Representation: It's complicated.
Trigger warnings: Death and murder of people, blood depiction, physical assault and injury, near-death experience, pandemic
Score: Six out of ten.
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This one was alright. I had the sequel to Forestborn, Elayne Audrey Becker's debut, Wildbound, on my TBR, until I took it off after realising I would read out of order. I put this one off for months until I had to transfer it to my library, but after I got it from my library and when I closed the final page, it was okay.

It starts with Rora living her life in a magical land entirely different from ours, as she can shift from a human to up to three animals, and impersonate faces. How powerful is that? Unfortunately, the pacing is slow for a book lasting 350 pages, and it continues to be this way until the second half, where it picks up steam. I wouldn't say Forestborn is disappointing, though. Rora meets another character, Wesley, and starts to develop a relationship, but not before going to another part of the world. Let me explain. There are two parts to the realm seen in Forestborn: The Forestborn part, where people with magic live, and the human part, where the humans live. The only problem is this leaves behind some unanswered questions, like where did the magic people come from? Did they come first and humans evolved from them or the other way around, where humans came first and magic people came afterward? How can they shift?

Anyway. There is a magical pandemic all over the land, and the only cure is stardust, which one can find in the Forestborn part, the last place Rora wants to be, but she has to go there to save her best friend and prince, Finley. I appreciated the writing style, which allowed me to immerse myself in the settings, both natural and human-made. I also like the concluding pages with some battle scenes resulting in a heartstopping finish and the murder of the king, but I only knew him for a few pages, so I didn't care much about that. I wonder what Wildbound is like, though, but I hope it's better than Forestborn. ( )

good. looking forward to book 2
( )

Rora is a shifter, as magical as all those born in the wilderness--and as feared. She uses her abilities to spy for the king, traveling under different guises and listening for signs of trouble.

When a magical illness surfaces across the kingdom, Rora uncovers a devastating truth: Finley, the young prince and her best friend, has caught it, too. His only hope is stardust, the rarest of magical elements, found deep in the wilderness where Rora grew up--and to which she swore never to return.

But for her only friend, Rora will face her past and brave the dark, magical wood, journeying with her brother and the obstinate, older prince who insists on coming. Together, they must survive sentient forests and creatures unknown, battling an ever-changing landscape while escaping human pursuers who want them dead. With illness gripping the kingdom and war on the horizon, Finley's is not the only life that hangs in the balance.

Good things found in this book: great intrigue and tension, siblings who think they understand each other, but don't until late in the story, Two potentially budding romances, incredible magical creatures, action aplenty, truly evil opponents, a land that changes without warning, and an ending that fills you with anticipation for book two. Who could ask for more? ( )

This was one of my favorite kinds of fantasy - a high-stakes, epic quest with some light enemies to lovers romance.

Rora and her brother Helos are shifters, who have an uneasy arrangement with the royal family in their borrowed country of Telyan. All magical people are viewed with suspicion, and outright hunted in a nearby country. But Rora serves the king as a spy, which gains her a place. But when non-magical people began falling ill and dying of a mysterious illness called the Fallow Throes, including Prince Finley, the only friend Rora and Helos have, they agree to go on a quest to retrieve stardust from the giants to save them. Unfortunately, the King insists on sending Prince Weslyn, who has never seemed to like Rora And Helos, and has secret missions of his own. Even worse, Rora and Helos will have to travel to the Vale, a magical place where the very land shifts beneath them and everything wants to kill them. Thanks to Prince Weslyn's presence, the party also finds themselves entangled in political situations that come to a boil, straining the bonds between some characters and strengthening the ties between others.

This book features nonstop action, strong friendships between characters and a fierce, big-hearted protagonist who's willing to face the place that scares her most in order to save her best friend and others.

Thank you to Tor Teen for the advance review copy of this book. ( )