The Darkwood Trilogy

A Complete YA Fairy Tale Fantasy Series

By: Anthea Sharp

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 33 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Two sisters. One enchanted forest. And a reckless choice that could destroy kingdoms …

Taken away from her ordinary life, Rose Valrois finds herself in a world full of secrets and forbidden magic. There she meets her new stepsister, the enigmatic Princess Neeve, who will either become her best friend … or her worst enemy.

In the shadows of the magical Darkwood, Rose discovers danger and adventure in her quest for answers about the mysteries surrounding her. When she’s rescued by Thorne, the Dark Elf guardian of the forest, he binds her to the Darkwood and forbids her to speak of its secrets.

But secrets have a way of getting loose, especially when there’s hidden magic involved, and Rose falls deeper into the thorny tangles of her own past. Her sister, Neeve, is concealing dangerous powers of her own, and the two of them are soon entangled in a destiny that will bring them face-to-face on opposite sides of a deadly magical war.

Ultimately, Rose must risk her freedom, her world, and even her truest love to save her sister. Can she bear to make that sacrifice? Does she even have the choice?

Called “A fantastical series” by Publishers Weekly, USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp has crafted a lushly written fairy-tale trilogy weaving elements of “Snow-White and Rose-Red” with romance, magic, cozy fantasy, and secrets that that will change the fate of worlds.

©2020, 2021, 2022 Anthea Sharp (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Great Story & Reimagining of Classic Characters

I'm not even sure how to put it all into words. This is a long listen, and it's hard to nail down the whole thing into one little review. This is not quite a fairy tale retelling, but more of a reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red if their world was a little different. It's pretty epic to be perfectly honest.

A lot is going on here. I really enjoyed these characters and the way the author tweaked them to her story. Usually you see Snow White and it's all about her, but this really focused on Rose. In fact Neeve was kind of a jerk for a lot of the story lol It's a good story of sisterhood and twisted up families with terrible parents. It includes illegal magic, political intrigue, matchmaking gone wrong, and of course seven surly fellows with very nice beards (they aren't predominant, but you can't have anything remotely Snow White without those guys, you know?).

The love story is a solid! Love the romance in it, which is very clean and super slow burn. Like man... really slow burn lol I was shipping them from page one and it felt like it took forever--however, I love that! I love that kind of tension between characters. There's something really special about being the reader and "listening" the characters complain about their love life while *you* know what's up. It makes it really satisfying when they do get together, and you wanna reach through the page and be like "I told you so!" Anyway--well written, compelling story with very interesting characters. Would recommend.

Amy Landon is a wonderful narrator. Her accents are on point and keeping track of the characters through the way she voices them is easy. She's excellent. I've got some of her older titles and it's really neat to see how she's grown and improved as a narrator--and it's not like she was ever bad. So kudos to Amy for being awesome and continuing to improve her craft. You rock!

So, if you like clean YA fantasy and romance this is a good pick. Definitely worth your monthly credit, because at 33hrs long it's a total steal. And the ending? *chefs kiss* Perfect.

**I did get to listen at the courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review. And I'm so glad I did! I'll be relistening.

Looove

I loved these books from start to finish. It was so whimsical and I could clearly envision the dark wood forest

one of the best series

this is a must do series. we'll written, we'll read! enjoyed it from start to end.

Epic Fanatasy YA Series

I absolutely LOVED this whole series. It is worth listening too, and is binge-worthy.

Once I started listening I didn't want to stop. Rose is our main character and the storied is told from her point of view. The story build up was fascinating and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Then the mystery starts happening. What is this new place Rose now has to live? What about the mysterious forest, stepsister, and weird creatures?

The story really gets interesting when the fantasy aspect starts appearing. But when Rose and her stepsister develop an understanding and friendship, the story really takes off.

I don't want to spoil anything but I enjoyed this story so much. The friendships, love, mysteries, magic, and otherworldlyness make an awesome story.

The ending was perfect and I will definitely be listening to this story again!

good story

it was good story better than some I've paid for. fantasy and magic touching a world where humans are mostly unaware of it good stuff

Story line

Great story, good follow through in sequence, great job on keeping reader engaged throughout the book

Engaging

Overall, it is a well-written story that keeps you engaged and wanting to know what will happen next. I wish the author would have developed the mother character more to further and thicken the plot (I would read the mother's story; I have so many questions about her and her past). The end tied up all the loose ends, but it felt rushed and unsatisfying. However, I would read/listen to this series again.

it's a little cheesy but is good

The story dives deep into character development and is great at balancing forbidden love and an actual story.

The story flowed seamlessly

It was a constant though of what will happen next. I absolutely love this book series so much!!

So Much Fun

I’d suggest you get out your headphones, as putting these books down, is not possible. All the twists and turns of life itself. Want to feel all warm and cozy inside? These books are for you !