I absolutely raced through this book–I couldn’t put it down! I hadn’t planned on reading the whole thing in one sitting, but that’s exactly what I did. The characters, the writing, the uniqueness of the story–I adored it!
Backing up, I should probably tell you what it’s about, though I could gush for much longer.
When The Wild, the fairy tale world Julie’s mother, Rapunzel, and the other fairy tale creatures escaped from centuries ago, gets free, Julie loses her mother, her grandmother, and other people she cares about to its never-ending, cruel stories. Julie’s not going to give up, though; she’s determined to save her mother from The Wild once again, to rescue her from endless days trapped in a tower, to rescue her grandmother from being a wicked witch, to rescue the people she cares about. She’s going in, and she’s not going to let the Wild find a story for her, if she can help it. Because once she’s in the ending of a story, she’ll forget who she is, and why she’s there.
INTO THE WILD is one of the most original fantasy books I’ve read in ages. These fairy tales aren’t what you think they are. Rather than changing a fairy tale like is often done in books, Sarah Beth Durst takes every fairy tale you’ve ever heard and makes it real, and dangerous. And she does so brilliantly! I can’t even find the words I’m really looking for to describe how amazing this book is. Run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore or library and get a copy today!
Five Stars
September 16, 2007 at 10:02 am
I’m glad you thought this is so good! I’d heard of it before, but I didn’t know it was a darker fairytale novel. (It doesn’t really look it from the cover.) It sounds very cool! I’ll run to my library and get a copy when it becomes available for checkout.
Thanks for your reviews!
December 9, 2009 at 5:47 pm
You can never judge a book by its cover! haha! I see that you wanted to get this book and so about 3 years later what did you like about the book? I read it in class..I thought it was very interesting to read about fairy-tales becasue im usually not that intersested in fairy-tales but now it has inspired me to read more and helped me read faster becasue I want to just finish the book becasue you get to a good part and its just not enough and you have to keep reading!
October 15, 2007 at 10:35 pm
[…] my latest interview, with the wonderful and talented Sarah Beth Durst. I reviewed her book, Into The Wild, a little while ago, and loved it! Thanks so much to Sarah for agreeing to be interviewed. I hope […]
October 20, 2009 at 7:02 pm
thx i luv this book but i am not good at summarizing and you really helped me!!
January 12, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Thx! So far I love this book but I just can’t get over the fact that I have no clue who Julia is. I know she’s repunzul’s daughter but is she also a fairytale creature? Thx!
December 7, 2011 at 7:24 pm
No , she is not really a creature is just trying to find he mother and grandmother so they can help he shrink/close the wild. But, the wild is sabotage her because the wild knows that she is trying to shrink/close the wild.
August 27, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!! I love the intake Durst uses to bring out the reality of fairy tales. I’ve been looking for a good book with true meaning for a long time and now I finally have found one!!! Yay! 101 stars!