Who Reviews The Way Through the Woods by DJ Forrest

Written by Una McCormack

For BBC Books

Published 2011

‘Don’t stray from the path…’

My initial reaction when I began reading the first chapter was, that this book was geared towards a much younger audience, but then, convincing myself that, I’d started so I needed to finish it, the story improved. In fact, it began to take the shape of a YA novel on par with an Anthony Horowitz story – in as much as I couldn’t wait for break times to come around, or that breakfasts were longer, and only tonight, with a quarter of the book to finish, I lingered at the dinner table for another hour. It’s definitely a story that is hard to put down once you get into it.

I wouldn’t advise skipping the first chapter - as with any first chapter, that’s where the story begins. Unlike other Doctor Who novels, the chapters in this book are much, much longer. It’s not one of those books where you think, I’ll just read this chapter while I’m having my break then get back to work – it’s rather longer than a fifteen minute break. I’d go so much as to say, you need a good 30 – 45 mins to work through one convincing portion.

The Way Through the Woods is set in an ancient crop of trees known as Swallow Woods. It was there before the Romans. All paths and roads seem to veer away from the woods, and children are warned to not stray near the trees, or enter the woods, or they’ll never been heard of again. An old wives tale? Perhaps not.

Something strange is happening inside the Woods, and only the Doctor, Rory and Amy can solve it, except, the Doctor is helping the Police with their enquiries after teenage resident of Foxton village, Laura Brown has disappeared, and the Doctor with Amy are the only ones new to the village, so naturally they’re up to no good.

Amy has managed to entice Jess, a young journalist into the woods and Rory has been sent back to 1917 to walk Emily Bostock home, via the Swallow Woods.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly and am really glad I stuck with the book to read past the first chapter. The other thing I liked about it was, that as much as we know the companions so well, not all writers can bring them to life in such a way that you can picture them in that moment, but Una captures them perfectly.