Adam McOmber

"Memories are like that, aren't they? ....They trip along. Like a reflection over water. Always threatening to disappear."

Memories and desires...If we come to think about it, the connection between these two notions is so powerful and ever-present. Desires may be created by memories of actions and people from our past. They may be caused by unfulfilled wishes, cravings, the thirst for the unattainable, for the one thing or the one person we cannot have. Few things are more personal than show more memories and desires. Few stories are more powerful than this darkly fascinating collection.

First of all, don't let the title trick you. This book has nothing to do with romance or erotica (genres that I admittedly have zero experience with). These are stories about hidden terrors, sins of the past that caused tragedy. About repressed sexuality and the need to discover the origins of human desires. Every story is an allegory, full of references to myths, to historical characters, to Biblical legends. The atmosphere is dark, haunting and as Gothic as it can get.

Lakes with waters that hide monsters, quaint villages abandoned by progress, buried in time. Marie Antoinette is haunting the garden of her beloved Petit Trianon, undead aristocrats are lurking in dimly lit streets in London, Paris, Vienna. Sodom and Gomorrah tell a story of an accursed past, alchemists, veterans of a devastating war, tragic mothers, haunted children, desperate lovers narrate their stories.

This is a book whose cover speaks for itself. A collection where Paracelsus, Versailles, the Celtic Rites of spring, King Arthur sleeping in his cave, Freud and Jung come together to form one of the darkest psychological reads that will ever grace your shelves. This is Gothic Fiction in one of its finest moments. You don't want to miss it... show less

Fantastical and haunting, from the start THE WHITE FOREST has me riveted to the page. I can't tell if our narrator is out of JANE EYRE or THE TELL-TALE HEART, but her measured description of her strange world has me captivated. Jane is a contradictory mix of petty emotion and open-hearted loneliness, making her grateful and jealous of the attention of her friends. Even more intriguing, her otherworldly gift seems both dangerous and innocuous, linked both to her mother's death and a show more meaningless presentation of colors and sounds when she touches certain objects.

The mystery of THE WHITE FOREST unfolds on so many different levels. At the present day, Nathan is missing. Below that lurks the secret of Jane's gift and how it relates to both Nathan's disappearance and Jane's future. And then deeper still, simmering in the background is the complex alchemy of these relationships; Jane and Maddie and Nathan meshed together in friendship, jealousy, and attraction. I could never tell if the cynical way Jane views her value to Maddie and Nathan was realistic or not, and that tension as much as any other kept me reading for clues.

Though many elements of THE WHITE FOREST remind me of other books and movies that I've enjoyed (THE HISTORIAN and Pan's Labrynth to name two), Jane herself is a singular experience. Other characters in THE WHITE FOREST comment on her strange charisma, how she isn't as plain as they first thought. This never comes across as the romance trope of a plain heroine who doesn't realize how beautiful she is, or only her true love sees her inner beauty. Rather, even on the written page Jane seems both muted and mesmerizing. Her narration is almost deadpan, but the circumstances of her story reveal very strong emotions. I can't even say that I liked her, and certainly much of her actions aren't admirable in the typical "heart of gold" sense. She can be cruel, she feels the seduction of weilding power over another, and her attachment to Maddie and Nathan is almost smothering. At the halfway point I couldn't see any happily ever after for Jane, or even predict where this story's strange magic would take me, but I didn't need either of those things to keep me riveted to the page.

THE WHITE FOREST isn't the usual thrilling, sexy urban fantasy, but I love it all the more for being something rarer. Jane manages to be magnetic and fascinating without being charming, she drew me into the mystery of her circumstances without being predictable, and the pathos of the story is certainly one of foreboding and dread without ever dipping into melodrama or horror. A captivating ghost story, a gothic to curl up around and savor, I enjoyed slowing down and immersing myself in this strange, dark world. As the story spirals further and further outside human experience, I found myself no less affected. An "ever after" of silence and peace, is that happiness?

