Dani Swanson, $0.99, ISBN 978-1370364435
Fantasy, 2021

The Winding Woods is a story that is aimed at kids, I guess, or maybe those that are young at heart. After all, I have a sneaking suspicion that “young adult” and “new adult” books these days are written by and read by people in their thirties and forties, while the actual young and new adults watch shows on streaming services and learn the art of idiocy from TikTok.

At any rate, this one is about Izzie, a young girl of five that shows up in our world one fine day, talking to a friend and protector only she can see: Zyon. Zyon is a boggle, and she may be someone from another world or plane called the Winding Woods, led here by Zyon to avoid a threat on her life. Our heroine finds herself under the care of CPS, and eventually she is adopted by a nice family.

However, fitting in and acting normal is always a challenge for both Izzie and Zyon, and this can lead to amusing and sometimes tragic developments as Izzie grows up in this world. Let’s just say that having a woo-woo guardian is only fun if this had been a fantasy romance and Zyon is a were-whatever with an even bigger whatever down there. Here, though, it’s hard to have a suspicious protector hovering when one eventually grows up and finds a boyfriend.

Now, I like this one, but I don’t love it. My issue this: this story is fascinating and heart-tugging at places when Izzie is a child. The first dozen or two pages are fantastic to read, as it hits a little close to home at times with me. The author captures the ups and downs of being a misunderstood child that doesn’t fit in very well, and I can’t stop turning the pages.

Then Izzie grows up, and I become less interested in the story. Let’s face it, children are cute, but teenagers… well, I honestly can’t think of any group far less interesting to read about than modern-day teenagers. I suppose one can argue that a congregation of accountants is more boring, but we can ply them with booze and see what happens, while teenagers are not supposed to drink yet, so there’s that.

It also doesn’t help that Izzie’s lack of agency—poor Zyon does all the heavy lifting for her—may be fine when she is a kid but my god, she becomes a dull character when this pattern persists as she grows older. As she grows up, the boys around her along with Zyon basically come together to ensure that sweet little Izzie doesn’t have to exercise her brain cells too much. That’s when this story mutates from an enchanting kiddie story to a young adult tale of a princess that needs all the boys to come protect her from the bad, bad world. I mean, the latter parts are still readable, but they feel like a downgrade from the earlier parts of the story when Izzie is a child.

Oh, and The Winding Woods ends on a cliffhanger, with Izzie crying and wailing helplessly. What will happen to her in what I presume will be a sequel coming out soon? Hopefully, she gets some bite and some steel in her personality to start her transformation into a more independent character.