Sea of Trees

by Robert James Russell

Swirling mystery permeates Sea of Trees as Bill, an American college student, and his Japanese girlfriend Junko traverse the Aokigahara Forest in Japan--infamous as one of the world's top suicide destinations--in search of evidence of Junko's sister Izumi who disappeared there a year previous. As the two follow clues and journey deeper into the woods amid the eerily quiet and hauntingly beautiful landscape--bypassing tokens and remains of the departed, suicide notes tacked to trees and shrines put up by forlorn loved ones--they'll depend on one another in ways they never had to before, testing the very fabric of their relationship. And, as daylight quickly escapes them and they find themselves lost in the dark veil of night, Bill discovers a truth Junko has hidden deep within her-a truth that will change them both forever.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Death

106 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2012

About the author

A born and bred Michigander, Robert James Russell is the co-founding editor of the literary journal Midwestern Gothic, which aims to catalog the very best fiction of the Midwestern United States (an area he believes is ripe with its own mythologies and tall tales, yet often overlooked), as well as the micro-press MG Press. In 2013 he launched the online literary journal CHEAP POP, which publishes micro-fiction, 500 words or less.

Fascinated by regionalist literature and the intersection of place/landscapes and relationships, his work has appeared in numerous publications, both print and online. His first novella, Sea of Trees, was published by Winter Goose Publishing in 2012. His chapbook, Don’t Ask Me to Spell It Out, was published in April 2015 by WhiskeyPaper Press. His Western novella, Mesilla, was published in September 2015 by Dock Street Press. He’s been nominated nine times for the Pushcart Prize, and was awarded an artist residency with the University Musical Society for the 2014-2015 performance season. In 2016 he was awarded Runner-up for the Passages North Waasnode Fiction Prize, and his essay “Lord of the Lake” was a finalist for the Parks and Points Fall Essay Contest.

Robert is the former Director of Development for the non-profit writers’ center Great Lakes Commonwealth of Letters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Co-Director of the Voices of the Middle West literary festival at the University of Michigan. Robert currently lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is represented by Abby Saul of The Lark Group.

Reviews

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, this was definitely a pleasant surprise to read a novella with absolutely no expectations—just to ease into it and *really* enjoy the story. Sea of Trees is a minimalist examination of mankind’s relationship with suicide, with particular emphasis on the phenomena surrounding Aokigahara Forest on the slopes of Mount Fuji in Japan.

I’d heard of the “suicide forest” but had never read up much about it until I read Sea of Trees and to know that this place really exists, chills and fascinates by equal measure. I dare you to go look it up. It’s fascinating—absolutely totally fascinating. Macabre, yes, I admit it, but definitely a rich topic for conversation that is soaked in monomyths.

Bill, the narrator, accompanies his girlfriend, Junko, into the forest seemingly so that she can lay her dead sister’s memory to rest. But the journey into this primordial wilderness unlocks a darkness Bill is not prepared for. Those of you who are familiar with the writings of Joseph Campbell will see correspondences with the Hero’s Journey.

Complementing the primary story arc are a selection of vignettes, of the lives of those who have sought out Aokigahara in order to seek solace in death. Chilling, these nevertheless carry with a ring of authenticity Russell executes masterfully.

Perhaps this novella resonated with me due to my own brushes with suicide, but in any case, Russell deals sensitively with the topic, exploring mankind’s fascination with death. Especially for those who realise that the ones desiring death literally feel there is no other way to resolve their situation. I cannot underscore how much I absolutely *love* this novella. Russell’s definitely made it to my list of rare finds for 2012. If you’re looking for a tale that will chill you, give you pause for thought and immerse you in a vivid world existing beneath a gloomy forest canopy, then go read this novella.

[Elsa Triin · Rating 1 out of 5]

the biggest crime a book can commit is to be boring, especially when the subject matter is so very interesting, 1,5 stars.

I have long been interested in Aokigahara, the infamous suicide forest of Japan. As of late, I've also been intrigued by suicide narratives, as I search for how to narrow down my Master's thesis. I saw this book recommended somewhere and since it's so short, I could put aside my obligatory reading and dive right in. It started out fairly decent but in the end, it was just left incredibly shallow.

