Reviews
Secrets of the Home Wood: The Sacrifice by Julie Whitley - Book Review by Laurie Fisher
Exactly how one little family can figure so greatly in helping to prepare for an upcoming battle between two nations makes for fascinating reading in an amazing fictional story called Secrets of the Home Wood: The Sacrifice by Julie Whitley. As a reader, I was extremely nervous about what would be revealed in the Home Wood. An emotional crisis between a woman, Sarah James, and her husband David, inadvertently leads them deep into the Home Wood, an area long forbidden to all of them. This astoundingly fresh, and brightly hued forested world stretches and prickles the imagination in every way.
Then their son Jonathon traces his father's steps into the Home Wood drawing readers along on a unique and unpredictable journey. This family are soon forced to re-examine their values and priorities. Forging new relationships with myriad inhabitants of the Home Wood is a huge adventure with many surprises. unfolding. The first inhabitants they meet are called the San, and from the tips of their long ears down to their toes, they struggle with similar misunderstandings, trials and triumphs as the James family. The San leader has heirs who are also San warriors. Their relationship issues are compounded by imminent war with mighty opponents who had once been peaceful allies.
This story is written with thoughtful personal reflections from Sarah, David, and Jonathon as they find inner resources enhancing leadership, empathy, courage, and the meaning of sacrifice. The author skillfully alternates chapters written from their individual perspective. This lends to the suspense, and it's easy for readers to discern what each character has at stake, and how they face every unique challenge arising from every unexpected turn. The story and the characters are both wonderfully human and creatively magical. This mythical fiction effectively reflects ancient and current themes of the politics behind wars, various strategies, and the histories between warring nations. With an ordinary human family and extraordinary creatures, Ms. Julie Whitley has meticulously created a one-of-a-kind fictional allegory of historical battles that everyone can surely learn from. I recommend this book for all, and I do hope this author has envisioned a sequel to this incredible adventure.
-Book Review written by Laurie Fisher and edited on January 25, 2016
Exactly how one little family can figure so greatly in helping to prepare for an upcoming battle between two nations makes for fascinating reading in an amazing fictional story called Secrets of the Home Wood: The Sacrifice by Julie Whitley. As a reader, I was extremely nervous about what would be revealed in the Home Wood. An emotional crisis between a woman, Sarah James, and her husband David, inadvertently leads them deep into the Home Wood, an area long forbidden to all of them. This astoundingly fresh, and brightly hued forested world stretches and prickles the imagination in every way.
Then their son Jonathon traces his father's steps into the Home Wood drawing readers along on a unique and unpredictable journey. This family are soon forced to re-examine their values and priorities. Forging new relationships with myriad inhabitants of the Home Wood is a huge adventure with many surprises. unfolding. The first inhabitants they meet are called the San, and from the tips of their long ears down to their toes, they struggle with similar misunderstandings, trials and triumphs as the James family. The San leader has heirs who are also San warriors. Their relationship issues are compounded by imminent war with mighty opponents who had once been peaceful allies.
This story is written with thoughtful personal reflections from Sarah, David, and Jonathon as they find inner resources enhancing leadership, empathy, courage, and the meaning of sacrifice. The author skillfully alternates chapters written from their individual perspective. This lends to the suspense, and it's easy for readers to discern what each character has at stake, and how they face every unique challenge arising from every unexpected turn. The story and the characters are both wonderfully human and creatively magical. This mythical fiction effectively reflects ancient and current themes of the politics behind wars, various strategies, and the histories between warring nations. With an ordinary human family and extraordinary creatures, Ms. Julie Whitley has meticulously created a one-of-a-kind fictional allegory of historical battles that everyone can surely learn from. I recommend this book for all, and I do hope this author has envisioned a sequel to this incredible adventure.
-Book Review written by Laurie Fisher and edited on January 25, 2016
By Ember on November 6, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition
Julie Whitley's Secrets of the Home Wood drew me in immediately, and if it weren’t for other unavoidable obligations, I could have easily gotten through this book within a few hours. I did not want to put it down!
