ferris Creed, is strong, determined, and genuinely likable, even though her true nature remains a mystery in this first book. Overall, she’s a great character, but one thing that bothered me was how slow she can be in critical moments. This happens more than once, and it felt unnecessary and frustrating, especially considering how capable and smart she’s portrayed to be.

The male lead, Hendrix Bane, has a very intriguing presence and fits the villain-hero archetype perfectly on the surface. He constantly emphasizes how dangerous and powerful he is, but in practice, he ends up helping the protagonist most of the time, which made his character feel a bit overpromised in this first installment.

I really enjoyed the action scenes, fights, and moments involving spirits. However, there are sections with repetitive inner thoughts and dialogue that slow the pacing, especially around the middle of the book. That said, the story picks up again toward the end with more action and a solid plot twist.

Chapter 3: The Whispering Waters The swamp seemed to thicken around Jules, the trees leaning closer, their twisted branches knitting together above like skeletal fingers. Moonlight barely filtered through the canopy now, casting fragmented patches of silver onto the dark water below. Every step forward felt less sure, the path becoming harder to distinguish from the murky bog. A low mist curled…

PART I Chapter 1: The Whispering Shadows The cicadas screamed in the humid Louisiana night, their relentless hum vibrating through the dense canopy of moss-draped cypress trees. A pale sliver of moonlight cut through the swamp, casting long shadows across the marshy ground. Jules Landry crouched low near the ruins of what locals called the “ghost carnival,” a rotting remnant of something once…

🌕 A forgotten carnival. A rising red moon. Shadows that whisper… Jules must break the ancient curse of the Lune Rouge Carnival before time runs out. Follow or subscribe so you don’t miss it when it drops! 💀

They say the bayou never forgets… and neither does the Lune Rouge Carnival. But what really happened on that fateful night in 1959? Jules thought the whispers were just stories — tales spun by old-timers too fond of the past. But when shadowy figures and ghostly lights began to haunt their steps, the line between legend and reality blurred. Now, armed with nothing but a sketchbook and their…