Forest Born by Shannon Hale

"Rin is sure that something is wrong with her…something really bad. Something that is keeping her from feeling at home in the Forest homestead where she’s lived all her life. Something that is keeping her from trusting herself with anyone at all. When her brother Razo returns from the city for a visit, she accompanies him to the palace, hoping that she can find peace away from home. But war has come to Bayern again, and Rin is compelled to join the queen and her closest allies—magical girls Rin thinks of as the Fire Sisters—as they venture into the Forest toward Kel, the land where someone seems to want them all dead. Many beloved Bayern characters reappear in this story, but it is Rin’s own journey of discovering how to balance the good and the bad in herself that drives this compelling adventure." -From Amazon.com

Overall: 3/5

As a huge fan of Shannon Hale's other work, particularly the first three Books of Bayern, I had high expectations of this book. Which is prabably the main reason I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the book was good. Just not as good as I thought it would be.

All the favorite characters from previous books in the series were there, continuing their own stories as Rin told hers. It was a cute story, though pretty depressing at times. I felt like threre were still loose ends that hadn't been wrapped up by the end of the story, and I was a little disappointed with how, by the finish, it seemed that not a whole lot had changed for Rin.

Maybe she's plannin on going further into some of those details in a later book. I hope that's it. And I do look forward to that next book, whatever it turns out to be.

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Writing: 3/5

Ending: 3/5

Cover: 2/5

Other titles by this author: The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, Austenland