Even though it’s geared towards YA readers, as an adult I was able to fully immerse myself into the fantastically created realm on the other side of the creek within Home Wood—definitely not your typical patch of forest. I will admit that I don’t read fantasy, but that will be changing now. The author has set a high bar in my search of other books that will have the same effect, mainly shutting out my actual surroundings and being right there with each and every character.
Inside you will find waiting for you well drawn characters, rich descriptions, and smooth prose…the only disappointment is finding yourself on the last page. Along Jonathan’s journey there is pride, terror, heroism, and love. A family meant to be together, torn apart, and all in search to find their way back to one another.
Don’t let the YA put you off. This book can and will be enjoyed by people of all ages and I will definitely be recommending it. I dare you to prove me wrong by getting a copy and reading it for yourself. I promise you will not be disappointed!
Note to author: Please say book two is on the way!
Format: Kindle Edition
Julie Whitley's Secrets of the Home Wood drew me in immediately, and if it weren’t for other unavoidable obligations, I could have easily gotten through this book within a few hours. I did not want to put it down!
Even though it’s geared towards YA readers, as an adult I was able to fully immerse myself into the fantastically created realm on the other side of the creek within Home Wood—definitely not your typical patch of forest. I will admit that I don’t read fantasy, but that will be changing now. The author has set a high bar in my search of other books that will have the same effect, mainly shutting out my actual surroundings and being right there with each and every character.
Inside you will find waiting for you well drawn characters, rich descriptions, and smooth prose…the only disappointment is finding yourself on the last page. Along Jonathan’s journey there is pride, terror, heroism, and love. A family meant to be together, torn apart, and all in search to find their way back to one another.
Don’t let the YA put you off. This book can and will be enjoyed by people of all ages and I will definitely be recommending it. I dare you to prove me wrong by getting a copy and reading it for yourself. I promise you will not be disappointed!
Note to author: Please say book two is on the way!
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GGrrreaatt story! Very Highly recommended for all ages., October 5, 2015 By Gabe This review is from: Secrets of the Home Wood: The Sacrifice (Paperback) Wow! GGrrreaatt story! A woman. A man. A boy. Woman gets lost. Man goes looking for her. Boy goes looking for man. Strange, enchanted, and forbidden place where only the man has been before...when he was a boy. Talking human sized rabbit-like creatures who consider the man to be a LEGEND. They are at war. They have an agenda of their own. Other large creatures. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad? Will the man ever find the woman? Will the boy ever find the man? Will they be eaten alive? Will they become slaves? Who will win the war? Who really are the good guys? This is extremely well written. The story is intense, yet suitable and probably within the grasps of most children too. It pulls you in and doesn't let you go. Scary. Yet cute. Far-fetched. Yet somehow very close to home. You won't be able to put it down. And when you're through...well...you'll see. I very highly recommend this for ALL ages. "Working on this book with Julie was a pleasure from the first page. With the first book in the The Secrets of the Home Wood series, she’s constructed a Chronicles of Narnia-like fantasy world with talking beasts, epic battles, and danger looming at every turn. Young readers will find themselves side-by-side with boy hero Jonathon James as he embarks on the quest of his lifetime: to find his parents. A rich and imaginative new series, The Secrets of the Home Wood: The Sacrifice is a thrilling family saga at heart. Leave the Home Wood behind and step through the portal to join an adventure for the ages."