There's an overarching story of one girl, along with his boyfriend and our narrator, going into the forest to search for something of her sister's to remember her by, as the sister had killed herself in Aokigahara the year prior. The people they meet along the way had the potential to provide quite a few philosophical insights, and yet they felt like mere footnotes. Funny is, even the "main characters" felt like footnotes.

Around the overarching story, there are quite a few vignettes of people who, for various reasons, decided to take their life in the forest. As each was only a few pages long, it felt like just many summaries of lives ended. I do, mostly, blame the writing, as I believe it is possible to create something deep and emotional with just a few lines (poetry being a great example), so even those couple of pages felt wasted. At first, I thought perhaps each person in the smaller stories would have a different motivation for suicide, but they all boiled down to basically outside factors. Even when some of the characters were in a deep depression, the author failed to properly convey any emotion whatsoever, which made me feel like "okay, egh??" – a question I do not wish to be in my mind when reading about this subject matter. Then I thought that perhaps these were the stories of the bodies/trinkets of the people who had passed which the main characters encountered. Noup. The shorter stories gave nothing to the bigger one, which made it feel very disjointed. You can have Aokigahara be the line connecting everything, but that too would require better writing.

With the overarching story, the ending of the book was clear from the start. Emotions? Once again, not conveyed. The random horniness the main character got for his girlfriend? As I said, random, it didn't even lead anywhere. You can make me understand two people like and live each other without "hungry gazes raking over" the other in a forest filled with people who committed fucking suicide.

Anyway, written badly in a way where the author wanted to be deep but just utterly failed to and, ultimately, very boring. Even the atmosphere wasn't created well. Seems like I'm in the minority, but I believe I've just read more better books with this subject matter.

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I truly wanted to like this book more than I did. The topic itself intrigued me, and the fault of my indifference may be due to the fact I had finished a different 400 page book about the aokigahara forest. I also failed to notice the book was a novella, so it was incredibly short -100 pages but the font is huge!
Anyways, I found the main character slightly annoying and her dialogue seemed immature which I found somewhat annoying. The interesting part of the book was that instead of encountering bodies in the forest, you are given random stories of people and background into their lives on why they chose to kill themselves which broke the story up . Otherwise I found the ending predictable although it's not entirely clear what Her sisters diary said to drive her to suicide.. I felt the book didn't have a solid ending. Kind of left me hanging.

[Kathy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of "the suicide forest" until seeing the movie, "The Sea of Trees" starring Matthew McConaughey and Ken Watanabe. I read somewhere that when the movie was shown at Cannes film festival, the audience booed at the end. I wanted to boo at end of this novella. I felt so badly for Bill. He was so supportive and kind to his distant, moody girlfriend, Junko. I understand that different countries, religions, and ideals have different values and morals but suicide could and should never be as easy and as blissful as this story makes it seem. Everyone faces challenges and difficulties, from broken homes, homelessness, abuse, and neglect, but this book would have the reader believe that suicide is the answer to all of lifes various problems. No hope, no thought for anyone else or that your senseless act may affect someone. I feel incredibly sad. I also feel angry that this way of thinking may cause someone to act on an impulse.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a lot of things left unresolved at the end of this read. Maybe that was the author's intent so it would make the connection with the yurei but it didn't really endear me to the story.

The reading itself was a bit choppy and some of the sentences seemed to go on a long time. I was really confused at the start of the book as to what exactly was happening.

Bill and Junko's characters were a bit one-dimensional. Bill seemed to only exist to argue with Junko and Junko was just kind of there. For being the two main characters, I wish they would've been fleshed out a bit more to make them a bit more human and relatable.

The story of Aokigahara has interested me for awhile so I was glad to see a book that would explore the forest. However, this one just didn't really do it for me.

[Amanda Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, but fairly good story.

In all honesty, the topic of the Aokigahara Forest has always interested me, which was what drew me to this book.

The storyline was pretty good, but it was a bit anti-climatic and there were some things that were left unresolved. Which, may have been the author's intention. There were some places that had really long, run-on sentences, and the read-through was a little choppy, but I DID enjoy it.

For a short, quick read, this was pretty good.

