Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced by the author, publisher, or other related entity.

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah is a beautiful read. I loved the set up of the first scene and I enjoyed that the narration left me slightly confused along the way. I liked that not all of the information was delivered easily and that the reader was left to feel like Jo, trying to discover exactly what is the truth of Ursa.

The writing is comfortable and feels like normal conversation. There isn't anything that feels forced or unnatural. The development of the characters is great, though I did struggle slightly with the character of Gabe. I felt that the understanding of his mental illness could have been fleshed out a little better. In retrospect, it might be interesting to have this story written from his perspective. As for the character of Ursa, she is clearly the star here. She is written spectacularly true to the child she is explained to be. Her mannerisms, her speech, her method of thinking things through all felt right. And she feels like a child you just want to hug.

The narrative works nicely and flows well with the exception of a couple of small scenes that somewhat added to the story, but felt choppy in the mix. Again, a little extra development in these areas would have been welcome.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this read and found it quite heart-wrenching as well as heart-warming. It may not have been 100% realistic in its dealings with the wrap up at the end, but I don't care. I enjoyed Vanderah's approach all the same.