MG: Willa of the Wood and Willa of Dark Hollow

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to get to Willa. This enchanting duology was one of my absolute favorites as a child. A haunting yet powerfully sweet tale of lost and found family, Willa of the Wood breathes an appreciation for nature and an acknowledgment of the changing world. Willa of Dark Hollow expands upon this as Willa struggles for balance between her old world and her new one.

Willa of the Wood

Move without a sound. Steal without a trace.

Willa, a young night-spirit of the Great Smoky Mountains, is her clan’s best thief. She creeps into the homes of day-folk under cover of darkness and takes what they won’t miss. It’s dangerous work–the day-folk kill whatever they do not understand–but Willa will do anything to win the approval of the padaran, the charismatic leader of the Faeran people.

When Willa’s curiosity leaves her hurt and stranded in the day world, she calls upon an ancient, unbreakable bond to escape. Only then does she discover the truth: not all day-folk are the same, and the magical foundations that have guarded the Faeran for eons are under attack.

As forces of unfathomable destruction encroach on her home, Willa must decide who she truly is. To save the day-folk family that has become her own–and lift the curse that has robbed her people of their truth–Willa will meet deadly force with trusted alliance, violence with shelter, and an ever-changing world with a steady heartbeat of courage.

This book is impactful, beautiful, and heart-rending. I can’t think of a single time that it didn’t bring a tear to my eye. Willa is powerful in her own quiet, gentle way, and I love how she and her found family change each other’s perspectives. Each scene is breathtaking in its vividness. Willa is broken and lost and confused, but each time she finds a new way, a new hope, a new path.

With unmistakable appreciation for the beauty of nature and the beauty of the written word, Willa of the Wood whispers the tale of how a girl was broken and found a way to piece herself back together.

Content Warnings:

Violence and blood, abuse, death.

Ratings:

Appropriate content: 4/5

Story construction: 5/5

Writing skill: 5/5

Ethics: 4/5

Other Information:

Christian: No

Point of view: Third person limited

Tense: Past

Romance: No

Series: Yes

Age recommendation: 9-15

Willa of Dark Hollow

Willa and her clan are the last of the Faeran, an ancient race of forest people who have lived in the Great Smoky Mountains for as long as the trees have grown there. But as crews of newly arrived humans start cutting down great swaths of the forest she loves, Willa is helpless to stop them. How can she fight the destroyers of the trees and their powerful machines?

When Willa discovers a mysterious dark hollow filled with strange and beautiful creatures, she comes to realize that it contains a terrifying force that seems to be hunting humans. Is someone unleashing these dangerous spirits? Could it be the wheat-haired girl Willa has spotted near the logging sites? Willa must find a way to save the people and animals she loves and take a stand against a consuming darkness that threatens to destroy her world.

*Willa of Dark Hollow* cover and summary. All rights belong to the author.

Willa of Dark Hollow picks up a few months after where Willa of the Wood left off, twisting an entirely new story out of threads of the first plot. Every revelation somehow ties back to the first book, eliminating any feeling of misplacement and mismatched stories that I often find in sequels. The ending is heartbreaking, hopeful, and just as powerful as the first.