The Darkwood Trilogy

A Complete YA Fairy Tale Fantasy Series

By: Anthea Sharp

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 33 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Two sisters. One enchanted forest. And a reckless choice that could destroy kingdoms …

Taken away from her ordinary life, Rose Valrois finds herself in a world full of secrets and forbidden magic. There she meets her new stepsister, the enigmatic Princess Neeve, who will either become her best friend … or her worst enemy.

In the shadows of the magical Darkwood, Rose discovers danger and adventure in her quest for answers about the mysteries surrounding her. When she’s rescued by Thorne, the Dark Elf guardian of the forest, he binds her to the Darkwood and forbids her to speak of its secrets.

But secrets have a way of getting loose, especially when there’s hidden magic involved, and Rose falls deeper into the thorny tangles of her own past. Her sister, Neeve, is concealing dangerous powers of her own, and the two of them are soon entangled in a destiny that will bring them face-to-face on opposite sides of a deadly magical war.

Ultimately, Rose must risk her freedom, her world, and even her truest love to save her sister. Can she bear to make that sacrifice? Does she even have the choice?

Called “A fantastical series” by Publishers Weekly, USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp has crafted a lushly written fairy-tale trilogy weaving elements of “Snow-White and Rose-Red” with romance, magic, cozy fantasy, and secrets that that will change the fate of worlds.

©2020, 2021, 2022 Anthea Sharp (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Great Story & Reimagining of Classic Characters

I'm not even sure how to put it all into words. This is a long listen, and it's hard to nail down the whole thing into one little review. This is not quite a fairy tale retelling, but more of a reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red if their world was a little different. It's pretty epic to be perfectly honest.

A lot is going on here. I really enjoyed these characters and the way the author tweaked them to her story. Usually you see Snow White and it's all about her, but this really focused on Rose. In fact Neeve was kind of a jerk for a lot of the story lol It's a good story of sisterhood and twisted up families with terrible parents. It includes illegal magic, political intrigue, matchmaking gone wrong, and of course seven surly fellows with very nice beards (they aren't predominant, but you can't have anything remotely Snow White without those guys, you know?).

The love story is a solid! Love the romance in it, which is very clean and super slow burn. Like man... really slow burn lol I was shipping them from page one and it felt like it took forever--however, I love that! I love that kind of tension between characters. There's something really special about being the reader and "listening" the characters complain about their love life while *you* know what's up. It makes it really satisfying when they do get together, and you wanna reach through the page and be like "I told you so!" Anyway--well written, compelling story with very interesting characters. Would recommend.

Amy Landon is a wonderful narrator. Her accents are on point and keeping track of the characters through the way she voices them is easy. She's excellent. I've got some of her older titles and it's really neat to see how she's grown and improved as a narrator--and it's not like she was ever bad. So kudos to Amy for being awesome and continuing to improve her craft. You rock!

So, if you like clean YA fantasy and romance this is a good pick. Definitely worth your monthly credit, because at 33hrs long it's a total steal. And the ending? *chefs kiss* Perfect.

**I did get to listen at the courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review. And I'm so glad I did! I'll be relistening.

Looove

I loved these books from start to finish. It was so whimsical and I could clearly envision the dark wood forest

one of the best series

this is a must do series. we'll written, we'll read! enjoyed it from start to end.

Epic Fanatasy YA Series

I absolutely LOVED this whole series. It is worth listening too, and is binge-worthy.

Once I started listening I didn't want to stop. Rose is our main character and the storied is told from her point of view. The story build up was fascinating and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Then the mystery starts happening. What is this new place Rose now has to live? What about the mysterious forest, stepsister, and weird creatures?

The story really gets interesting when the fantasy aspect starts appearing. But when Rose and her stepsister develop an understanding and friendship, the story really takes off.

I don't want to spoil anything but I enjoyed this story so much. The friendships, love, mysteries, magic, and otherworldlyness make an awesome story.

The ending was perfect and I will definitely be listening to this story again!

good story

it was good story better than some I've paid for. fantasy and magic touching a world where humans are mostly unaware of it good stuff

Story line

Great story, good follow through in sequence, great job on keeping reader engaged throughout the book

Loved it!

I absolutely love the narrator, I've listened to several books she has read. The story was fast paced and fun. Great listen!

Calling all YA romantasy lovers.

The series mainly follows Rose throughout the books, but we do see their journey as sisters. Poor Rose seems to be cursed as trouble always seems to follow her. I really enjoyed seeing the girls roam Darkwood and learning more about its inhabitants. Each book has its own unique set of issues and with each book the series gets better and better.
Rose is a bit impulsive, but I have to remember that she’s young. So it was great to see her mature as the series progressed. It was great seeing Neeva’s character soften a bit too. She’s a tough cookie.
The narrator, Amy Landon narration was pleasant. She speaks with a bit of a lilt. I sped up the speed and it wasn’t as noticeable. The narrator did a wonderful job portraying an array of characters and kept me engaged throughout the series.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. I liked how the author created a unique story with the realms and Fae realm. I liked the different Magic system and wish there was more in the story. The twists the author incorporated in the story with magic and fire was marvelous! Perfect for YA romance fantasy lovers.

Relaxing Fantasy

I loved this trilogy! The pacing of these books was perfect. Not too much action or drama, but not dull either. It felt a little bit cozy to me. I loved how much Rose cared for her sister and friends. She was a great main character! Overall every enjoyable

Wonderful!

I binge listened to this trilogy! Excellently written and perfectly narrated. The story is original and each character draws you in to want to hear more. This is a listen people of all ages would enjoy.