Set in a mythical place that is a reflection of Japan the way much of regular fantasy reflects Europe, this is an interesting twist on the Beauty and the Beast story that takes some of the ideas of the story and twists them subtly.

Everyone in Hana's remote village knows that going too far into the forest is bad, very bad, won't come back bad. Hana's family has lost her brother to this and her father blames her. A lot of the time the people who vanish seem to wander away in the middle of the night and are never seen again. When Hana's father disappears she decides to user her talent to talk to the trees to help her search for the monster they keep whispering to her about. This will change everything.

I loved it, great story and compelling characters that really spoke to me. It kept me from sleep last night. ( )