Don't Let The Forest In P3 (Ch 24-34)

[Ray]

Discussion for chapters 24 to 34

[Blue Ghost]

A wicked, painful and beautiful read. The kind that sticks around as a dull ache after it's through. I was interested in it because I love forest-set horror, but underestimated it because it's YA. I suppose I've learned that books for all different shades of life can have their merits.

I love multimedia and experimental writing, and I enjoyed how the story was told with the incorporation of the main characters' drawings and tales. Grammatically, I did find the italicization and the falling sentences a bit overused, and there was some prose that fell flat.

Andrew's character development left me wanting more, and the plot left me wanting more for Thomas. Their dependence upon each other was unhealthy and messy—given the circumstances it would have to be—but I was still rooting for them and appreciated the complex aspects of their relationship. There's a horror element, and it's gruesome, but it's primarily about finding one's identity and grappling with the darkness inside one's self—which really hits home with the demographic.

It was the ending, though, that really solidified my fondness for the story. Regardless of how much it still hurts. It was thought provoking and ambiguous, but still satisfying. Yet there is a greedy part of me that wants it to go on just a bit longer to see the characters granted the rest they had been denied, but so deserve.

I'll rate and post a review soon—probably copy and pasting some of what I've said here—once I work out some of the feelings. I couldn't sleep and finished the book in the early darkness of this morning, and now I write this exhausted and devastated. But once I've settled with the tragedy, I'll be able to reflect with a more critical mind.