One of the best children’s (also MG and YA) fantasy stories that I have read this year.
Feather is after Merildun to retrieve a stolen item, and Sleek accompanies her.
Feather and Sleek are likeable, and the plot has high stakes, immersive vibes and contexts.
4.5 stars.

A story of strength, determination and bravery, this was another great little story from Francis Hardinge. I’m enjoying these novellas as they’re quick to read and come with gorgeous illustrations, but I do find them a bit too short to really get into the story the way I would with a full length novel.

I loved the main character Feather, a lot. Along with her scaled ferret Sleek, she sets out on a journey along the wall to retrieve her father’s spyglass. I liked how resourceful she was as well as her the attributes of determination and bravery that I listed above. Sleek was also really cute. Give me an animal companion and I will love the book a lot.

The illustrations didn’t take my breath away the way the ones in the first book did. But it was still great to see them alongside the text. I really enjoy the fact that these stories are illustrated and by such great artists. It really adds something to the text.

I really love Frances Hardinge's work so I was eager to read this one.

I'll start by saying it was included in the Teen and YA section but feels more suited to Middle Grade. So I probably wouldn't have picked it if I'd known that but, having done so, I did really enjoy the book.

The story features a very small cast but the characters are all skillfully portrayed.

Our main protagonist is Feather who lives on The Wall, a literal wall surrounded by a dangerous forest containing many giant and deadly creatures and plants. When a stranger steals a vital piece of equipment, Feather risks everything to track him down and bring it back. The result is a charming tale of adventure with a very satisfying conclusion.

Another stunning partnership from Hardinge/Gravett that presents a richly imagined fantasy distopia & a resilient heroine who meets her world head on. Quality writing and beautiful illustrations combine perfectly in this intense, emotional read. The picture book novella format is unusual for TF but is well worth promoting, and would be good as a class read even for mature top JF.

Impactful adventure for kids of all ages

Hardinge brings us another instant classic in a brutal, impactful adventure full of invention and truths. Innocent Feather wants only to serve her isolated, self-sufficient community, keeps of part of the Wall, the only thing safe from the hungry Forest below. But when Feather's trusting nature ends up costing her and her community, she sets off away from the Wall and to parts unknown to save her family and friends, facing dangers on the Wall and in the Forest that might mean that she can never return.

As short as this novel is, it lingers on for me in its intelligently designed world of a ruined world where humanity fights constantly against the encroaching natural world. It's the exact opposite of our own, with our natural world on the ropes and we ourselves part of that natural world, facing the same extinction. Feather's quest brings her into contact with new ideas, with different ways of thinking and living, and with potential for optimism if people can only work together, and surely this should be read by the people in power so that they might understand what it would take to save ourselves and our entire world.

A magnificent four and a half stars.

This is a story which made me remember why I first fell in love with the fantasy genre as a child. Discovering a world that is different to our own, yet with enough similarities to daydream it could exist and humans just haven't taken the time to notice it. Frances Hardinge has a wonderful imagination and, in combination with the ability to share it with her readers, it makes for a wonderful book. Emily Gravett's illustrations are delightful too, it was a shame I couldn't appreciate them fully in this e-ARC.

I adored losing myself in this short-but-sweet tale of Feather and her journey. I could happily have read a much longer story set in this world but I like that this is short. It makes it more accessible to readers who might struggle with lengthier works.

This story is set in a land that has suffered a very green apocalypse - a magical forest that grows extremely fast, where both the plants and the creatures that live within it are deadly. Humans now live in the remaining sections of a fortified wall that was built to keep the Forest contained. Feather has lived her whole life in a small group of familiar people, but the actions of a Stranger lead her to embark on a perilous journey along the Wall.

It's not a long book - I'm not much good at guessing how long ebooks are, but I think it would either be a short novella or a long short story. The ebook formatting works very poorly with the illustrations, but the illustrations themselves are wonderfully atmospheric, and I think that the physical book should be a beautiful object.

The length of the book means the plot quite simple, but the setting is well thought out and gives the impression of a world that stretches far beyond the bounds of the story. Although the Forest is objectively dangerous, most of the book is told from the perspective of a child who has grown up around the danger, and knows how to protect herself from it, so the overall tone is not particularly ominous. (There are also a few sections told from the point of view of her scaled ferret, who is possibly even better equipped for Forest life.)

Recommended, but not in ebook form, as the illustrations don't mix well with ereader formatting.

Inside Greyman's Gate, an adventurous girl wants a map to help her community forage for metal beyond The Wall, but is met with scorn. When a Stranger treats her like a fellow explorer, she is charmed into showing him their precious spyglass. But when he steals it from her, she decides to chase after him. To go beyond The Wall, without a map.

This middle-grade book is about a girl's journey beyond The Wall chasing the stranger who stole from her.

Feather's community live within the safe confines of The Wall, where there are no animals, poisonous pollen nor giant eagles in the sky. The Wall kept out the Forest. Her people went out there to forage, and it was here one day when she met a Stranger. He had understood her desire to see the world beyond, and convinced her to show him the community's precious spyglass. She smuggled it out, and discovered too late that she'd been tricked. Faced with the shame of being accused a thief, Feather embarks on a journey to go after this Stranger. After all, there was only one path along The Wall, she'd catch up with him in no time.

It was very easy to get behind Feather. She is a girl with a vision but she was betrayed. I imagined her adventures like walking along Hadrian's wall. I liked the subtle message the story sends us: we are not alone, and each community has skills and knowledge we can share to make our life less of a struggle.

I also like the author's lyrical style. Here's a sentence that is so subtle, and yet, we understandable. 'Feather knew that the year had once been a vast, simple cycle of blossoming, then warmth and growth, then fruitfulness, followed by withering and a long, cold barrenness. It was hard to imagine.' 4/5

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange of an honest review.

