Black Forest honestly left me disappointed. Based on the synopsis I thought I was going to love this one. It sounds right up my alley. A bit of mystery in a fantasy setting? Sounds perfect but I just couldn't get into it. I did end up finishing this one mainly because I just wanted to know how it ends but it was a struggle.

I found Nathan very annoying at times and while I was kinda interested in him at the start I just cared less and less as the book went on. I also just didn't connect with him and couldn't really get invested in what happened to him. This was less horror and more about his life struggles which is not what I signed up for and not really what the synopsis hints at.

I wasn't a fan of the jump in timelines unexpectedly either. I found myself confused at times and it was hard to follow what was going on.

I think there is definitely an audience out there for this book but because of how the synopsis read, it didn't actually make it to the right audience.

This story was more like a mindless read. You read it, but there really isn't any substance or value to the story to make it all that memorable. There is a lot going on, yet they just smush everything together and make it muddy to the reader.

Normally, I wouldn't read the description of a book. I find that if I do, I often end up talking myself out of reading the book or find it less interesting than it might be. In this instance, I did read the description. I thought a story about a boy who could see ghosts and monsters and solving a mystery would be interesting. It didn't live up to its promise.

On top of that, there were other problems with the story. The timeline was confusing to follow. I had a hard time with all the jumping around. Also, the teen viewpoint in this book did not help. Sometimes it helps tie everything together. In this one, not so much. The best it does is make you really annoyed with the protagonist. I was waiting for him to grow up. Which he really didn't do as much as I would have liked.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I’ve never read anything quite like the stories written by Laramie Dean. Although I’m generally not a fan of horror, his stories have an undeniable spooky/creepiness to them that keep me coming back for more. This book satisfies the October urge for something scary while simultaneously giving the familiar feels of a main character on the cusp of adulthood. There’s something cozy about the highschool backstory and thrilling about the progression into university life that connected me to Nathan. At the same time, his visions of dead people- “deaders” are absolutely horrifying. If you enjoy this book and are a lover of great stories, try reading Dean’s plays as well. His adaptations of classic stories are thoughtful, witty, and engaging.

Did not finish. While at first I was really enjoying this book, it soon seemed to become... well, a bit tedious. Although I very much enjoyed the author's writing style, I think this is a case of needing a stricter editor- at times there's just too much description, to the point where it's unnecessary and distracting.

This book delighted me. It was everything I could have hoped for. It had terror, an eerie and dark foreboding like something bad was going to happen. Nathan fear is definitely palpable. You could feel it as you read about what he calls deaders and his being haunted by them. It's a page turner for sure. If you like scary tales than this one is for you

A great queer-coming-of-age novel that kept me up for hours. It is not so common for me to come across queer horror books, and I am glad I found this one.

This book was simply not for me. I tried really hard to get into it but struggled to get past the first chapter. I gave up very quickly after that and called it a day.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Black Forest by Laramie Dean in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like this book, it's a horror story with a gay teen try to figure out his life and how to deal with the deaders he sees. What a great premise and so promising, but there seemed to be a circuitous writing that dragged and was hard for me to get through.

Laramie Dean’s ‘Black Forest’ is a decent novel, but it struggles to understand what it wants to both do and be—is it a queer coming-of-age novel wrapped up in a horror story, or is it a teen melodrama with flashes of horror mixed into it? Are we supposed to sympathize with the main character, Nathan, or are we supposed to despise him? Do we believe that the world we see and read about through his eyes is real, or is his reality something wholly different than everyone else’s? And what do we do with the supporting characters that seem to flit in and out of the narrative with no clear role in the larger story?

The basics of the story are simple—we first meet Nathan, our main protagonist and narrator, when he’s a senior in high school. We read about his life up to that point and watch him interact with other kids in his grade, mostly his best friend, Logan, and a male bully-but-not-really named Seb. Both Nathan and Logan are gay, but the kids at school treat them differently—they look at Nathan like a freak and an outcast, and it mainly revolves around his obsession with everything dark and creepy. Logan, on the other hand, is the typical popular high school jock, and there’s a clear difference between the two of them, enough that their friendship is starting to fray. There’s also Seb, a kid who bullied the heck out of Nathan when he was younger, but there’s more to the relationship that Nathan and Seb share in the book’s present-day than that. Without going into full spoilers, just know that Seb is not just a bully to him anymore. Along with being introduced to the main characters, readers are also told that Nathan can see dead people, or ‘deaders,’ and they’ve followed him around since he was a preteen. Unlike some other horror novels or movies where characters can see dead people, these deaders can actually touch Nathan and interact with the real world, and they’re starting to take a mental toll on him.

