Book Review: Where the Trees Sing by Laura Gallego

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Since I’ve been talking about comfort books, I wanted to share one of mine that I’m sure you (probably) don’t know. It’s a Spanish book from my childhood, which I first read almost 15 years ago. I chose this book not only because it’s one of my favorites, but also because it’s a book I keep returning to — a comfort read, dare I say.

About the Book

Title: Donde los árboles cantan (Where the Trees Sing)

Author: Laura Gallego García

Year: 2011

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Adventure

Summary: Viana, the only daughter of the Duke of Rocagrís, is betrothed to her childhood friend, Robian of Castelmar. They love each other and plan to marry in the spring. But an oncoming invasion forces Robian and her father to go to war, leaving Viana alone. Under such circumstances, the only thing a damsel like Viana can do is wait for their return… and maybe, start paying attention to the legends about the Great Forest — the place where the trees sing.

It might not sound all that exciting at first, but believe me, things go wrong very early on. And Viana, our damsel in distress, must learn to fend for herself.

About the Author

Laura Gallego García is a Spanish author of children’s and young adult literature, best known for her works in fantasy. She studied Hispanic Philology at the University of Valencia and won the El Barco de Vapor prize in 1999 with her novel Finis Mundi. Three years later, she won the same prize again with La leyenda del Rey Errante.

She’s a well-recognized figure in contemporary Spanish literature. To date, she has written more than 40 books, which have been translated into dozens of languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.

Some of her most notable works include:

• Memorias de Idhún (Memories of Idhún)
• Guardianes de la ciudadela (Guardians of the Citadel)
• Donde los árboles cantan (Where the Trees Sing)
• Todas las hadas del reino (All the Fairies in the Kingdom)

If you’re curious about her or her other books, I suggest checking out her website.

Review

I absolutely love this book — I’d describe it as a medieval fantasy done right.

The first half focuses on Viana’s misfortunes; you can’t help but feel bad for her, even though at that point she’s still a bit of a whiny princess. But she gets better — so much better. Her character development is one of the most drastic I’ve seen.

Around the midway point, we meet the male lead, and trust me, you’ll fall in love with him. He gives off major puppy energy — cute and wholesome. It was one of the first romance novels I ever read, so excuse me for having high expectations ever since.

Then there’s Viana’s mentor, Lobo (“Wolf”), a rough-and-tough father figure I absolutely adore. If you’ve seen The Last of Us, think Joel — but medieval. His cautionary tales never failed to make me laugh, mostly because of his witty endings, and we never quite know if those stories really happened to him or if he just made them up.

There’s so much more I’d love to say, but that would take us straight into spoiler territory.

What I didn’t like (Spoilers)

So, about Viana’s character development — we don’t really see it happen; we only see the result, which is kind of a bummer. The story skips ahead about a year, and suddenly she’s awesome. I’m not complaining, but I would’ve liked to see more of how she went from spoiled princess to badass forest ranger.

Also, the ending. While I appreciated Wolf finally getting his revenge, it bothered me that Viana didn’t deliver the final blow herself. She was too focused on rescuing her man, I guess.

Still, those are just minor details that don’t really affect my overall enjoyment. I’m willing to overlook them for a great story — and this one definitely is.

Conclusion

While I absolutely love this book, it’s a bit hard to recommend to an international audience — mainly because there’s no official English translation (at least, not legally). But if you happen to know Spanish, or if you’re looking for a book to practice reading in Spanish, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The language is simple yet rich, vividly depicting the magical beauty of the forest while also conveying its dangers. It invites you to explore and discover the wonders it hides.

That said, it has been translated into Catalan, Portuguese (Brazil), Polish, Italian, Bulgarian, and (probably) French.

I linked it below if you’d like to explore it for yourself.
Donde los Árboles Cantan (Spanish) — Amazon

Have you read this book? Did you even know it existed? Let me know in the comments — and as always, see you next week (this time for real)!

Image Credits
Donde los Árboles Cantan © SM Ediciones.