Opening Lines:
'Your problem,' Old Ember muttered as he shaved Feather's head, 'is that you get ideas.'
Feather kept her ears folded down with her fingertips to keep them out of the way of Ember's hurried, businesslike rakes across her scalp. She was used to both the razor and the old man's lectures.

This review has can also be found on
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6763237591
https://justinelaismith.wordpress.com/

Feather is a young girl who lives on The Wall, a small, but isolated, community that lives under constant threat from the forest that surrounds it. Tricked into removing, and then losing, her people's treasured spyglass by a stranger she sets out on a journey of discovery. One that will show her that her world is much bigger than she ever thought with other outposts and people nearby that possess different skills, abilities and needs.

With The Forest of a Thousand Eyes Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett have once again combined to produce a tale that's as engaging as their previous collaboration Island of Whispers. One that will enchant pre-teens and more than a few older siblings and parents as well.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Two Hoot's and the author & illustrator for an advance copy.

Possibly a little bit controversially I am going to say I think Emily Gravett was not the right choice of illustrator for this book. I really liked what she did with Island of Whispers, and although this is very much along the same lines, I just didn't like the illustrations. The people looked mean and the animals and forest just didn't feel very organic.
However, the story was delightful and I was sad it wasn't part of something bigger as it felt very much like a novel I would have enjoyed. Who doesn't love a perilous quest into the unknown to save your home?! The world was somewhere I was really intrigued by and Hardinge is just teasing me with this tiny snippet of gloriousness.

I really loved how engaging this story was, especially with the beautiful illustrations that guide you through the story with the main character, Feather.
Feather lives in an isolated community, with nature slowly encroaching. She goes on a journey through the forest and discovers that there are other communities living there different to her own.
The narrative voice was beautiful and kept me reading. The way that nature is described gives a sense of awe but also wariness that was really interesting to me.

The Forest of a Thousand Eyes is set in a richly invented, immersive fantasy world. You're immediately drawn into this incredible, hostile landscape where the forest and everything in it wants to eat our main character Feather, who is on the mission of her lifetime. There are clever, subtle messages about isolationism and community that weave through this story but nothing draws you away from the main character, the world or the compelling story that kept me turning pages until I'd read it in a single sitting. Brilliant, timeless fantasy adventure written by one of our very best writers. (Note: my digital proof copy didn't display Emily's illustrations so I can only review the writing).

I absolutely adore everything Hardinge has written, and I will post a review that's more on the contents of this book soon, but my review copy accessed via NG doesn' really have any of the illustrtions - just placeholders. Is that intentional?

France’s Hardinge is one of my favourite authors. Her style is unique and unmatched. Her ability to create character and worlds is just perfection. I loved the strength of the main protagonist and her determination to bring societies together for the greater good. A wonderful story

I know she writes for children, but I really enjoy Frances' books. They're fun and full of imagination which is what you want from a children's book, but they've got so much heart and substance to them that they are completely enough for this 31-year-old to fully invest in and enjoy.

It is full of beautiful illustrations. I will always be an advocate for more illustrations in adult books; why do ids get all the beautiful images! But it really helped expand on Frances' story.

It is simultaneously a love letter to nature, but also a warning against it, the power of nature and the respect it deserves. Instead of it being humans encroaching upon and destroying nature, it's nature that is swallowing up humanity and we're forced into hiding.

I find Frances writes such important stories with such important messages, but she doesn't ram them down your throat, she covers them within a beautiful story.

She manages to worm real problems and real people into such whimsical and magical lands, which makes them more relatable in this magical context. And for all the fantasy elements, the characters - such as our main character Feathers - are very real which I think is important in children's books, because it means the young readers can see themselves in them and realise they too can achieve great things.

I find with all her books, for me anyway, that the plot and characters don't really matter to me, it's all about the world she creates and this sense of family and community within this world. She's done it time and time and time again and impresses me every single time.

At less than 200 pages - with a lot of those pages taken up by illustrations - it is a very quick read for any age, but it sure does pack a punch.

A beautifully written children's fantasy story with engaging illustrations. Feather is a young girl living in an isolated community on a broken section of wall. Their community survives above a rapidly encroaching forest. Circumstances force Feather to leave her community and travel away from her section of the wall. On her travels she discovers other isolated communities, each with their own skills and inventiveness. As she travels Feather learns and understands more of her world.
There is much to contemplate about this story. It is full of interesting ideas. Highly recommended.

Frances Harding is one of the best contemporary children's writers; she has the magic to weave a spell on readers and transport us to otherworldly locations- last year's Island of Whispers still stays in my mind and The Lie Tree is a classic

The Forest of a Thousand Eyes is another winner; this time we are transported to a land where humans live in communities upon a rapidly dilapidated and declining in structure wall. The land is being taken over by 'green' - plants, trees and a variety of creatures. A reversal of the world where the human impacts upon the natural environment- this time the humans struggle to survive with an ever encroaching forest.

One of the residents -Heather- foolishly trusts a stranger - Merildun- whom she discovers has been hiding in a section of the wall - he attempts to kill her and also steals a very precious object. Heather finds herself in the Forest - her only company is Sleek her pets ferret.

Heather sets out to track down Merildun and retrieve the stolen item but this means encountering many dangers and meeting groups of humans that believe they exist alone in this strange world

Emily Gravatt's illustrations are stunning and further add to the mystery - and beauty- of the story.

This is a multi-layered story with so much to enjoy and even talk about- the representation of the forest -its creatures and flora; the alienation between communities and the survival of groups of people.

Very highly recommended and a book that will be great read for 9-12 year olds but also a brilliant upper key stage 2 class book with so many opportunities for class based drama and writing- an absolute winner