Full review to follow. show less

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
allthingsuf.com

Fantastical and haunting, from the start THE WHITE FOREST had me glued to the page. I couldn’t tell if our narrator was out of JANE EYRE or THE TELL-TALE HEART, but Jane’s measured description of her strange world had me captivated. Jane is a contradictory mix of petty emotion and open-hearted loneliness, making her both grateful and jealous of the attention of her friends. Even more intriguing, her otherworldly gift seems show more simultaneously dangerous and innocuous, linked both to her mother’s death and the meaningless colors and sounds the souls of man-made objects project to her.

Though many elements of THE WHITE FOREST remind me of other books and movies that I’ve enjoyed (THE HISTORIAN and Pan’s Labyrinth to name two), Jane herself is a singular experience. Other characters in THE WHITE FOREST comment on her strange charisma, how she isn’t as plain as they first thought. This never comes across as the romance trope of a plain heroine who doesn’t realize how beautiful she is, or only where only her true love sees her inner beauty. Rather, even on the written page Jane seems both muted and mesmerizing. Her narration is almost deadpan, but the circumstances of her story reveal very strong emotions. I can’t even say that I liked her, and certainly much of her actions aren’t admirable in the typical “heart of gold” sense. She can be cruel, she feels the seduction of wielding power over others, and her attachment to Maddie and Nathan is almost smothering. At the halfway point I couldn’t see any happily ever after for Jane, or even predict where this story’s strange magic would take me, but I didn’t need either of those things to keep me riveted to the page.

The mystery of THE WHITE FOREST unfolds on so many different levels. In the present moment, Jane’s friend Nathan is missing. Below that lurks the secret of Jane’s gift and how it relates to both Nathan’s disappearance and Jane’s future. And then deeper still, simmering in the background is the complex alchemy of these relationships; Jane and Maddie and Nathan meshed together in friendship, jealousy, and attraction. I could never tell if the cynical way Jane views her value to Maddie and Nathan was realistic or not, and that tension as much as any other kept me reading for clues.

THE WHITE FOREST isn’t the usual thrilling, sexy urban fantasy, or anything close to steampunk, but I love it all the more for being something out of the norm for me. Jane manages to be magnetic and fascinating without being charming. She drew me into the mystery of her circumstances without becoming predictable and the pathos of the story is one of foreboding and dread without ever dipping into melodrama or horror. As the story spirals further and further outside human experience, I found myself no less affected. A captivating ghost story, a gothic to savor, I enjoyed slowing down and immersing myself in this strange, dark world.

Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex. show less

I have mixed feelings about this book ~ it left me in a weird mood, kind of depressed and grouchy and blank. The imagery is cold and frigid, not of this earth. I kept picturing the landscape like one that had the life sucked out of it and all that was left was a white husk.

The story is told from the point of view of Jane Silverlake - a plain girl who sounds like she has an ethereal beauty, white skin and gray eyes. She is not a nice person, not really. She torments her maid, and her feelings show more for her friends, Maddy and Nathan, are excessive bordering on obsessive. I think the story being told from her viewpoint is one reason the book is so cold ~ Jane is not that warm of a person. She is isolated and removed and detached from the world, with the exception of her friends. And even that is a little messed up ~ she wants all their attention, Maddy's and Nathan's, and doesn't seem to even want to share them with each other.

Jane also has a special talent ~ she can feel the vibrations and colors from man made objects, their souls if they had one. If one were to touch her skin, they would feel this through her. Her power can kill and topple buildings and swallow people up, sending them to a world called the Empyrean. Nathan is obsessed with her power, and wants to feel more and more of it. Nathan and Maddy also have a special relationship, without Jane. This leads to some major issues, and Nathan disappears.

The rest of the book is finding Nathan, and learning more about his interests and Jane's talents. It gets all mystical, with the White Forest, white apes, Ariston Day and his fetches, the Lady of the Flowers and the Empyrean.

I did love the prose-like writing of this novel ~ it flowed beautifully and evoked haunting images, and the story itself was haunting as well. You really felt transported to another world and time, and the mystery kept your attention.

This book was unexpected ~ it was not like what I thought it would be like at all. It was transcendent, and even a little abstract. Although it was all a surprise, I did find myself liking it, although it was a little weird and cold. I could picture reading in winter, when the world outside was just as white and unearthly. show less