A poetic examination of toxic relationships, trauma, and how not to deal with it. The narrator of this audiobook did each character justice. Provided a personality to an otherwise sad cast. If you have ever experienced a toxic relationship - parent/child, sibling, lover, friend - you will be able to connect to the turmoil in this book.

A perfectly fine book otherwise. Beautifully written. Unfortunately, it was just sad.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and author Richard Mirabella for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance listener's copy of the audiobook version of this novel.

I DNFed at 15% because I was having a difficult time connecting with the characters and couldn't get into the writing style. It might be the audio narration that's the problem for me, so I might pick it up in print down the road.

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Richard Mirabella delivers an impressive debut with this literary novel about trauma, queer coming-of-age, and the unique, volatile bond between a brother and a sister.

Our story opens with Willa, a put-together if somewhat withdrawn nurse, finding her estranged brother on her doorstep, in need of a place to stay. His turbulent teen-years involving a toxic relationship, a horrific crime and the physical effects of a traumatic brain injury have sent Justin into a spiral of self-destruction, and forced Willa to cut ties with him to protect her own stability.
Now years later, his reentry into her life sets the two off on a path towards tentative reconnection. However, the past still hangs between them and more than time is needed to mend old wounds.

Through beautiful prose and poignant insights, Mirabella does something that few books in its genre are able to do: it captures the quiet, everyday-fallout of trauma. When it comes to traumatic coming-of-age narratives, there’s the temptation to flare into the dramatic. To show the highest of highs, only to almost physically jerk the tears from your audiences eyes during the tragic lows. For a textbook example of that, we need look no further than a book I’ve already seen some reviewers compare this to: A Little Life. Dear readers, this book is not like A Little Life. Where A Little Life is a bombastic orchestra, this is a quiet, acoustic ballad that never feels like it revels in the characters misery. In my opinion, this is much harder to do and therefore much more impressive when done right.
Mirabella expertly captures the shaky grounds on which the relationship between Willa and Justin is funded, and their tentative attempts at reconnection. I also really enjoyed the imagery used, especially the dioramas Willa builds to literally frame her personal memories.

What had me round my 4.5 down instead of up comes down to two issues: the pacing and the audiobook. The pacing took a bit of a dip between the 40 and 70% mark. It wasn’t that I wanted more “action”, but around this point the heaviness of the subject matter, in combination with very little “lightness” in between made the book feel very bleak. So much so, that I couldn’t quite enjoy my time with the book for a while.
My second issue is regarding the audiobook, which I was specifically sent for review. I feel the audio-narration would’ve been improved with a second (male) narrator for Justin’s POV. Although I enjoyed the female narrator overall, she worked very hard to differentiate her voice between the characters. For Justin and Grace specifically, she was quite obviously “performing a man and an elderly woman” respectively, which distracted from the story a bit.

Many thanks to the publisher Dreamscape Media for providing me with an advanced-audio copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for the audiobook review copy of this book. I find the narrator's voice and cadence too bizarre. The story is interesting so far. I think I'd rather read this one in print.

"Brother & Sister Enter the Forest' is a difficult read, emotionally, but it is also challenging to unpack. With themes of obligation and family, self preservation and healing, and loving others through their own healing, you can't help but imagine yourself in the position of the characters. This is a debut and I admire the vigor with which Richard Mirabella tackled these topics, but also that he did so in such a frank, but poetic, way.

This is described as a queer coming-of-age story, and I would completely agree. But what makes this so unique is that it never shies away from how ugly we can be, to one another, how selfish or frustrated we can get. Life is hard, and these characters, in real life, would never be able to act perfectly all the time - maybe even MOST of the time - and Mirabella allows his character these nuances. It feels authentic, sincere and tender.

I am so appreciative of the chance I was given to experience this story. Thank you so much, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media. Eve Passeltiner was a terrific narrator and suited the tone of the novel, very well.

Brother & Sister Enter the Forest begins with a strained sibling relationship that explores the relationship through flashbacks to their childhood and critical memories. Some great writing here, to be sure, but the whole was a little disjointed and the narration was not my favorite.

This literary novel explores familial relationships and how our past can affect our present lives. Willa and Justin are brother and sister, and they lived a rocky life together growing up due to their father passing and a traumatic experience Justin lived through. The story is told through both POV’s and revisits their pasts to give more context to their present relationship. This family drama explores trauma, being gay, and how family ties break.

I am not quite sure how to feel about this. I don’t typically pick up literary fiction because of the lack of plot, and I can see why this novel felt like a good example of that. There wasn’t a whole lot to this novel, and while it did explore the contentious relationships and gay shaming that comes with family drama, it just didn’t resonate with me like I felt it would have. I enjoyed the way the writing was portrayed, but the content was all a blur. The switching between POV’s was enjoyable, but the back and forth between past and present felt way too hard to distinguish.

Overall, I thought this was just okay. If you really enjoy literary fiction, family drama with LGBTQ+ aspects, this may be a book for you.

