Beschreibung
Produktdetails
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Altersempfehlung
ab 14 Jahr(e)
Erscheinungsdatum
27.05.2025
Verlag
Random House N.Y.Seitenzahl
368
Maße (L/B/H)
21,3/14,3/3,4 cm
Gewicht
440 g
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN
978-0-8234-5912-4
Many go into the forest. Only one comes back.
1989, Soviet Estonia. In sixteen-year-old Vik’s village—and the cursed forest that looms beyond—danger is everywhere. Soldiers threaten those who so much as dream of dissent. The villagers’ words are sharp with accusations of witchcraft. And deep in the heart of the wood, a lantern-eyed spirit lies in wait to disappear those who wander too far past the trees.
Vik knows because five years ago, she led her little sister Anna over that invisible line—and never saw her again.
The only thing Vik has wished for since then is her sister’s safe return. So when Anna stumbles back through the tree line on the anniversary of her disappearance, it’s a miracle…
Or is it a lie?
As unsettling inconsistencies between this girl and the one who vanished reveal themselves, Vik starts to doubt whether this Anna is her Anna—or something else entirely. Whoever she is, one thing is clear: she was never meant to escape the trees.
And unless Vik can uncover the secrets of the forest, it’s going to take her back.
Rooted in real history with a speculative twist, the horrors of And The Trees Stare Back are the ones we already know: existing as a marginalized person under a hostile state. Raising powerful questions about whose humanity counts and how to survive if the governing body decides yours doesn't, this politically incisive folk-horror irresistibly explores ever-relevant legacies of activism and solidarity.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Title
A CCBC Choice Book
1989, Soviet Estonia. In sixteen-year-old Vik’s village—and the cursed forest that looms beyond—danger is everywhere. Soldiers threaten those who so much as dream of dissent. The villagers’ words are sharp with accusations of witchcraft. And deep in the heart of the wood, a lantern-eyed spirit lies in wait to disappear those who wander too far past the trees.
Vik knows because five years ago, she led her little sister Anna over that invisible line—and never saw her again.
The only thing Vik has wished for since then is her sister’s safe return. So when Anna stumbles back through the tree line on the anniversary of her disappearance, it’s a miracle…
Or is it a lie?
As unsettling inconsistencies between this girl and the one who vanished reveal themselves, Vik starts to doubt whether this Anna is her Anna—or something else entirely. Whoever she is, one thing is clear: she was never meant to escape the trees.
And unless Vik can uncover the secrets of the forest, it’s going to take her back.
Rooted in real history with a speculative twist, the horrors of And The Trees Stare Back are the ones we already know: existing as a marginalized person under a hostile state. Raising powerful questions about whose humanity counts and how to survive if the governing body decides yours doesn't, this politically incisive folk-horror irresistibly explores ever-relevant legacies of activism and solidarity.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Title
A CCBC Choice Book
Kundinnen und Kunden meinen
5 / 5 stars
Aila aus Zürich am 28.05.2025
Bewertungsnummer: 2501803
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)
<i>And the Trees Stare Back</i> is a YA horror set in Soviet Estonia of the 1980s, that deals with themes of family, identity and trauma. With its setting, it talks quite a bit about the trauma of living under an authoritarian government, with specific attention on what it means to be 'not-normal' - particularly queer and/or disabled - in a state that demands uniformity.
The protagonist is confirmed to have OCD by the author, who also suffers from the disorder herself. While I do not have OCD myself, I nonetheless found the depiction very refreshing, as it shows the reality of the disorder and the thought-spirals behind it that will have you believing that your whole family <i>will</i> die if you do not press the light-switch next to the front door exactly ten times. It also discusses the frustration, that will be intimately familiar to anyone with an anxiety disorder, of knowing that your fears <i>are not rational</i>, while also not being able to do anything about it.
As a Finnish person who grew up loving Finnish folklore and its many creatures, it also made me realise how embarrassingly little I know about Estonian folklore, which I shall strive to remedy immediately.
So, long story short, I really loved this book.
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