Blog Tour - Zo and the Forest of Secrets by Alake Pilgrim

 Blog Tour - Zo and the Forest of Secrets by Alake Pilgrim

When Zo decides to run away from home, she isn't scared; after all, she knows the island like the back of her hand. But, as she journeys through the once-familiar forest, terrifying creatures and warped visions begin to emerge. With a beast on her heels and a lost boy thrown into her path, could a mysterious abandoned facility hold answers? 

Zo must unravel the secrets of the forest before she is lost in them forever...

More than anything else, Zo and the Forest of Secrets struck me as an incredibly vibrant book. From the very start and throughout the book everything is alive with colour and sound, really bringing the Caribbean culture to life. 

It's also a fascinating combination of mythology, fantasy and sci-fi. The forest is full of threats, and while some of them are based on traditional Caribbean tales, others are new and terrifying creations of science. Those threats give the book a real sense of peril. Nowhere feels safe, everyone is suspicious and there's always something chasing after poor Zo. This kept me completely gripped, as they ran from one danger straight into the next one, never really able to find any safe footing. 

Mixed in with the danger, and often indistinguishable from it, is a lot of humour. The spiders in particular seemed to be playing a very effective comic relief role. I think this worked well, lightening the tone of what would otherwise have been a very dark book. 

I also really enjoyed the underlying plot about Zo's feelings towards her family, something I'm sure will be familiar to many of the children who'll read this book. Coping with change is hard, and I know Zo won't have been the first to consider running away from a new stepfather and a new baby. I loved seeing how her feelings towards them shifted though, while she was out in the forest. 

Zo and the Forest of Secrets is a vibrant sci-fi fantasy full of imaginative monsters and great peril!

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 

Zo and the Forest of Secrets by Alake Pilgrim is available now, published by Knights Of Media.

I was given a review copy of Zo and the Forest of Secrets in return for an honest review and participation in this blog tour. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the fabulous bloggers in the blog tour!