[Mirella · Rating 2 out of 5]

En bok som jag gick in i utan förväntningar och blev faktiskt besviken, stor potential att vara väldigt bra. Relationen mellan karaktärerna kändes väldigt udda och utan någon som helst bakgrund om dem så fick inte "plot twisten" den reaktion som troligtvis var förväntad. Det som räddade boken var delarna skrivna om personerna som tillslut hamnat i Aokigahara.

[BlackfishGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reluctant 4 stars. It's very different to anything I've read and there were parts I thought were really well written but I did think you could see the ending coming a mile off and Bill is quite frankly a dick. The good parts outweighed the bad ones overall though so 4*

[Shaunee Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was great, however, I would have really loved if it was longer. The author had his reasons for the amount of pages, but his writing skills had me longing for more. Especially in every one of the characters. There's lots of emotions in this one!

[Aura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little collection of stories based on Aokigahara, the Suicide Forest, and those who chose to end their lives there.

[JoseRaw ⚡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really have a great time with this novella, I always wanted to read something about the Aokigahara Forest. I recommend this book.

[Dmassy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk verhaal, zeker met de afwisselende tussenstukjes. Wel zag ik het einde al van ver aankomen. Had gehoopt op een plot twist.

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read

I chose this book since it was recommended on a few sites. I'm surprised how short the book is, it left me wanting more.

[Erwin Verweij · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good that it has nothing to do with the movie. Just a very beautiful story. Powerful. Imaginative and yes it is dark. It is also very sweet and understandable.

[Femke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing

[Peter Mathews · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a short documentary on YouTube, about twenty minutes long, about the Aokigahara Forest (also known as Jaiku) in Japan. The documentary follows Azusa Hayano, a geologist who frequents the forest, as he explores the undergrowth, looking for signs of people who might have committed suicide there. The forest, after all, is famous as one of the most popular sites in the world for people to commit suicide, a tradition that stretches back even before modern times – in times of famine, the locals used to leave the elderly, unwanted babies, the sick, and other people that society sought to exclude for the sake of survival, leading to a longstanding association of the place with death and, not surprisingly, the ghosts of those who died there.

The forest, with its rugged density and lack of wildlife, enveloping the place in an eerie blanket of silence, seems particularly conducive to this kind of mythologizing. In 1960, Seichi Matsumoto captured the Japanese imagination with the publication of his (as yet untranslated) novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Sea of Trees), a romantic story of two doomed lovers. Robert James Russell’s novella seems to have been inspired by a conjunction of these sources.

The narrative is simple enough. Divided into chapters with headings like “Sacrifice” and “Enlightenment,” the main story follows two characters, Junko, a beautiful young Japanese woman, and Bill, an American, the two having met and fallen in love while they were students. The purpose of their journey is to discover some sign of Izumi, Junko’s older sister, who had disappeared in the forest, presumably having committed suicide. Each chapter concludes with a self-contained, italicized story about an unrelated character (or characters) who died in the forest due to various motives: shame, guilt, murder, and even a simple fascination with death.

I had a number of problems with Sea of Trees. For a start, so many of the elements from the aforementioned documentary seemed to have been incorporated into the basic details of the story: the abandoned car in the parking lot, the deserted campsite, the forlorn body of a deceased person, the doll nailed to a tree with a suicide note nailed next to it. Often it felt as though the novella I was reading was a transposition of the documentary into written form, with only minor modifications.

As we get into the second half of the book, the personalities of the two main characters start to emerge, revealing a major weakness of Russell’s abilities as a writer. Both Bill and Junko are disappointingly flat characters – Bill simply switches back and forth between lusting after Junko and meekly allowing her to walk all over him, while Junko is so unrealistically obsessed with finding her sister that she abandons all logic and, particularly in the final pages, believability. She reveals secrets about Izumi that make sense of her sister’s suicide, but her own behavior is so over the top that she made no inherent sense to me at all – her actions seemed a rather artificial device on Russell’s part to push the plot to its culmination rather than any explicable, organic development in her character.

The element of Sea of Trees that I was least able to stomach, though, was its uncritical romanticism. Let’s not forget that the world’s first romantic novel – Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) – also deals with the issue of suicide. While I can sympathize with the seductive power that Aokigahara, with its legends of demons and death, wields over the human imagination (it was what sparked my interest in Russell’s novella in the first place) what I found both lazy and problematic about the book was its wholesale acceptance of this tradition. The reader is not only led to empathize repeatedly with the suicide victims in the book, but also to accept the mystical power that is associated with the place. Bill does make some feeble attempts to give voice to reason, but they are quickly lost in the emotional deluge of Junko’s mania.

