by Sarah Murray

Created on: February 24, 2010

The front cover of this book warns: “Never- under any circumstances- go into the forest!”, and is accompanied by an exceptionally eerie illustration of huldres lurking in the depths of the Shadow Forest. The blurb on the back cover introduces the reader to the main characters, Samuel and Martha, reveals that Martha does go into the forest, and hints at the death of their parents. In an unusual approach, the reader is introduced to all of the characters in the book at the beginning of the text, and is given an entertaining synopsis of who they are and how they fit into the story. This provides readers with a clear reference guide for those children who might struggle to remember who is who.

In doing this, Haig is unambiguous about the fact that the book is about how Samuel and Martha do what they shouldn’t and go into the forest: there are no veiled hints at the dangerous and fantastical world of the forest, in a contrived attempt to create suspense and lure the reader into this fantasy.  Haig is unpatronising and realistic with his readers. This relationship between Haig and his readers is apparent throughout the novel: the reader has a very clear insight into the world of the writer and his craft, through Haig’s explicit and humorous references to “the author” and “the book”. The unpatronising and truthful relationship Haig appears to have with the reader means that the unimaginable, incredible elements of the story are imaginable, which is an excellent attribute of this book.

The Times review of Matt Haig’s Shadow Forest says that the book ‘[w]eaves horror and humour into a terrific tale’. After reading merely a few chapters, it is clear to see how apt this review is. From the opening chapter, the book immediately engages the reader and makes its objectives clear. This is indeed a dark text. Themes that become instantaneously apparent are the subjects of grief and broken families.

Haig has a very creative way of writing. He uses different forms of writing and intersperses them throughout the text. Forms include letters, poetry, and rhyme. Haig also uses lots of writing techniques, such as similes, in his writing. For example “His sister’s name bounced off the trees like a ball that no one wanted to catch.” There is also a factual writing style that is demonstrated by what Samuel reads in “The Creatures of Shadow Forest” book that he takes with him on his search.

Haig juxtaposes the dark elements of the text with frequent examples of humour that hopefully a younger audience would respond to. This makes the novel an enjoyable one to read. As mentioned, there are challenging themes and ideas that can be extracted from Shadow Forest. I really enjoyed reading this book with a class of 11 year old boys. Each and every one of them was thoroughly engrossed in the story line.

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