Whisper in the Woods by K.C. Carmine

“I heard a whisper from the woods taught me more than kindness could your name… to know your home and place at last  could leave your horrors in the past” Poem by H Rowley

Whispers in the Woods by K.C. Carmine is a short and sweet debut novel and was an enjoyable read. 

From the Blurb:

When a gigantic forest creature saves Tomek from a falling tree, he feels an intense desire to know more about the young man the creature turns into. 

As Tomek and Robert’s friendship blooms, the bigotry permeating society puts their relationship to question, while Tomek’s heart fills with doubt and his head with denial about his sexuality. Will he be able to face his friend and admit his feelings? A new adult, queer tale of love in extraordinary times — full of emotion, reflection, and second chances.

Karla's Review:

Whispers in the Woods is a good short story. There was a bit of jumping around, so you had to really pay attention to what was going on. Otherwise, it told a valid story of how bad homophobia was during the time period written.

Red's Book Reads Review:

I thought this story was quite sweet. Tomek and Robert are friends who over time become more. This book had a few of my favourite tropes and managed to incorporate them in a way that didn’t feel overdone. 

I did find that Whispers in the Woods moved quite quickly at some points and I really had to pay attention to work out what was going on. For a debut book however I think this is really good. 

Author update from KC Carmine:

Thank you for the shout out and your review! The review you posted on Goodreads for the ARC made me look for the "jumping around" bits. I expanded the story by 3k words after that and hopefully fixed the issue :) I'm a firm believer in constructive criticism. Thank you again!