Sea of Trees could have been a powerful and complex examination of what life means in the face of death, especially when humanity is faced with the complex phenomenon of its own self-destruction. Russell draws on the operatic, emotional power of the romantic tradition to give his novel punch, but the problem is that this formula is so worn out that, quite simply, I can’t believe in its nobility anymore. I read Goethe’s Werther, for instance, and I think “Put the pistols away, young man – this Lotte woman is not worth it. Your momentary, youthful despair is far less daring than having the maturity to face life with all its prismatic hardness.” Surely that is what novelists, in the twenty-first century, ought to have learned, too – or at the very least, that romanticism is fine when it arouses us into life, but pushed to its extreme it descends into the very worst kind of nihilism.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Reader will figure out where the book is headed. Left me wanting more at the end (example Bill getting out). Nice read.

[Kristi Schoonover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where this book excels is in the vignettes of those who suicided in Aokigahara Jukai forest: we see the last moments of these people’s lives in chilling, haunting portraiture. Similarly, the world of the forest is brought to life; the writing itself is clear, yet peppered with poignant phrasing. The first person present-tense is sound and is a good match for this type of piece. The tension between the two characters is fantastic, as there is push and pull but neither gets what’s desired. It’s also an easy read (although the lack of commas where there should’ve been drove me crazy; I’m not sure if this was an editing fail or if it’s some style I’m not familiar with).

Despite all of that, however, I’d only be able to recommend SEA OF TREES to those who are deeply interested in the forest.

Although the stories of those who suicided are, as previously noted, gorgeously rendered (and ultimately more interesting and a better read than the grounding narrative), they’re inserted in a klutzy, stilted manner. We are solidly in the first-person/present tense, and then out of nowhere comes this third person limited/past tense passage about some other character we don’t know, penned in italics just in case we didn’t notice it’s not the same story. It’s completely jarring and ruins the flow (and using font or style to show a shift of any kind is cheating). Since I suspect in a few places the intent was to have the present-day characters come across the remains of each of the bodies – which isn’t made clear if that’s the case -- some pivotal touchstone would work better.

The central thread – Junko and Bill wandering the forest – feels like a first draft that needs more work; those elements that are there are disorganized so that these sections seem to lack depth and forward movement.

First off, it seems as though this is meant to be a relationship story. The problem, though, is that we really don’t get to see Junko and Bill’s relationship with any insight. We don’t see their standing issues – in other words, the baggage each has brought to their private table – so it’s tough to understand the relationship’s dissolution. For example, she’s so nasty to him it just doesn’t seem realistic—she’s all anger and snot and no other shade of emotion. He doesn’t seem to care, describing her as “beautiful” so many times it doesn’t mean anything after a while, but then in a couple of moments he’s so suddenly horny it feels inappropriate. Having people together that way is fine, but we need to know why they’re treating each other like that and if it’s that bad why are they still together? If they love each other, we can’t see it. Their relationship is so poorly depicted that its devolution really isn’t anything than more than insignificant bickering; it’s even irritating after a while.

We also don’t know anything about them as people or their motives until the story’s almost over—stuff we should know up front or revealed in dribs and drabs. How did Bill meet Junko, for example? Does he work? Does she work? When we finally do learn all this information 85% of the way through the book, it’s presented in dialogue during a screaming match (which doesn’t make sense – wouldn’t they know all of this about each other?), or in an inorganically-placed flashback. What we never learn: If Junko’s sister’s been dead for so long (years and years, apparently), why are they only looking for the body now – in other words, what’s Junko’s deal? Did something happen to suddenly make her do this? She’s kept a “secret” for so long but after all this time NOW she needs to do this to “help keep it”? Why? There really needs to be some fleshing out of characters and some idea of motive.

There are also a few conversations that feel flat and present only for the benefit of the reader. In particular, discussions regarding the yurei seem emotionless and, surely, something this couple would have talked about before arriving in the forest. And speaking of yurei, their suggested presence at the end comes out of nowhere and feels too convenient; whether it’s really yurei or just Junko’s descent into madness, it needs to be justified.

