Silver in the Wood
“There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads. When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart,” (Emily Tesh).
I was not a fan of Emily Tesh’s Silver in the Wood for several different reasons. First, it was riddled with grammatical errors, the most prevalent of which were the lack of periods after the abbreviations “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Second, the novel’s characters were extremely bland and one-dimensional. They weren’t even remotely compelling and, in most cases, their motivations weren’t clear. I couldn’t really tell you anything about them either. Tobias is quieter and secretive I suppose while Bramble might be described as peculiar for her kind and fiercely protective.
I feel as though the novel’s biggest problems are the fact that its prose is immensely weak; I felt like it was written by someone who had just learned to construct sentences. Someone who clearly lacks the ability to make them flow well and entice you with their word choices. Furthermore, the novel relies more on the atmosphere it builds within the dark and mysterious forest than an actual plot and character development. Naturally, this is problematic. While a well-done atmosphere can help captivate one’s readers, the lack of a plot and relatable characters who grow throughout the length of a story will not. Ultimately, I wanted to enjoy this novel far more than I was able.
Rating: 2/5 stars
