The Book Hook Online site founder reviews Sidonia V. Antal’s International debut novel When The Forest Held Its Breath, after purchasing it on Amazon.
A superbly crafted novel with all the elements that a great story requires!
The cover of this book conveys that it will be a thriller. It shows a young, blond woman wandering along a snowy path through a dark, isolated forest, and it did not disappoint.
The book concerns the mysterious disappearance of Zoe’s boyfriend David at the start of a romantic getaway. The story incrementally unfolds as Zoe’s friend Nora becomes concerned that she has not heard that Zoe arrived safely. I was drawn into the book chapter by chapter, a remarkably compelling story, expertly structured and paced. Pencil drawings added to the narrative, confirming my imagination of the situations described in the story. I thought that the drawings were a nice added touch that I have not seen often.
Just when I thought the story was concluded, there is an added twist at the end that is brilliantly executed.
The author is a young Hungarian, writing her first English novel. This is one of the best-crafted novels that I have read, and if I did not know any different, I would assume it had been written by a much more experienced novelist.
