The Beginning Woods

The Vanishings started when a baby was found abandoned in a bookshop. That’s what they call the ones who disappear. Those who vanish are never seen again. That baby is Max. All Max has wanted is to find out what happened to his Forever Parents. He’s pulled into a world of books that holds the key to where he came from. To find the truth about his origins, he’ll have to be brave and enter the Beginning Woods. Once inside the woods, Max finds all the answers he’s been searching for and discovers that he’s the only one who can stop the Vanishings.

The Beginning Woods reads like a fairy tale come to life with an eccentric ensemble of characters and absurd moments that are reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and A Wrinkle in Time. All the characters fill roles from fairy tales, with characters that include the wicked witch, the boy split into twins, and the wolf. As Max gets further lost in a daydream built on stories, his surroundings take on a dystopian quality as the Vanishings cause Max to lose what he loves most. Max embarks on an epic adventure to this idealized daydream of his parents and goes through a moving journey of acceptance. Though he goes up against these horrific and otherworldly things, he’s still a child who just wants to be loved. Malcolm McNeill creates a truly unique story that’s surprising from beginning to end.