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thriller_chick's review
5.0
LOVED IT and ordered the rest of the series. Full review soon on instagram @thriller_chick
ekearle's review
4.0
This book terrified me, but definitely not in the way I expected it to. It was actually extremely coincidental and unnerving timing that I started this as the Logan Paul fiasco was blowing up on twitter, and when I heard about everything going on partway through reading, I feel it definitely affected what I got out of this book. Nonetheless it was a gripping read, and I look forward to doing a full review of it on my blog later this month once I've digested it a bit more.
maziarzl_5736's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
arcalie's review against another edition
3.0
more a 3 1/2
I'm a big horror fan and this didn't scare me at all.
But it was definitely a nice read and I bought the next volume too.
Love that haunted places stuff.
I'm a big horror fan and this didn't scare me at all.
But it was definitely a nice read and I bought the next volume too.
Love that haunted places stuff.
gothic_trauma_doll's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
pandasbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Someone in a horror book group recommended this author. I love Japan and the idea of a suicide forest is sufficiently creepy that I snapped this book up and dove right in. The book is well written, and reads like a movie. I could picture everything so vividly in my head. The forest is an incredible setting, it's creepy, atmospheric, and permeates fear. The story didn't quite go where I had thought it would and while still good, I felt like the first half of the book was better. I am going to be continuing this series for sure. I'd highly recommend this one.
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Woah, well okay. Suicide Forest has a speed and a rhythm and that is to scare you shitless with its atmosphere and its tension. So, Japan has always intrigued me and it’s one of my places to visit when the pandemic is over. It’s all so enchanting but also has an air of ominous both with its culture and its history. One that has always stirred my imagination is that of Aokigahara (the suicide forest). You don’t want to examine the why’s of the forest for too long – it could plunge your psyche into a dark place.
It’s a very real-life place and it’s not for the light-hearted or for a hike, not unless, of course, you are into macabre tourism. A group of friends aim to hike up Mt Fuji, but bad weather makes it impossible, just as they are squabbling amongst them what to do, they run into two strangers, Israeli’s Ben, and Nina. They are heading to Aokigahara (The Suicide Forest) and invite them along for the ride…it’s a ride that they might soon regret taking!
The author has done a fantastic job of analysing the consequences of human decisions. Why, even with most of the facts in front of you do you make extremely risky choices? Why, given the fact that your Japanese driver has warned you off entering the Suicide Forest, do you think that it’s still a great idea? If it had been me, you wouldn’t have seen me for dust! The mind is a mysterious and times a stupid organ!
I was enthralled with the descriptive narrative as they entered the forest. The interaction with the hikers coming out. The foreboding nature of the signage, the densely populated trees that neither let much light in nor allowed a wind to break through. I truly saw it through Ethan, our protagonists, eyes. I was frightened and I was on edge. I saw everything and yet I didn’t see everything, and that initial vista would become distorted with the fall of darkness. The forest doesn’t want to be disturbed…it wants its secrets to stay just that…a secret.
What should have been an enjoyable camping trip amongst friends quickly turns into a nightmarish episode. We have John Scott’s obsession with finding a corpse, Ben and Nina’s strange behaviour and friction between Ethan and Mel. There’s some horrendously scary scenes from there night in the Suicide Forest, and there was points that I was sitting on the edge of my seat.
However, the flashbacks to Ethan’s past became boring and dragged on too long. Instead of providing the reader with a solid backstory it just seemed to be filling the wordcount. The ending was also highly disappointing and not what I was expecting at all. I won’t say what it was but for me it was rushed and not true to the character development we had witnessed so far. It was still a good, creepy read and was just what I needed on the runup to Halloween.
It’s a very real-life place and it’s not for the light-hearted or for a hike, not unless, of course, you are into macabre tourism. A group of friends aim to hike up Mt Fuji, but bad weather makes it impossible, just as they are squabbling amongst them what to do, they run into two strangers, Israeli’s Ben, and Nina. They are heading to Aokigahara (The Suicide Forest) and invite them along for the ride…it’s a ride that they might soon regret taking!
The author has done a fantastic job of analysing the consequences of human decisions. Why, even with most of the facts in front of you do you make extremely risky choices? Why, given the fact that your Japanese driver has warned you off entering the Suicide Forest, do you think that it’s still a great idea? If it had been me, you wouldn’t have seen me for dust! The mind is a mysterious and times a stupid organ!
I was enthralled with the descriptive narrative as they entered the forest. The interaction with the hikers coming out. The foreboding nature of the signage, the densely populated trees that neither let much light in nor allowed a wind to break through. I truly saw it through Ethan, our protagonists, eyes. I was frightened and I was on edge. I saw everything and yet I didn’t see everything, and that initial vista would become distorted with the fall of darkness. The forest doesn’t want to be disturbed…it wants its secrets to stay just that…a secret.
What should have been an enjoyable camping trip amongst friends quickly turns into a nightmarish episode. We have John Scott’s obsession with finding a corpse, Ben and Nina’s strange behaviour and friction between Ethan and Mel. There’s some horrendously scary scenes from there night in the Suicide Forest, and there was points that I was sitting on the edge of my seat.
However, the flashbacks to Ethan’s past became boring and dragged on too long. Instead of providing the reader with a solid backstory it just seemed to be filling the wordcount. The ending was also highly disappointing and not what I was expecting at all. I won’t say what it was but for me it was rushed and not true to the character development we had witnessed so far. It was still a good, creepy read and was just what I needed on the runup to Halloween.
_ravenna_'s review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the plot but the narrator makes a joke about a Japanese character mispronouncing an English word (the narrator is not depicted as an unlikable character). As someone whose first language isn't English, I found it a bit offensive. Didn't realise we were still doing that, my bad
vminton706's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
This book started out so good and I really thought it was gunna be for stars too I got to the last tenth of it and it just posted me off. Stupid ending that just kept getting more stupid do not recommend