What’s really a shame about SEA OF TREES is that the Bill and Junko story seems pointless. If it were removed entirely, the beautifully-written, haunting and moving narratives of the suicided would make for a top-notch short story collection. If you’re interested in the Aokigahara forest, then I’d recommend picking up this book—and only reading the sections in italics.

[Cee Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill, a young American, and his beautiful Japanese girlfriend, Junko, travel deep into a dark forest littered with suicide notes and corpses as they search for any trace of Junko's missing sister. Along the way, the secrets of Junko's past unfurl and sink into the roots of the forest as Bill hobbles after her, a helpless observer. This harrowing tale is interlaced with short flashes into the days preceding the suicides of people from all walks of life, souls all destined to die alone in a sea of trees.

There are a few ways this subject matter could have been handled. It could have been a gothic horror, or slasher story. It could have been a brutal nihilistic tale about hopelessness. Instead, Mr. Russell has penned elegant little stories about individual sufferers and woven them into the larger tapestry comprising a forest of death, but without gratuitous shock or contempt. Depression is not a romantic thing, nor is it a pitiful thing, it is the beast of this almost fairy tale universe driving the lost into its jaws.

The prose is compassionate and achingly accurate to anyone who has suffered a serious bout of depression. The tales of the sufferers vary from those driven to sadness by their own mistakes, others by the coldness of their environment, and in others it's the monster living deep within them from birth. I found passages of it so affecting it was like staring into a cold, clouded mirror I've been running from my entire life.

"...And during her subconscious digging she unceremoniously realized it had always been there like a pit inside her--that she could remember ever not feeling this way. This realization was a comfort to her, of all things, knowing this was part of her, that, perhaps she had been broken since birth, and like that, a wave wobbling over her, the desire to end it all returned, but with less malice than before..."

At a slick, swift 105 pages, this story is no longer than it needs to be but it casts it spell, putting its cold fingers around your wrist and leading you into the forest where evermore macabre sights await. The character of Bill serves more as our avatar in the story, a man as innocent and wondering as the reader. Junko is by far the more dynamic character, a small beauty of stubborn strength and obsession, fearing neither ghost or the rolling darkness as she pushes deeper and deeper into the forest.

I applaud Mr. Russell for this gem of a tale.

[K.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the start of the story, American college student Bill and his Japanese girlfriend Junko have ventured into the Japanese forest Aokigahara, which lies at the northwest base of Mount Fuji. But this isn’t any ordinary forest. Amidst the silence of the trees, people go to end their lives, leaving behind notes, belongings and their sorrows.

Bill’s reason for traveling to this silent graveyard is only slightly less macabre. The couple may not have hiked into Aokigahara for the purpose of committing suicide, but they are on a search for some sort of sign or remnant from Junko’s sister Izumi, who disappeared within the forest a year prior. As they make their way further into the maze of trees, Junko becomes increasingly single-minded in her search for clues, ignoring Bill’s warnings that they should head back. Soon enough, light starts to fade into night.

Vivid descriptions set the scene for this haunting trek, but it’s the relationship between Bill and Junko that is perhaps the most compelling. It is obvious that Bill loves her, from her beautiful eyes to her khaki shorts and bulky hiking boots. But as the journey wears on, their relationship becomes increasingly strained. What is Junko hiding in the backpack she so desperately clings to? Does Bill really know her? The answer is no, of course not. Six months isn’t long enough to truly know someone. Sometimes a lifetime isn’t enough.

While the story primarily follows Bill and Junko’s dark journey, each alternating chapter tells the tale of others who also said goodbye within the canopy of leaves. The profound and tangible nature of each vignette left me with a sense of loss, driving me to question cultural differences, as well as the similarities.

My intellectual breath was taken away by the spell that Russell created in his debut novel. He has a beautiful literary mind, and I look forward to more from him.

[Marc Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aokigahara, an almost never-ending sprawl of woods (The Sea Of Trees of the title), where the Japanese take themselves off to die at their own hand. It is the place where suicides go, knowing they re unlikely to ever be found, and never to be disturbed in their lonely final act.

