A review by catherinewcai
The Forest by Justin Groot
5.0
I had so much fun reading this. The tone of the book is the perfect, unexpected mix of dark and whimsical, and the dreamscape of The Forest involves some seriously delicious imagery. Like, The Forest has pretty much everything you might want in a sci-fi novel: literally lush descriptions, a plot jam-packed with action and overgrown monsters, lovable and often exaggerated (and diverse!! strong women!! PoC!!) characters, plus writing that exhibits such playfulness and downright irreverence at times that you get a pretty good sense of what a fun goofball the author must be at a party (or convention..?)
P.S. I have to rebut a few points in Dominic's review, because I disagree with them so completely. The review criticizes the writing for including descriptions like "horrifyingly gigantic" that sound like they came from "a 10-year-old," but I appreciate the freshness and humility of, for example, describing "orange goo" leaking out of an insect as exactly that.
This reviewer also said the references to Google, Yelp, etc. are "jarring." But I loved how that the mention of these super familiar fixtures contrasted against the totally alien world of The Forest. That had to be done intentionally, and I tip my hat to the cheekiness of it.
P.S. I have to rebut a few points in Dominic's review, because I disagree with them so completely. The review criticizes the writing for including descriptions like "horrifyingly gigantic" that sound like they came from "a 10-year-old," but I appreciate the freshness and humility of, for example, describing "orange goo" leaking out of an insect as exactly that.
This reviewer also said the references to Google, Yelp, etc. are "jarring." But I loved how that the mention of these super familiar fixtures contrasted against the totally alien world of The Forest. That had to be done intentionally, and I tip my hat to the cheekiness of it.