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Pack of the Lost: The Uninviting Forest

By: Nikita Kapoor
Publisher: Paper Lily Press
Publication Date: October 5, 2022
ISBN: 979-8986811703
Reviewed by: Trix Lee-Rainwater
Review Date: February 23, 2023

After their home is ruined and two young wolves are separated from their pack, what kind of adventures will they encounter as they set out to reunite and rebuild what was broken? We follow Daffodil and Jasper in their journey in Pack of the Lost: The Uninviting Forest by Nikita Kapoor.

When the roof of the mountain cave collapsed, there came chaos. The wolves were scattered and the leader of the wolf pack residing in the cave fell unconscious after casting a magical spell to save his packmates from falling rocks. In the aftermath of the chaos, two wolves, Daffodil and Jasper, found themselves separated from the pack. For some reason, these two wolves ended up trodding inside the Uninviting Forest, a dark and dense woods full of overgrown and prickly undergrowth. After a frightening encounter with tigers, the two wolves got separated and they each had their own set of adventures while trying to get reunited.

As Jasper was trying to figure out a way to find Daffodil, he met two Yorkshire terriers named Cosmo and Nova. The terriers brought the wolf to the human places where they had an incident with a triple-decker bus in which, fortunately, nobody got hurt. Jasper eventually met a mean and aggressive doberman called Fang and a friendly chubby bulldog called Rocky in his efforts to find his missing friend. In the meantime, Daffodil came across one of the other wolves in their pack. While digging in the soil to escape the sweltering heat of the sun, Daffodil came across a shiny amulet which turned out to be an artifact from wolf siblings who were descendants of the wolf god of the sun. It then came to light that Daffodil was a descendant of one of these legendary siblings, a wolf named Felix. The legendary Felix then appeared in front of Daffodil and gave her instructions to rebuild the broken pack.

Pack of the Lost: The Uninviting Forest by Nikita Kapoor is a children’s fantasy novel about rising up to the challenges and responsibilities of being a leader and how personal darkness could turn you into someone malicious and could push allies away from you. There are a few scenes that seemed abrupt and out of character such as the scene when Jasper suddenly decided to invite Daffodil to go into the forbidden Uninviting Forest even though he was sent away from the collapsing cave chaos specifically to take care of Daffodil. Similarly, the subplot about Daffodil’s personal darkness, when she started being aggressive and mean to the other puppies, came out of nowhere and was resolved just as abruptly. It would have been great to see a foreshadowing and a closure for such an important subplot. Nonetheless, considering that the author is just ten years of age, she created an entertaining story for kids. I’m interested to see how the author could grow into her potential as a writer.

Quill says: Although it has some plot holes, Pack of the Lost: The Uninviting Forest is an entertaining fantasy novel for kids about mystical wolves and the journey in finding allies to rebuild a broken pack.

For more information on Pack of the Lost: The Uninviting Forest, please visit the author's website at: nikitakapoor.net