Junko and her American boyfriend Bill are searching the expanse for clues to the resting place of Junko's sister Izumi. Interspersed in alternate chapters are the tales of other visitors to the woods who had no intention of ever making it out. The tone is lyrical, elegiac. Bill is a somewhat reluctant passenger, his eyes always searching for a lustful outcome with his girlfriend, his cultural difference struggling to grasp her sensibilities. She believes she can find the needle in the woodstack, he reasons only the unlikelihood of mathematical probability in such a vast area as this.

Junko is after that well know Western conceit 'closure'. But not as we understand it, but to preserve the secret shared with her sister as to the reason behind her suicide. Japanese ghosts are trapped with their unshared secrets. If Junko can find her, then she will be able to lay the restless spirit to rest. What the reader comes to see slowly in the parallel tales of other suicides, is the ghosts that existed while they were still alive. Ghosts and secrets within families and relationships and inabilities to live up to Japan's codes of honour and cultural expectation, that help push them all over the edge into seeking death as a release.

Even though I guessed both elements of the ending before I reached it in the text, this didn't really diminish my enjoyment of what is a quite, eloquent book to luxuriate in and be swept away into a sea of trees.

[Jeff Pfaller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sea of Trees, Robert James Russell’s inaugural novella from Winter Goose Publishing needles at one of the darkest moments in the human experience – when a person decides to commit suicide. But the prose refuses to be bogged down by the weight of the subject matter, instead forging relentlessly through an ever-darkening forest with the promise of thinning on the other side.
Sea of Trees by Robert James Russell

Sea of Trees by Robert James Russell

The novella covers one main story arc, that of Bill and Junko as they walk in the footsteps of Izumi, Junko’s troubled sister, who came before. Interspersed within are self-contained vignettes that focus on a different suicide in the Aokigahara Forest in Japan, one of the world’s most notorious suicide locations and the backdrop of the main arc. Each vignette pushes you deeper into the darkness of Aokigahara, until you look around and realize there is no way back.

Bill, playing the role of the naïve narrator, serves as a fine point of view as Russell leads us through what is truly Junko’s journey. He’s American, fails to fully grasp the Japanese culture and sees their trek through the forest as something he can return from unchanged. The fact that his focus is mostly on Junko’s physical beauty and the potential for a liaison underscores how oblivious he is to the dark path she is leading him down.

The intertwining of the narratives, the naiveté of the narrator and the increasingly frantic Junko all spiral towards an inevitable conclusion, like a tightly controlled whirlpool from which there is no escape. Bottom line – read this book, however you can get your hands on it.

[Sarai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at my reaction to this book. I am not sure what my expectations were going in, but coming out I was shocked at how much it haunted me. I had a few minor issues with this book and I have to admit I still don’t quite understand ending (no spoilers I promise). That being said this book does stick with you. The writing alone is beautifully haunting in its description that is until Bill the American speaks. Then he just sounds downright immature whose only focus is himself and his needs.
During the book we learn of different people that have come to Aokigahara Forest to end their lives and why. We also learn that Junko’s sister Izumi was one of those people. From my experience and background I figured out pretty early on why Izumi killed herself, but I can see where it was a mystery to others. The forest is beautifully described and each suicide was written in such a way I connect to most of the people. It drove me to understand why they would go forth with ending their lives.
The best part was learning about a different culture. Too many times when I read books like this I tend to see it in an American setting with only Americans. This time not only did I feel as if I was in Japan, but I understood a little more about their culture. I wish Bill would have helped with that as an American visiting, but most of the imagery came from the writing itself and the suicide notes. Again it is a good book a little heavy, but one that will make you sit back and think. I enjoyed it and would like to see more from this author.

[Masquerade Crew · Rating 4 out of 5]

SARAI'S REVIEW

I was surprised at my reaction to this book. I am not sure what my expectations were going in, but coming out I was shocked at how much it haunted me. I had a few minor issues with this book and I have to admit I still don’t quite understand ending (no spoilers I promise). That being said this book does stick with you. The writing alone is beautifully haunting in its description.

During the book we learn of different people that have come to Aokigahara Forest to end their lives and why. We also learn that Junko’s sister Izumi was one of those people. From my experience and background I figured out pretty early on why Izumi killed herself, but I can see where it was a mystery to others.