— Valentina D'Aliesio, freelance editor. "Secrets of the Home Wood: the Sacrifice is a charming fantasy read with endearing characters, the well told creation of Julie Whitley, a new author to watch." ~Jordan Dane, Critically Acclaimed & Bestselling Author Book Review
Reviewed by Stephen Fisher for Readers' Favorite Secrets of the Home Wood - The Sacrifice by Julie Whitley is about a family that lives next a mysterious forest named the Home Wood. There are tales of family members disappearing after crossing the brook where sometimes they don’t return. The story begins with the disappearance of Sarah, after an argument with her husband David. When David calls Sarah’s workplace, he finds that Sarah never showed up. David rushes out to look for her. Overhearing the conversation on the phone, their son Jonathon, rushes out of the house, but not before his grandfather gives him some fruit and a protein bar for his backpack. One at a time, Sarah, David, and Jonathon are pulled into the alternate dimension. Since David became a hero in this mysterious land when he was Jonathon’s age, he is reunited with the Sanigglans. When Jonathon finds his way to the forest kingdom, he is befriended by Pugg, the son of the leader of the Sanigglans. They arrive on the brink of war with the Grue. The chief’s wife has been captured by the Grue, and is to be sacrificed during the next full moon. If that happens, all is lost. Julie Whitley does a magnificent job of traversing back and forth between our family of heroes, making sure to leave each of the characters with a cliffhanger. Her writing style reminds me of Terry Brooks. As the race against time ensues, while the family members are trying desperately to reunite, they are beseeched by desperate events that require them to improvise, and find courage within themselves. Sarah, with the help of her father-in-law’s brother, who had disappeared into the Home Wood many years ago, discovers a diabolical plot behind enemy lines. Julie’s characters are real, and she really captures the essence of family ties, albeit good guys, or bad. Secrets of the Home Wood is an adventure on all levels, with lots of twists and surprises. Brava, Ms. Whitley! 5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliantly imaged tale of fantasy and magic July 12 2015 By J C Steel Format:Kindle Edition None of the James family goes into the Home Wood, although no one will tell young Jonathon James exactly why. No one seems to know what happened to vanished Great-Uncle Frederic, either. Last and possibly most importantly, no one will tell him why his parents suddenly aren’t talking to each other. When Jon sees his father’s tracks heading straight into the forbidden Wood one morning, he resolves to find out what’s going on, and follows him in. He wasn’t expecting to see his father vanish into a cracked oak. He certainly wasn’t expecting to wake up in a different forest, and he definitely wasn’t expecting to have to stop a war to get home again... Julie Whitley’s Secrets of the Home Wood is a brilliantly imaged tale of fantasy and magic, framed in a tale of family that will gain the reader’s sympathy from the first line. Jonathon James’s adventures are coloured by his drive to find his father, and they will take him from the hidden homeplace of the San to the craggy fortress of the Maorrr in search of his father, his mother, and his answers. Whether it’s giant ants, breaking into a castle via the sewers, or rescuing a kingdom’s only heir, Jon’s courage and his determination to see his family reunited are the unifying thread of the action. This is a beautiful story of hope in the face of impossible odds that is guaranteed to keep readers of all ages turning the pages well past curfew. Fun, whimsical fantasy with deeper messages
By Esha Bajaj on August 7, 2015 Format: Kindle Edition The James family holds a dangerous secret. The forest behind their home is not normal. It holds a mysterious portal to another world. Although entering the 'home wood' is forbidden by his Grandfather, one day Jonathan crosses the creek into the treelike after watching his father disappear into the woods. His mother Sarah is sucked in too, and soon the three of them are launched on a quest to find each other in a dangerous new world on the eve of war. The three factions have coexisted in harmony since the first time Jonathan's father, David, came though the portal as a child. He ended the first war, and is now a legend. As the most brutal faction of the three faces a coup, Jonathan, David, and Sarah join forces with the Snugg family. Separated by conflict, the Snuggs struggle to find each other as well. Secrets of the Home Wood is a whimsical fantasy adventure with a new surprise on every page. The suspense and twists are never ending, and Whitley does an excellent job encapsulating the politics and repercussions of war in a well-crafted debut. Secrets of the Home Wood is high on my recommendation list - five stars for sure. I really enjoyed Jonathon's curiosity and bold willingness to set out on an adventure.
By JamieJo on July 28, 2015 Format: Kindle Edition When a young boys father heads into the woods in search of his distraught wife, his son takes pursuit. Once in the home wood, he discovers a whole new world. Each on separate journeys towards each other, they'll make friends, fight foes and ultimately find their way back to each other. It's hard to pin point the type of story this is because there are so many plot lines (in a good way, meaning the story was complex), but for me it was both a coming of age story and a love story. I'm not the target audience for this book, since I don't really read fantasies, but I really enjoyed Jonathon's curiosity and bold willingness to set out on an adventure. I also was enamored by the world the author created beyond one family's backyard. It was quite impressive! I would recommend this book to pre-teen boys, and girls who don't mind getting their hands dirty. |
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