After all of this information is gleaned in the opening pages, the next 150 pages are spent watching Nathan interact with his peers and wonder about the future. And when I say most of the pages are spent on Nathan talking to others, I mean we literally read, for pages upon pages upon pages, his conversations both with himself and his friends and frenemies. An editor was sorely needed for this part of the book, and there’s so much extraneous conversation that I found myself skimming over portions of the text when pages-long talks occurred. The actual plot at this point of the book is also a little thin, as it mainly revolves around Nathan figuring out who he is as a gay teenager and trying to get rid of the deaders while also delving in and out of a seemingly dual reality where the deaders come from.

Without much of a resolution to the first part of the novel, the latter two-thirds of the book then focuses on Nathan during his freshman year at college, and it’s much of the same—we watch him interact with new friends and professors/teachers and lovers, attend (or not) his new classes, and dig into a mystery that captivates his college campus. The biggest problem with this though is that the most interesting part of the book—students keep mysteriously disappearing across campus, and it seems like there’s a serial killer on the loose—is merely background noise while we instead watch Nathan befriend new peers and interact with a graduate student who then takes advantage of him later on. The plot is thin and doesn’t drive the narrative forward at all, and making it background noise in the larger context of the story doesn’t help the overall book. Add in an ending that was confusing, abstract, and left many plot points unresolved, and you get a book that’s a little bloated and could’ve been great if it either had a third of it cut out or it was split into two different novels—one of Nathan’s time in high school and one of his freshman year at college.

But, saying all this, I still enjoyed the book to an extent—Nathan as a character could be fascinating, and there are enough melodramatic moments and dynamics between him and his friends and lovers that I found myself never once putting the book down to read something else, and I think that speaks to Dean’s ability to shape well-rounded characters. Yes, the dialogue sounded the same for each character, which is a bit of a problem, but the situations that Dean put them in, and the way that he was pretty raw with his language and situational danger that he put Nathan in time and time again, helps to move the story along when the plot is almost non-existent. I think with a better editor, Dean could’ve had a tight, thrilling horror novel that is also a queer coming-of-age tale set in Montana.

And, speaking of Montana—there is a distinct lack of setting and feeling to the story despite where it takes place. There are occasional passages about the mountains that surround Nathan’s town and the ‘big blue Montana sky,’ but there is nothing in the story that made me feel like you couldn’t pick these characters and the loose storylines that connect them up and drop them anywhere else in the world and achieve the same results.

Overall, this is a decent novel. It has some great ideas that it tries to explore, and the queer coming-of-age portion of it was both entertaining and enlightening to read, while also something different than what most adult novels in the horror genre contain today. However, the lack of purposeful characterization and distinct dialogue, combined with the horror elements taking a backseat to the melodrama of Nathan and his supporting characters, causes the book to sag throughout multiple parts of it, and its 400-page-length is hard to justify. But, if you’re looking for a novel that mixes teen angst with some horror elements sprinkled throughout, look no further.

Thanks to NetGalley, Inkshares, and Laramie Dean for the digital ARC of ‘Black Forest’ in exchange for an honest review.

DNF interesting concept but was too much info dumping for my taste it make it unenjoyable and hard to read

I gotta be honest with you: I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, and I definitely didn’t expect it to be as freaky as it was. Maybe it’s because all the books people swear are scary aren’t scary to me or because I just have a very skewed perspective on the word “scary”, but this book is a trip and a half. It’s poetic, sad, angry, neurotic, tragic, disorienting, darkly romantic, fanciful (but not overly so), and deeply steeped in the darkest of fairy tales and American folklore. I guarantee you’ll spend most of this book wondering what the heck is truly going on, and that feeling only grows as the book goes on. In the end, you have to make a choice as to what you think really happened, and I don’t think there’s a wrong answer.

