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Review: "The Forgotten Ones" by Laura Howard

  • Writer: Holly Jane - Writer
    Holly Jane - Writer
  • Feb 18, 2021
  • 5 min read

"The Forgotten Ones" by Laura Howard. Book 1 of the Danaan Trilogy. Genre(s): Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Fairy Tale Favourite Quote: "Her silence fueled my growing anger. Where was the strong independent woman I'd heard so much about over the years?"

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*** Please note that this review will likely contain spoilers and only reflects my own thoughts and experiences. There is no conflict of interest here. *** Allison O'Malley is faced with the bleak future of looking after her schizophrenic mother instead of living her life as a carefree 21 year old woman. Knowing that she has a huge responsibility on her shoulders, Ali really doesn't have time for fun or dating and would prefer her own company to a roaring house party or hanging out with friends. Although her grandparents are always on hand to help with the burden, Ali feels personally responsible for her mother's state and hopes that one day she can truly help her to find herself again. That is until one day, Ali's long lost father shows up suddenly with a mission to help and give her the peace she deserves. Setting

Ali has grown up in a pretty tight knight community where everyone seems to know everybody else and their business. To me it seems like every small town in the US, so there wasn't really anything special about it that made me personally feel 'at home'. I was especially excited for Ali to head to Ireland and be able to feel immersed in the beautiful surroundings and rich lore, but it just didn't hit the spot for me. Sure there were some extravagant descriptions and magical elements but honestly I could have been reading about anywhere in the world. Aside from the names, nothing felt authentic enough for me to associate with and the plot went too quickly to be allowed to be absorbed into the countryside.

Characters Ali didn't seem as if she for her age very well and most of her time revolves around dodging invitations to hang out with her cousin and her friends. As a 21 year old, I guess I would have expected a little more maturity to her but it's almost as if I'm reading about a high school group. She's old enough to stand up to her cousin and say "look I'm really not into your friends but would love to hang out with you more" and tell Rachel where to shove her crappy attitude, but doesn't. I think my most interesting character was Aodhan, because he's this big beefy figure that's obviously very well known in the fairy community but accompanies Ali on her journey. Sadly, it's a little short lived and he's taken out of the equation pretty quickly, despite his reputation. Language Easy to understand and read, but the Irish names and places really threw me and I found myself reading back to make sure I understood properly as to what was transpiring. Of course if you're Irish or have lived there for a good amount of time, you wouldn't be at such a loss. I feel as an American, Ali should have had a little more trouble understanding everything herself, so we could have the opportunity to learn along with her.

Theme I love all kinds of mythology, fairy tale and lore and was especially intrigued with the Danaan purely because I'd never been introduced to Irish 'fairies under the hill' before. PROS + The author has kindly put the Irish pronunciations at the beginning of the book (which actually didn't help me personally as i was reading this as part of a looooong anthology, so it was fiddly to go back and forth to) + The overall idea as far as my experience goes, was unique and ambitious and I wanted to know and experience more. + There were some really intriguing elements to the plot that did keep me page turning before bedtime + I liked Aodhan and his mysterious toughness but I wished we could have seen him more. + If you want a quick easy read, this is the book for you

CONS + As beautiful as all the Irish names are. I cannot for the life of me remember all the characters pronunciations or differentiate between them well. This leads me to become confused as to who is who and what their roles are in respect to the plot. + The plot began to really speed up about three quarters through the book and I ended up feeling whiplashed and really shocked when it came to the end suddenly, because I didn't have a lot of time to absorb this. + I feel like the Samantha and Aoife connection was supposed to be a bigger plot twist but there just wasn't enough time dedicated to this, so instead of thinking "wow, what the heck?" I ended up with "Ohh ok. Cool" and wondering how many other people Liam's knocked up. + Nothing about the fairies really seemed really extravagant for me. They are all described as beautiful beyond belief and all have the same personality which is a typical trope but I want to know more! Conclusion After an anti climatic ending to a disjointed story, I'm left feeling a little underwhelmed. I feel like this story started strong and never really took off the ground but certainly had the potential to do so. There are two more books in the saga but I'm unfortunately just not invested enough in seeing what happens next to Ali and co. That being said, I do wish Laura Howard every success and would certainly be open to reading more of her stuff in the future. 2 out of 5 magical unicorns! 🦄🦄

About the author: Laura Howard lives in New England with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn't until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. Check out Laura Howard's social media: Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads Would you like to support the author and have a look for yourself? You can grab your copy of The Forgotten Ones from here.

As always, I’m taking requests for reads I should review next. Feel free to drop me a line via the site or my social media pages. Thanks for reading! HJ

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HOLLY JANE - AUTHOR

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