I'm not really sure how I'd categorise this book, however I found it incredibly compelling and enjoyable. It focusses on the relationship between a woman and her gay brother. It covers topics of trauma, abuse and lack of acceptance of queer children.

The writing is interesting, because the timeline skips about quite a bit and you learn about the background of the characters in snippets. It's fascinating and it's really only at the end where the full picture is revealed and then it's the kind of book where you have to sit and think about everything that you read and kind of stack it all in order in your mind to come to a conclusion. At times it felt like some of the parts were too good to be true and that I was about to be told it was all a dream. And maybe it was....but anyway.

It contains a cast of characters who were at times, difficult to like. In fact knowing now the full story, I like the way that Willa treated Justin even less. Although I can also see from her perspective that she was concerned about him negatively impacting her own life. But I suppose the message that I took away from the book was that abuse doesn't just impact the victim, but also ripples out to those people in there sphere and that they can only be helped at the time when they choose to be.

All in all I found it to be an impactful and fascinating novel and I will certainly be seeking out more from this author.

I was given access to the audio thanks to the publisher via Netgalley. It was an excellently narrated audiobook, however I felt that the choice to have a female narrator all the way through was interesting. I felt that it really would have benefitted from having a male narrator in the sections where we are focussing on Justin. Even though it was told in third person, it still felt odd having a female narrate sexy bits that were between two men.

This was so weird. I had no idea what it was about and I feel like I still have no idea what it was about. It is some wild literary fiction about this brother and sister at different stages of my life after the brother survives a traumatic incident. I don't even know to be honest. It's one of those that I listened to it and I processed it but I didn't *get* it.

"Brother & Sister Enter The Forest" by Richard Mirabella is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that follows the lives of siblings Justin and Willa through two timelines: the present and the past. The past timeline delves into the complicated relationship between the siblings, exploring family drama and a sexual relationship that turns violent, resulting in death and physical harm. In the present timeline, Justin turns to Willa for help when his house collapses, leading to the unraveling of the underlying mystery that connects the past and the present.

This audiobook version, narrated by Eve Passeltiner, is impressive. Her clear and engaging voice captures the essence of the story's characters and plot, bringing them to life in a way that makes them relatable and believable. Passeltiner keeps the listener engaged and invested in the narrative. Her pacing is good, maintaining the momentum of the story from start to finish.

Despite being a beautiful and evocative debut, the narrative occasionally gets muddled, and some readers might expect more from the story to make it truly great. Additionally, the analogy to Hansel & Gretel adds an interesting layer to the story, but it is important to note that this is not a fairytale; it deals with trauma in a very realistic and dark way.

Overall, "Brother & Sister Enter The Forest" is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that explores complex family relationships and the lingering effects of trauma. The audiobook version, narrated by Eve Passeltiner, is highly recommended for those who enjoy listening to books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC of Brother and Sister Enter The Forest by Richard Mirabella. All opinions are my own.

Brother and Sister Enter The Forest by Richard Mirabella is the story of siblings, Willa and Justin, and their often fractured relationship to one another and those around them. Their childhood wasn’t the easiest, with their father dying young and their critical mother not providing much love, and unable to accept Justin’s sexuality. Willa and Justin often go from one extreme to another in their love and anger towards one another.

The narrative goes back and forth through time, as we learn of a traumatic experience from Justin’s past, and its long lasting effects on the family. Justin struggles to maintain healthy relationships, as well as self acceptance, while Willa unsuccessfully tries to be the diplomat of the family, working through her feelings through the creation of dioramas.

This was tough to listen to at times, as neither sibling was particularly likable, and the story was - quite honestly - very depressing. While I usually prefer character driven narratives, I found the lack of a tangible plot hard at times. And this really is a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.”

The aspects of the story I did appreciate were its take on the power dynamics in toxic relationships, as well as the struggles in navigating complex relationships between siblings. How do you help the ones you love, without sacrificing a piece of yourself over and over again? How do you live with the guilt when you choose yourself over a family member who is struggling? I found these depictions to be written very well.

Richard Mirabell’s prose is lovely. While I may not have been enamored with the book as a whole, I truly appreciated the way he writes, and would likely read his work again.

I think perhaps the issue for me was the narration. While the narrator was talented, I feel that having an additional male narrator would have been beneficial for Justin’s POV. For me, some of the intonations used for different characters was grating at times.

In the end, I would recommend this book to those who are a fan of character driven, literary fiction narratives.

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Eve Passeltiner
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 4 stars

Willa and Justin are siblings, but they are not close. Events from their youth still affect their relationship. One day Justin appears at Willa’s doorstep and expects she will take him in, and Willa doesn’t like that. The plot jumps from present to past and reveals what happened to Justin and why their relationship is this way. I sometimes didn’t like Willa and her behavior toward Justin. But as the story progresses, we learn why she behaves the way she does.

I liked the analogy with Hansel & Gretel (Brothers Grimm fairytale), as they, in the story, are like brother and sister that once entered the forest, and dark things awaited them there. But this is not a fairytale. It’s a very realistic and dark story that deals with trauma.

I liked the novel, but I expected a bit more to make this story really great.

