Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest - Liz Flanagan - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Liz Flanagan

ILLUSTRATOR: Joe Todd-Stanton
SERIES: The Wildsmith, #1
GENRE: MG Fantasy Adventure.
RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: The perfect book for little lovers of adventure and dragons. Loads of thrills, amazing animals and great values. Perfect for tweens.

Story Synopsis:
When there’s new of war coming to her city, Rowan, a curious and gutsy little girl, and her mother go to live with her maternal grandfather, who lives on the outskirts of the Dark Forest, which was quite stranger as Rowan didn’t even know until then that she had a grandfather. However, she soon realises that her grandfather’s existence was not the only secret kept from her. Thus begins an adventure filled with dragons and witches and hunters and brave children.


Think of everything good that can be present in a children’s adventure story, and most of those ingredients are present in this book. You have a charming protagonist who speaks her mind and isn’t afraid to trust her instinct or to do what’s right. You have some amazing little dragons. (Dragons are always so much fun!) You have a lot of emotional scenes and a couple of worrisome ones. You have plenty of action and adventure and thrilling chases and close escapes. You have fast-paced writing and amazing descriptions. And you have more than enough of magical embellishments. The book is almost perfect!

I don’t believe that every children’s book MUST come with a moral/message. Some books can be just entertaining and that’s more than enough. However, this book delivers on both counts. Through the delightful plot, the book touches upon the need for conservation, animal welfare, and the importance of nature. I didn’t want this to become a war story, and thankfully, the war is not present except in the background.

The only point which might have worked better for me were the illustrations. To be honest, after a point, I stopped looking at the illustrations because they were too tiny on my Kindle screen and I didn’t stop to enlarge each image as the story was captivating enough to keep me happy. This won’t be a problem in the paperback. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that the illustrations were in B&W.

This is the first of a planned Wildsmith series. The first book is complete in itself, though there are some tracks left unresolved. These might be tackled in the upcoming books. Time will tell.

(You might be wondering what ‘Wildsmith’ indicates. Is it a place? A person? An occupation? Read the book to find out! My lips are sealed.)

All in all, this is an MG fantasy that is a, enjoyable read, delivering on every promise it makes through that striking cover. Absolutely and wholeheartedly recommended. You bet I am gonna sign myself up for every possible sequel in the series!

My thanks to UCLan Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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