Daughter of the Forest

Sevenwaters, Book 1

By: Juliet Marillier

Narrated by: Terry Donnelly

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives and they are determined that she know only contentment. But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift - by staying silent.

If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever. When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs that she will never able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all....

©2000 Juliet Marillier (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Another telling of the cursed swans...well told.

What did you love best about Daughter of the Forest?

The closeness of the family and the well developed distinctive characters. I have read this tale many times in many guises...this is one of the better ones. I liked both the tale and the telliing, the narrator is excellent.

Would you recommend Daughter of the Forest to your friends? Why or why not?

yes

Have you listened to any of Terry Donnelly’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no, but I will.

Disappointed

I recently finished the Bridei Chronicles and loved them. I was hesitant about reading them, and didn’t have high hopes about a series by Marillier. I had attempted listening to Hearts Blood, which I couldn’t finish because it was such a slog. Since people rave about Marillier and the Seven Waters series I decided to give it a try. I’m sad to say that I found Daughter of the Forest a slog as well. The book lacks character development. I never found myself invested in any of the characters. Neither does she bring the settings to life. In a book of this length it means willing your way through long hours hoping it will take off soon. It never does.
The narrator does a very poor job. The simpering weeny-whiney voice used for our heroine in the book is contrary to the character and made it hard to keep listening. A different narrator might have made all the difference for this story.

Mixed feelings, but nonetheless a gripping tale

The writing of this story was beautiful and lyrical; full of emotion and heart. The characters well-written, and the intervowen Irish folklore and mythology lovely and compelling. The love story, while I wished for more from it, was beautiful in its own right and had a great outcome in this book. I also thought the narrator did a wonderful job with giving each character a distinct voice and it felt as though she were actually telling us the story as opposed to simply reading it. The emotion really came through in her voice and it was a pleasure to listen to. I didn’t mind the slow pace of her narration - it felt comfortable and rhythmic and easy to listen to.

(More heavy spoilers below)

That being said, there were a few things that prevented me from giving this book five stars all around. The first would be a rather graphic SA scene in chapter 6 - which felt like it was included only to make the heroine more miserable for the sake of misery. While I do think such things can and should be addressed in a thoughtful and considerate manner in novels, including it in the story for the sake of shock value or to make a character more depressed feels excessive and unnecessary. Not to mention that a content warning of some sort would be good for people who may find such scenes triggering.

Additionally, while I enjoy an angsty story, I prefer the angst to be balanced with other things too. In this case it was just… pain after pain, misery and misery for the heroine and her loved ones - with little to balance it out until the very end. Even the ending itself was bittersweet - with happiness, yes, but also some pain still. To summarize, I wish the happier things weren’t few and far between until the very end, where the story was over before I could fully enjoy them. The pay off for the pain was there, but I wish there was more balance for the angst throughout most of the story itself.

Finally, while I did enjoy the romance I wish we got to spend more time with it after it fully blossomed. It doesn’t do so until the very end of the book and so, while it was a beautiful and heart-touching relationship, it wasn’t too satisfying for me as a reader who loves romance in books. I wish we got to see more of the actual romance rather than all the build up, then fulfillment for a little while until the novel ended.

Despite all this, I did enjoy the ending and the book overall, and I will be continuing with the series. Juliet Marillier knows how to weave a tale that grips you by the heart, even when you don’t necessarily agree with all of her choices as a writer.

Captivating!!

I have read this book series before and LOVED it! It was even better having it read to me. So many beautiful details put into words. LOVE this series!!

My favorite story for many years!

I love this story. I came across this book years ago and read it twice, it was so good. When I found it on audible I was so excited. I have listened to many many audios and this one still my favorite.

Love the paths this book took!

I loved the ever changing directions this book went. It was so complex and floor plan definitely wasn’t cookie cutter. Can’t wait to read book 2 in the series.

couldn't put down

I loved this book. I read it for the first time about 10 years ago, and decided to see if I still liked it. I loved it again. It was very distracting, because I didn't want to put it down.

Slow and Frustrating.

The girl, Sarahah, never truly seems to mature, even into the end of the book.

The story progresses slowly coupled with slow cadence of the narrator and I was frustrated for hours waiting either for something to happen or the book finally to end.

26 hours is a long time to push through a story like this. Sarahah becomes mute as a condition of lifting a spell off her 6 brothers. It becomes tiresome to hear about her inner thoughts as she misreads situation after situation.

I felt like the romance angle wasn't fleshed out to my taste. The author talks about the quick and fiery onset of feelings that bloomed within the main characters father for his mother which is meant to be echoed in Sarahah much, much later, but it never felt like some fiery burning passion, even when it was consummated. It was more of a slowly catching ember, buried under a ton of heat dissipating rocks until the very end when we're meant to believe that controlled and stoic Red is a passionate sort of man. I guess not entirely implausible, but I didn't really buy it.

Also the sex on their first night was super unrealistic.

A Most Fabulous Tale!

Absolutely will grab you from the very beginning... Juliet Marillier is truly gifted for spinning a tale and Terry Donnelly narration is exquisitely performed, this duo brings the fantasy to life. Love it!

WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS!!!! LOVE THIS BOOK ❤️❤️

Please listen this you will love every moment!!!! I certainly did I want to listen to it all over again Now!!