Siena (Review)

Siena (The Forestfolk #1)

Zoe Blessing

Genre: fantasy, young adult fiction, fiction

Synopsis:

Siena can heal wounds with a touch of her hands. A captive since birth, she is used as a tool of war by a Plainsmen tribe. A chance escape into the forest proves successful... and deadly.

Rescued by the Forestfolk - a group of people she always thought were nothing more than bedtime stories - Siena remains on edge. Trust does not come easily when persecution is all she's ever known.

Keeping her abilities a secret seems like the right thing to do, until a tragic accident renders two Forestfolk spiralling towards death. If she chooses to reveal her abilities, she risks being subjugated again. Treated as no longer human. Maybe even sent back to the Plainsmen. But keeping her talent to herself means ignoring the injured around her, even allowing them to die. The choice seems obvious to Siena, but living with the repercussions of that choice is another matter altogether.

A journey of self-discovery, a bit of adventure, and a splash of romance.

About the Author:

Zoe is a web designer by day, and superhero by night. Novelist. She meant to say novelist by night. She lives in San Diego, California, where she enjoys ice cream, practicing acts of kindness, writing Young Adult fiction, and fending off two little dogs from said ice cream.

Keep up with Zoe's latest antics at her website, www.zoeblessing.com.

My Review (Warning: May Contain Spoilers!!)

I love love love the underlying themes to Blessing's novel! With intertwining tendrils of learning to trust in others who care for you, as well as believing in yourself and loving yourself for all that you are.

Being an individual with lived experience with mental health disorders, I related to Siena's character in regards to her struggles with both trusting that the Forestfolk cared for her, as well as her internal struggles with liking herself for who she was. There are so many facets to this novel, especially for such a short novel compared to others; I am incredibly impressed with Blessing's skills in making the reader care for her characters. That being said, I almost wish it was longer... I was so enthralled with the characters and their Gifts, as well as their developing relationships and feelings of self worth, I wanted it to keep going!

I really liked the development of Siena's character from the beginning of the novel where we see a very timid, submissive, mistreated, and self-hating young girl, to the end of the novel, where we see a complete change in her character. She still struggles with being able to trust that Remi cares for her, having grown up only knowing hatred, but you can clearly see that she's working on it, and trying to trust; but she ends up being able to recognize her self-worth, and that her Gift is actually a gift and not something to hide and be ashamed of.

I would highly recommend this novel! Especially for a quick but meaningful read!

I am excited to see more of Sember and her struggles in the second instalment!