I’ll be frank with you in that there is a lot of homophobic language and behavior in this book, along with a lot of internalized homophobia. This appears both literally and metaphorically. If this behavior and the language surrounding it is a huge trigger for you, then be very aware that you will come across it multiple times in this book.

I found this book to be charming, in a way. Sounds unusual, I know, for a horror novel to be somewhat charming, but it sometimes was, with its bursts of Great Gatsby-like dialogue, small talk about mythology, ruminations on the original versions of fairy tales versus what Disney made of them, and shudder-inducing mentions of creatures from American folklore and Native American mythology that give even me the heebie-jeebees. It’s the kind of horror mixed with wonder that always makes me smile because it’s simultaneously exciting and terrifying all at once.

I will admit the story arc could be more solid. It’s not quite as well-plotted as it could be, but this isn’t a plot-driven novel. It’s a character-driven novel that could have been better supported with a more stable plot, but it didn’t need it to be a terrific amount of shivery fun. It’s not all fun and games either, let me tell you. There is a great deal of anger, sadness, and tragedy in this book too. And there’s also the eternal question when it comes to a novel like this (where our protagonist can see supernatural/paranormal beings): is it all in his head or not? Maybe it could even be both?

This book is a long, sad, horrible, freakish spiral into madness and desperation propelled by events that occurred before the book began and only perpetuated and/or accelerated by the protagonist’s mind or by events that happen during the book. It’s tragic, but the tragedy is a beautiful and angry mess. Well worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and InkShares for granting me access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

File Under: Genre Mashup/Ghost Story/Horror/LGBTQ Fiction/LGBTQ Romance/Occult Horror/Psychological Thriller/Thriller

DNF I'm sorry :( I tried to finish it but for some reason I couldn't get myself too, it just wasn't able to hold my attention.. even though it had an amazing start that I DID enjoy!

2.5 stars

Black Forest by Laramie Dean is a horror novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Inkshares and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Nathan sees ghosts, which he calls "deaders".  He's seen them since he was a child.  Up to this point, they've been somewhat harmless, but still scary.  Now, as a teenager, they seem to be invading his mind, trying to come into his home, and showing up in the pictures he takes.  He decides to confront them, using a séance to banish them.  That doesn't really go as planned.

When he moves on to University, in addition to his deaders, he starts to see monsters.  When students start disappearing from campus, Nathan fears the worst.  Is one of his friends a monster?  He decides to try and figure out the truth as to what has happened to "the lost boys".  He gets assistance from Theo, who he has had a crush on since he first saw him.  But he doesn't know much about the mysterious Theo.



My Opinions:
Okay, I struggled with this one.  A number of times I just wanted to quit, but we all know the problems I have with quitting.  My thoughts were confused.   I mean it's horror, so how could I be bored?  Why was I skimming?  The premise sounded so good...a kid that sees dead people/monsters....   Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me.  And it was long!

At one point this book seemed to be more of a gay coming of age story, than a true horror novel.  I'm not saying that it didn't have horror too, but sometimes it seemed more like Nathan's emotional journey through life.  As well, neither Nathan, nor I, seemed to be able to tell what was real, and what was in his head.  This made things interesting, if somewhat confusing -- I thought perhaps drugs may have been involved, but no.  Then I considered mental illness, but no.  Okay, so hallucinations?  Not really.  More science fiction meets fantasy meets fairy tale monsters.  Once you get your head around that, it makes more sense.  Either that or I didn't understand it at all.

I also had a problem with Nathan.  I didn't really like him.  It would have been better if he had been a little nicer to people.  How many times did he regret what he had just said?  Anyway, as I often wanted to smack him, it made it difficult to cheer him on.  Not liking the protagonist makes for a difficult read.

Now, what the author did right.  Again, the premise was wonderful.  Nathan's story and background was very well-developed and his emotional turmoil seemed real.   The author's descriptive prose was good.  At times the creepiness of the forest came shining through, and that was very well done.  The author definitely does a creepy atmosphere well.  I liked the ending.

Anyway, I will start watching this author.