The forest is beautifully described and each suicide was written in such a way I connect to most of the people. It drove me to understand why they would go forth with ending their lives.

The best part was learning about a different culture. Too many times when I read books like this I tend to see it in an American setting with only Americans. This time not only did I feel as if I was in Japan, but I understood a little more about their culture.

I wish Bill would have helped with that as an American visiting, but most of the imagery came from the writing itself and the suicide notes. Again it is a good book a little heavy, but one that will make you sit back and think. I enjoyed it and would like to see more from this author.

[Steven Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This haunting debut novella from author Robert James Russell puts the author's nimble skill of crafting fine, personal details on prominent display. A pair of lovers in search of the site of a beloved sister's suicide work their way through Japan's Aokigahara - known as the "suicide forest" - only to find more mystery. Answers are revealed in the smallest of moments as the two quest further into the wooded maze, losing light and direction yet gaining tension with every step. Their narrative is punctuated by exterior passages that read like obituary biographies, stories of the other visitors who've made pilgrimages to the forest for the purpose of ending their own lives. The back-and-forth is expertly composed, and Russell leads his reader down a path of sorrows one breath-holding step at a time. It's a huge testament to his talent that his finely-spun threads ultimately pull together into a tautly-woven tale with a gut-punch of a climax. Highly recommended for lovers of beautifully-written literary fiction...which should include everyone who loves to read. Well done, Mr. Russell. Looking forward to reading more of your work.

[Laura Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the fact it as about Suicide Forest. The mystery surrounding this place has always intrigued me. The central plot of the book follows Bill and his girlfriend Junko who are in search of Junko's sister, Izumi. As Bill and Junko search for her they come across different items and places in the forest. It's at these parts that we get glimpses into the eyes of those who have killed themselves and what led up to them doing it.The story evoke chills up ones spine as we continue to read on and the story of why Izumi went there in the first place unfolds. Set in a manner that is told beautifully and poetically the author lightly embraces the subject of suicide and with love and ease delivers it. This book is beautifully told and is a quick read. Not one to read in the dark though! (might be a little too chilling. 4 stars from me!.

[Leesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was telling Robert that even though scary things were happening, his writing style calmed me down. "Junko pauses, stretching her legs on two rocks into an a-frame, wiping her forehead clean. I can't help but look at her body, hungry." & "Night comes fast and I can barely see anything now: some bluish light from the moon shining between bare patches of the treescape and not much else." It's one of those books that is so compelling, I almost forgot I was reading...but since I devoured it so quickly, when I finished and stepped back into the Actual World, it kinda felt like walking out of a dark movie theatre into the mid-afternoon sun. I LOVE IT WHEN A BOOK CAN MAKE ME FEEL THAT WAY. Goodgoodstuff.

[destiney sunshine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize how short this book was. I had assumed it was a full novel. I really gotta start looking at page numbers, Oh well.

I didn't care for the actual story itself. The girl was annoying despite her reasons for going into this forest. This part of the book read like a really really bad movie.

The short stories in between the chapters are where it was interesting. The brief insight into the persons life and what brought them to the forest. Each story I wish there was just a bit more. I also wished that the person reached out or was more forthcoming to family/friends but alas, that herein lies the problem/thoughts of a suicidal person.

I do hope to visit this forest someday. The lush beauty that people have described has been like a lure to me as a hiker.

[Courtney Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a simple and short read, consisting of only 100 pages. Easy to follow and not overly descriptive but is successful in creative imagery and plot development. I liked the use of multiple narrators and perspectives throughout. An eery and chilling tone was maintained throughout. I felt as though I didn’t really know what to expect, up until the last half of the book where I put my finger on what the ending was probable to be. However, even when it did come to the ending, I still felt shocked. Perhaps the purpose was for you to be hopeful and wish for a different ending.
An interesting read, but not wholly sure I would recommend this.

[Hemmie Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this novella quickly as it was short (hence 'novella') and because I wanted to know what was happening with the two characters. The prose was beautifully written. It allowed me to see the forest as though I was there. I sensed the desperation and stillness, and the urgency of the trip itself. I loved the punctuation of the chapters by letters written by those who had already passed through the forest, and the way they were cleverly linked. I really enjoyed this book and was sorry that it was so short.