Willa of the Wood (Willa of the Wood, Book 1)

I bought this book for my granddaughter years ago when she was about 10. I sat with her when we started reading it, and she finished it on her own. she told me that it was a good book, and being autistic, I believe that she learned more than just about the story from it.

This isn’t the usual fare, it really isn’t. It’s the story of 12 year old Willa, a member of the wild Faeran clan in the Great Smoky Mountains, people who used to live close to nature, no actually with nature, but nowadays they steal. And it’s the night Willa steals from one of the human homesteaders that her life gets turned upside down. The Faeran are a magical people, able to do woodmagic, to talk to animals and plants, to blend in their surroundings. Or at least, Willa is able to and she doesn’t tell about her abilities, because the leader of the clan forbids the old ways.He wants the young ones to steal and steal a lot. And when Willa starts to uncover that a lot of the things she was told about humans isn’t actually true and that her clan is on a path that brings it ever further away from its old ways, things get ugly and dangerous for her. But it also sets her on her own hero’s journey that changes her profoundly.I loved Willa! She is a great character and I totally believed her otherness. I appreciated that she isn’t automatically and inherently „good“, but grows into it. She learns from every encounter, be it with animal or people and the relationships she forms were heart-wrenching and wonderful at the same time. And it rattled my brain to think how hard her live just have been and what things she is able to live through… a real heroine.

I was gripped from the very beginning. This story was told most beautifully. The language, the way the author describes the Great Smokey Mountains, is wonderfully poetic. The main character is everything a person should be. I was rooting for her along the entire journey. I can't wait to read the sequel and see how Willa handles the logger situation.

I received my copy of Willa of the Wood and was ask to do an early review as I was happy to do on this book and the Serafina series. As a native of Western North Carolina I have spent much of my 74 years in the Smokey Mountains, Cherokee, Blue Ridge Parkway and , of course, the Biltmore Estate. You do not visit these places with just the "tourist" feeling but to me always places that you get the "feeling" there is more than meets the eye!! I have found in all of Robert Beatty's books he proves that to me the feelings are real. The Serafina books were very fast paced and a reading experience I have never felt and they prepared me for Willa of the Wood and her slipping in and out of places and experiences. I found myself cheering Willa on just as I did Serafina and wishing she would be more careful in her adventures. I loved hearing names I know like Cherokee and Clingman's Dome. As Willa did I have felt the magic of the mist rising on the mountains and felt there are stories to be told and Mr. Beatty captured what I felt but unable to express it myself. I learned new words for maybe cookies as 'crumbly lumps". I guess "day folks" are those of us who do not run in the night with the mountain animals and other things. You can imagine what a 2 barrel killing stick is!! Willa is a brave girl whom you will love and cheer her on. I find this book to be a well written book that will not let you put it down for long and will draw you back to keep reading. Makes me proud so many of you will read about the Smokey's and love them as I do.

Wow! I was skeptical as I began reading this novel because after reading the 3 Serafina books, I was sure that there was no way Robert Beatty could build as fascinating of a world, create as enchanting of a character or weave as fabulous a story..but he proved me wrong (sorry Mr. Beatty). I will admit, my doubts kept me from really allowing myself to dive into this book at first. Once it arrived (I was graciously given an ARC by the Serafina Advance team) I read the first few chapter and then put it aside for a few weeks (I even went back and read the 1st Serafina book again--maybe to subconsciously to prove to myself that there was no way that this new book could ever be as magical. When I finally picked it back up, I could not put it back down. I fell in love with Willa ... and this story filled me with hope. There is a little bit of something for everyone--mystery, magic, fantasy, history...you name it! I loved how Beatty described the geography and topography of NC/TN..and the Great Smoky Mountains...all places where I have spent a lot of time. I enjoyed how he included of the ancient Cherokee people, alongside settlers and loggers from historical times all while building this new world of the Faeran. I let my mind create images of the jaetters, the padaran and even what the lair of Dead Hollow looked like. I can't wait to see how this series plays out in other books and to see if there will truly be any links between the Serafina and Willa series...in the meantime I am just going to believe that the black panther is a little easter egg that Robert Beatty left for us readers, to keep us wondering!