observerspotter's Reviews (182)

Juniper and Thorn

Ava Reid

2.5

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Dark Between The Trees

Fiona Barnett

2.5

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I'm as unsure how to describe this book as the author was about how to finish it. The atmosphere is set up very well, with a spooky forest, the two groups in two different time periods, and an unknowable entity stalking through the forest.

Could it have been a tense Predator-style hunt? Maybe. Could it have been a ghost or a witch or a revenant? Maybe
Could it have been a metaphor for the unknown, facing your fears and what it means to chase your dreams as far as they can take you? Maybe.

I'm not sure what it was, and maybe that was the point. There is no answer, there is no conclusion, stuff just kind of stops happening? There are far too many names in the past perspective, so much so that I'm not entirely sure who is who aside from the leader. At no point did I remember who it was from the past that had survived to tell the stories the people in the present were investigating, and it turns out a handful of pages from the end of the book that it was the people that ran away right at the start?

For a very short book, it was very easy to forget what had happened from chapter to chapter. Nothing particularly was memorable except vibes, and the vibes were bland.

I would recommend if that's what you're going for, and I can also state that I am new to horror books, but I cannot say that I would reread this one.