Into the Forest
Ratings11
Average rating3.1
Set in the near-future, *Into the Forest* is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home.
Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other.
Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's *A Handmaid's Tale*, *Into the Forest* is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America.
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I thought this started out well. A bleak look at the decay of society from the point of view of a teenage girl. But unfortunately it did not live up to its promise for me.
I felt that the characters devolved far too quickly for the time period in which the novel was set, and there were several inconsistencies and holes in the story that I couldn't get past.
Very much one for the teen audience, it was an easy read, but at the end of the day not enough substance for me.
Interesting and claustrophobic. -2 for implausible character actions and development, and -1 for unnecessary incest. I didn't particularly like Nell or Eva, they both come across as self centered caricatures. I'm bummed because this is one of the most realistic apocalypses I've read about, but the characters feel so two dimensional that it ruined it for me.