The narration was good, but maybe I would expect a male narrator. Because I take this as a story of Justin (and not Willa).

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

A beautiful and evocative debut.

I found the writing stunning and affective. As someone who is close to their own brother and feels quite maternal towards him I really related to Willa and her sense of duty and loyalty to Justin.

Justin was messy, but human, well developed I felt his heartache, his sense of misunderstanding and the aspects of his brain injury felt well researched and represented.

Beneath the entire story surrounding Justin and Willa is this underlying mystery that was slowly unraveled as the past and present collided with a back and forth narrative that left a lot of intrigue.

Sometimes I felt like the direction of the narrative did get a bit muddled but it’s an outstanding debut nonetheless.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy all opinions are my own, this ones out Tuesday, April 17.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved Eve Passeltiner’s narration of this story! She brings the characters to life in a way that I feel like I know them personally. This book is about a brother and sister’s tumultuous relationship and focuses on LGBTQ+ issues and how this family has handled different intense situations in their lives. I honestly had little idea what it was about beforehand but I think it always works out better that way! This is one of those books that I will definitely be purchasing and making sure my teen daughters read when they’re old enough to fully appreciate it!

I don’t even know what to say. Unfortunately the only reason I finished this was because it is an audiobook. The one good thing I could say is that I appreciated the complicated sibling relationship.
But god this book was so boring. Everything that’s in the synopsis is way more interesting than the novel itself. The mom, sister, brother, and his boyfriend are not individualistic. They fit the model of every mother, brother, etc. These characters weren’t compelling. Going into Justin’s past was lackluster for the most part.

Brother & Sister Enter The Forest by Richard Mirabella
“I know what you are -said the man. The fact that other men could see him, always frightened Justin. They knew he wasn’t like them. Nick could fake it and it made Justin hate him a little bit.”
There are two timelines: one of the present and one of the past. The past story involves the friendship and family drama of the brother, Justin and the sister, Willa. It also tells the story about the brother and a sexual relationship that turns violent resulting in death and physical harm. In the present, the brother turns to the sister for help when his house literally collapses. Of course there’s a lot more to the story. Have you ever been bullied before because of your sexual orientation? Does anyone in your family look at you and think of the word, drama? Is there more to the relationship you have with your sibling? You might have more in common with this debut novel than you think. Out on audiobook April 18, 2023. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC. #BrotherSisterEntertheForest #NetGalley #DreamscapeMedia #bookstagram #audiobookstagram

i wiggled between 4 and 4.5 for this rating so i probably actually ended up around 4.25. ‘brother and sister enter the forest’ is a marvel of a debut novel from richard mirabella. by turns a queer coming of age and a raw portrayal of familial estrangement, it tells the story of older brother justin and younger sister willa, whose relationship is fragile, and frayed, and once more tested when justin suddenly re-enters willa’s life.

the book jumps between the past and present, which creates a really jarring effect as we move between willa trying desperately to keep her brother in her life, to determinedly keeping him at a distance. it examines their relationship throughout their lives, and never stays in one linear time period for very long, which means we can jump from a really horrific scene from the past into something mundane happening in the present day. this keeps you invested in the story and wanting to learn how justin & willa ended up where they did. through this time jumping, we learn that justin experienced something awful in his younger years, which has left him physically and emotionally scarred, and which forever changed his relationship not only with willa but also with their mother, grace. the ongoing effects of this, and justin’s understandable inability to move past it, are one of the main sources of conflict in the book.

both a subtle and brutal exploration of the enduring mental & physical effects of trauma, ‘brother and sister enter the forest’ really highlights how some relationships can change, fracture and repair over time, not always in this order, and not always within your control. the end of the book felt cathartic, though i would have liked to see more resolution for present-day justin and willa.

i also really enjoyed the audiobook version of this, though i think it did make the time jumping a little bit confusing as i wasn’t always sure which timeline we were in, especially once we got further on in the book. i would definitely recommend this book for any fans of challenging literary fiction.

Brother & Sister Enter the Forest is a difficult but beautiful story at its core but unfortunately, it didn’t have a long-lasting effect on me. I thought the pacing was a bit off, which made it difficult for me to follow and connect to the story.
Unfortunately, as I was listening to the audiobook, I found the narration to be quite dull which added to the reasons why I couldn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted to.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for providing me of an audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a captivating read full of complex relationships and examinations of the effects of trauma. The characters weren't loveable, but they felt so real, and I loved the structure and how it combined the past and present. It was heartbreaking and beautifully written. If you love stories that make you feel deeply, I would highly recommend Brother & Sister Enter the Forest to you.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

No one really understands one’s childhood trauma the way one’s sibling does and if they don’t understand there is an unspoken tie between siblings which is what this book brought to the table. The story was a heartbreakingly kind one between two siblings, Justin and Willa. Showcasing some heavy traumatic things Justin experiences and the siblings growth, this a heavy and reflective story. Ultimately, I was unable to really connect with the siblings —I think,
personally, it was missing some sazón. The cover and book title really tie into these two adults as children playing in the woods and their journey through the darkest parts of the woods.