Esther's Reviews > The Elderen Wood

** spoiler alert ** This 23 of march is the publication date!!
THE ELDEREN WOODS REVIEW. IT CAN CONTAIN SPOILERS.

This book is my first Arc sent by the author herself. And it’s her first book too. Even tho I was super grateful about it. I knew that I wanted to give an honest opinion. I was a bit scared that I was not going to love love the book and didn’t know what to say about it. Luckily, I was worrying for nothing. Let’s start with the review.
This book is based on King Arthur's world. These four girls are sad because they are going to different colleges and not going to be together like they have been doing since 13 years ago. So, they decide to have a last trip and go camping. Then they discover a secret magic door that brings them to Camelot.

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These are the girls:
AMAYA: anxiety, mommy issues.
LUNA: healing magic that comes for the moon, vegetarian, obsessed with constellations
ELDORA: good with arc bc of katniss evergreen, it’s always the strongest of the group
IRIS: a witch with badass magic, her superpower it’s to make people’s blood boil.

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Before ending this book I made this list to make sure that I didn’t forget to talk about anything:
PROS:
-Wholesome.
-Wants a group of friends like them.
-Short chapters
-Multiple povs
-Camelot World
-Strong heroines
-Low stakes
-Short book. Normally in fantasy, the books are longer and darker. This one felt more like a hug and hot tea on a rainy day.

After reading THAT ENDING I can say that it has a plot twist that makes me cry. It was darker and less wholesome than I thought it would be. I’m traumatized.

The only thing that I will say (that it can be a flaw or not depending on the reader) is that it’s a bit slow at times. But it makes sense because we were learning more about the characters and this new world.

For my safety reader, technically there is only one romance in this book. And there is no ow/ OM drama. He doesn’t seem like a manho and we know that she had an aversion to guys and relationships. So, probably a virgin.

I felt that I could connect with all of them. They have problems and flaws that I can see in myself and also, they are strong in other things that I can see in myself too. This book is perfect for those who want a YA book inspired by the world of King Arthur but more centered on the friendship than romance. We only have one kiss and a half.

I would love to hear how they are doing sometime in the future. More adventures together and how they are coping after everything. They still have a long road ahead.
Congratulations Ally! I am adding you to my list of to-buy-always writers.