Into the Fairy Forest is the newest work by J.M. Stephens.  In this first book of what will likely be a series, we are introduced to Pippa, a girl who might be just a little more than meets the eye.  When she is whisked away into a parallel fairy world, she learns that her natural tendencies toward nature run much more deeply than she ever knew and that she is key in a plot to save both our world and the world of fairies.

I loved the concept of this book.  J.M. Stephen does a great job of building the setting for two worlds and providing enough detail that you can clearly envision both worlds.  There are also enough characters in both worlds to give a variety of flavor, but the balance is good, and you don’t feel overwhelmed trying to keep track of all the different players.  The characters are a good mix of perfection and flawed which gives the book a nice overall feel.

This book really does read like a romance novel, so it will be very interesting to see if additional books (in what feels like might be a series) are more fantasy or romance based.  At times, the romance between Pan and Pippa starts to feel a little co-dependent, especially given Pippa’s age at 15.  There are also some instances throughout the book where the dialogue of characters seems a little confusing or jumbled.  It just didn’t seem to flow like natural speech would.  This may be due to trying to jam a lot of background and groundwork into one novel, but towards the end it did seem to have a better flow.

This novel is targeted toward the younger audiences with references to Roku, Uber, and other modern-day techno-savvy mentions.  Overall, a good book and it will be interesting to see where the story goes.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by D. X. Varos, Ltd.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  2 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore:  Multiple references to household fires with disappearing teen girls; two mentions of a woman dying in house fire; deer attack/chase teen; two instances of fires “spontaneously” starting; teen girl grabbed by wrist and forcefully pulled into woods; three instances of male being grabbed roughly by arm; man whips boy; cut to arm; woman makes nature attack intruders; slap to face; recall of house fire with possible death; 3-page battle with creature resulting in burns; playful push; bloody side wound; two multiple page instances of battle with creature or being chased by creature resulting in wounds and death; 2 pages where male attempts suicide by getting animals to attack him with bloody wounds.

Sex/Nudity:  Two instances of clothed female teen and male laying together; same sex wedding; reference to same sex relationship; arm around waist; three caresses of face; five instances of kissing; eight instances of hugging; kiss to hand; kiss to cheek.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of family member, attempted suicide, abandonment, war.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adults drink wine; teens drink liquid suspicious for some kind of intoxicant.