Thank you to the publisher for the eArc of this book, I am so grateful.

I was initially so excited to read this book because it sounded so interesting and right up my alley, so it's unfortunate to say that I had to dnf it.

From the beginning i found the book quite boring, which definitely shouldn't happen with a horror, and even as I tried to read on I kept wanting to put the book down and read something else.

The premise of the book is what initially caught my interest so it's unfortunate that the writing style wasn't for me! I also wasn't much of a fan of the MC, which normally for me makes or breaks a book.

There will definitely be others who will enjoy this book and I am so happy that they do! I wish I was one of them.

Again thank you to the publisher for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

Nathan sees dead people. He's also terminally alone, confused, and wandering through life in high school and eventually college in fear of ending up that way forever. When a seance to contact the "deaders" goes awry, Nathan's life quickly deteriorates into a nightmarish haze which may or may not actually be happening.

Pros:
- Writing style is interesting and gets notable tighter as the book goes on.
- Emotional take on queer characters in a coming-of-age tale in high school and college.

Cons:
- Forgettable characters, dropped subplots, and confusing time jumps abound.
- Horror aspect isn't consistent enough to scare throughout the long run time of the book.

Three stars. I almost gave it two, but the writing style was quite good. Ultimately however, this is a book that doesn't quite know what it wants to be with a main character who is insufferable at best and infuriating at worst. It's not quite horror, not quite unreliable narrator, not quite thriller. It just is, and at its length, it becomes hard to justify at times.

FFO: confusion, the Sixth Sense, psychedelia.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Inkshares and Netgalley*

The premise of this book sounded so good!! I was excited to start it and it suddenly was so boring! The deaders had me at first and the I also lost interest. Nathan had me at first and I felt sorry for him and even connected to the way he wants to fit in but then he became horribly annoying!!! I was confused too often because it jumps to the past out of nowhere in the middle of a paragraph and i was like wait wtf? I'll day also this book shouldn't be marketed ad horror, not because someone see dead people it becomes horror, maybe suspense or whatever but no horror. I was so bored and the book being long didn't help.

I'm not a fan of dnf'ing but I should have as soon as I was zero motivated to read it and it felt like punishment.

The author's writing style is amazing!!! But the plot wasn't, the characters most were frustrating... I really wanted to enjoy it but didn't feel a thing.

Told in first person, this story follows Nathan through parts of his high school experience and on to college. There are moments where I really enjoyed Nathan’s story, especially feeling out his relationships with others and trying to figure out just what he was seeing in the deaders and other things that go bump in the night. The time jumps were a little confusing. I also wanted a little more atmosphere. I think that it was there but got somewhat lost within the rambling narrative. Overall, it was a good story that just needed more focus.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkshares for a copy provided for an honest review.

The book is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFULLY written, if you're like me and love literary horror then you'll love this. book. Initially I loved the concept but after a while I felt i just couldn't connect with the characters and the storyline itself.

Black Forest by Laramie Dean intrigued me from the second I read it described as “Montana Gothic”. I also loved that it was a Queer Horror story as well. Overall, I feel like the idea and supporting elements are there but the execution fell short. As a strong supporter of DNFing books that do not immediately grab my attention, I forced myself to push through the first part of the book because it was very slow. I understand that some of the backstory needed to be told, but I definitely feel like this part could have been edited down some.I thought Nathan as a main character was great because he felt like a real person with real emotions. I would have loved to see more of the supernatural elements at work throughout the book, as well. I normally am not a fan of books that time hop but the author managed to do this without it being confusing. The writing style was fabulous and I am definitely interested to check out a future book by Laramie Dean!

The premise of this book really intrigued me along with the author coined phrase of "Montana Gothic" to describe it. Some early parts about the deaders really got me good and made me eager for the rest of the book. Somewhere along the way (around 40% or so) Nathan stopped being a person I cared to read about. He is insufferable and not in an enjoyable way. I honestly had to force myself to finish this book. I am not glad to leave a less than shining review most of the time but I wanted to voice my opinion.

I think this book 100% has AN audience for sure. I think a better synopsis ought to be compiled to better understand what you're getting to ensue the book is worth its while for the reader who picks it up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkworks for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.