TW: child abuse, abandonment, gaslighting, manipulation, Stockholm Syndrome, torture, death, murder, gun violence, self-entitled arrogant white male, power-tripping control freak psychopath who needs to be chopped up into bloody little bits
I decided to read a lot of queer fiction this year. Goals.
I cannot express enough my appreciation for the queer rep (including ace), fat girl rep, and disability rep in this book. Love it.

SPOILERS:
I figured out early in the book that Fuckface—I mean Frank—is a manipulative control freak. Early in the book, I thought he might be a narcissist with BPD, but eventually he proved to be a psychopath.
Stockholm Syndrome also comes to mind—each girl has some level of it. Elle is a flying monkey with the greatest level of Stockholm Syndrome.
"Timeout" kept having sinister overtones even before the reader see what it means—I kept suspecting it wasn't just sitting quietly in a corner. Sure enough, it's torture.
This book evokes the self-entitlement of power-tripping men who use the talents of women and get credit for them... and who abuse the women in their lives. That reminds me of the history books Women of Ideas by Dale Spender and Pre-Raphaelite Girl Gang by Kirsty Stonell Walker. Abusers, predators, who not only oppress and stunt women’s talent but also take credit for it.
So... this is definitely a high stakes kind of dark fantasy novel. Very dark. Starting a bit before page 300, there’s an infuriating and horrifying scene I found difficult to get through. I ended up skimming forward. Might want to read the sequel to the cozy fantasy Legends & Lattes next, because GRRRRR.

Page 7: Flower magic and a tiny poltergeist. 🌺👻
Page 336: YES, RECLAIM THE WORD “WITCHES”! ( )

"A Dark and Starless Forest" by Sarah Hollowell is the story of Derry and her eight sisters living in a secluded house by a forest with a man named Frank who cares for them but one day her sisters start mysteriously vanishing, so she investigates and discovers many things in order to protect her loved ones.

I would give "A Dark and Starless Forest" by Sarah Hollowell a 5-star review because, 1; I loved the diverse cast 2; I loved the mix between the dark parts 3; I loved how its more about family than romance 4; while reading this novel it really spoke to me and I could connect to the story 5; I really enjoyed reading this novel and its now a fav of mine. ( )

If you like industrial strength creepiness, this is your kind of book. What you're led to believe is the truth of how and why these girls with magical abilities are living in an isolated house by a pond will get turned on its head by the time you close the cover. How and why that happens makes for a dandy head-scratching read. ( )