The Forest King’s Daughter

By Elly Blake

Reviewed by Lucille Rose

The Forest King’s Daughter by Elle Blake is an epic YA romantasy following Cassia, wielder of the Ring of Light and daughter of the all mighty Forest King. The Sylvans and the Dracu have been enemies for as long as Cass can remember. It is simply a law of nature: as long as the Dracu live, the Sylvan can never rest. But ten years ago, Cass ignored this vital rule and befriended a young Dracu boy, Zeru. One fateful night, upon the exchange of a gift, Zeru unwittingly gave Cassia the power to destroy his people. Now, a decade later, a bloodthirsty war continues to wage amongst the Dracu and the Sylvans, with Cass wielding the weapon prophesied to end their strife. But, to her father’s perpetual disappointment, she cannot master the ring’s full power. That is, until a familiar face steals her from the battlefield, and a traitorous seer tells her of the ring’s mystical home and the secrets being there could unlock. Begrudgingly, Cassia agrees to journey to the mysterious land hoping to find the key to the ring’s power, but ends up learning much more than she wanted to. She’s faced with too many impossible questions: what is the ring’s true purpose? Are the Dracu as evil as her father says? And is she willing to risk everything to save something she holds dear? Or…someone?

The Forest King’s Daughter is a refreshing take on the romantasy genre which incorporates popular tropes such as enemies to lovers, second chance romance and the like, while retaining an authenticity that makes the plot origional. Usually, the mix of romance and fantasy isn’t for me, because I’ve found that when both plots have equal stake in the text neither can be explored fully. The author, however, clearly had no such problems and managed to interweave the storylines so they fulfilled each other, and were each done proper justice.

The little details, intimate, almost personal to the reader themselves, are what makes a book special. As such, I enjoyed the quotes that marked the beginning of each chapter and the insight they gave into the prominent fictional cultures, the Dracu and Sylvan, that guided the book.

Cassia, while she made impressive, self-sacrificing decisions that couldn’t help but recommend herself to the reader, lacked a distinct personality. She seemed an almost passive charcter in her own story, who only affected the plot a few times throughout the novel. This could be attributed to her struggle over her own self-identity, always fighting over what she thought was right and what she felt she must do. This made it difficult to fully appreciate her charcter arc. While by the end Cassia made a decisive choice about who she was, this personality could not be contrasted with her at the beginning because it was unclear who that even was. Zeru was an amazing charcter and a truly swoon-worthy lead. Upon starting the book, I was excited to see the pages through his own eyes but was disappointed to find the text only included two chapters of his pov. While his inner thoughts and feelings could be guessed at through the emotive description provided by Cassia, seeing the storyline through his eyes would have infinitely enriched their romance.

Nevertheless, Cassia and Zeru’s relationship was still extremely enjoyable to experience. Their innocent friendship turned bitter rivalry before flourishing into a budding romance kept me kicking my feet the whole time. While their relationship continued to morph through different stages, emotions and challenges, the underlying connection always remained present and undeniable. Their obvious vulnerability and trust in one another made it clear that there was no world in which Zeru could exist without Cassia, or one where she could exist without him.

Overall, I’d give this book four out of five stars and recommend it to readers fourteen to seventeen.

Hodderscape 2025

Elly Blake