Review: The Forest of Adventures by Katie M. John

The Forest of Adventures

by Katie M. John

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Release Date: December 10, 2010
Publisher: Little Bird Publishing House
Source: borrowed from a friend
Purchase: Amazon | Kindle
About the Book:

For seventeen year old Mina Singer, falling in love with an Arthurian Knight on a white horse was never part of the plan - especially being that she's an ordinary college girl living in the twenty first century. As Mina finds herself catapulted into a land she believed only existed in the bedtime stories of her childhood, she soon discovers that Fairyland is not quite as innocent as she imagined.

The question is...who will come out alive?

Haunting, beautiful and sexy, The Forest of Adventures, is a dark romantic quest into the land of true and forbidden love.

I can't believe how disappointing this book was for me. Maybe I'd let my expectations run a little too high, but what I thought was going to be an innovative and incredible Arthurian-based story turned out to be about a "forbidden love" that made this book into a forgettable, unpleasant read. This book focuses on an instaluv romance that did nothing for me, and instead furthered my dislike of this book. I felt deceived by the time I was done, frustrated and baffled. The Forest of Adventures has the potential to be a great story had the author paid more attention to exerting the world-building she'd done beautifully, thoroughly, and the development of the characters. The Forest of Adventures is alternatively just another insufficient romance-driven novel.

I can't tell you how let down I felt by this book. In the occasional faerie books you get mentions of King Arthur, his court, and his knights, but rarely a well-done story that focuses primarily on that. So when I happened upon this book due to a friend, I was excited as hell. Then reading the book I found out I was disillusioned all along. This opening book has nothing whatsoever to do with the legend itself, apart from the related world-building and side characters, but the MC's "love" for one of the Arthurian Knights. *head-desk* I confess, I was bored out of my mind. All Mina thinks about is how beautiful and gorgeous he is and blah blah blah. Mina herself treats her so-called best friends and boyfriend like crap, utterly carelessly as soon as this Blake character waltzes into her life. I could detest her for her narration and actions.

But, really, who the heck is Mina Singer? 

Even in light of the first-person POV I had absolutely no freaking clue who she is, apart from her Bella Swan Obsession with Blake. Other than her innate jerkiness, I discovered nothing about her, made no connection with her. Same goes for Blake. So he's an Arthurian Knight descended from a rather famous one, travels through the Realm, and lives with a *SORTA SPOILERY* contemporary depiction of The Lady of the Lake. But who is Blake the person? Other than Mina's constant reference to his good looks and some of his evident humor in the dialogue, Blake Beldivere is a relative stranger. So how could I have been expected to fall in love with this guy, this romance between two strangers who barely know themselves?

*HEAD-DESK*

Random and oddly placed moments in the book where some Arthurian-ish scenes take place aside, there is nothing very relevant to what's described in the summary. Then, the villain, oh the villain. Morgan le Fay has such promise. She's a dark, twisted character and could have been EPIC. But, no, alas, she's only a magically-inclined, vindictive woman hell-bent on making Blake hers. WHY? Maybe it's just me, but I've always felt that Morgan In The Legend was a Take Over the World Like Voldemort kind of person. John's depiction did little for me, and that glimmer of coolness in the character that I saw in the beginning of the book slowly fades away as it progresses, which ended in me shaking my head in distaste.

The ending may have actually been the worst part for me. I was confused and irritated. And frankly, I didn't care about the characters so why would I care how it ended?

So, plainly speaking, I really did NOT like The Forest of Adventures, as it's a flavorless Arthurian adaptation starring a flat heroine who engages in a poorly drawn out, detestable instaluv-esque romance that only serves to promote disinterest and failed to motivate me to read the rest of the series.

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No fun quotes this time :(