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Aokigahara Forest: The Heartbreaking Secrets of Japan's Suicide Forest
Aokigahara The Heartbreaking Secrets of Japan's Suicide Forest, penned by Oliver Lancaster, delves into the haunting and mysterious history of the Aokigahara Forest. Uncover the tragic stories and heart-wrenching experiences associated with this enigmatic place, known as the Suicide Forest. Lancaster sensitively explores the cultural, psychological, and supernatural aspects surrounding the forest, shedding light on the depths of human despair and the quest for understanding amidst tragedy. This book offers a comprehensive exploration of Aokigahara, its dark allure, and the lingering questions it presents to the world.
152 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2023
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June 30, 2025
I had high hopes for this book, thinking that it would be an in-depth discussion on the Aokiagahara Forest. Here in the states it’s difficult to find more than just cursory information on the forest. I hate to say it, but this read like a repetitive and vague middle school account of the forest or a like a repetitive bullet point outline for an actual book.
Several of the chapters could’ve been combined and produced better narrative than what was in the book. It was so bad that I couldn’t tell if my mind had wandered off while and I was rereading paragraphs, or if it was just that repetitive; But, a quick check of the page numbers revealed that it was just that repetitive.
I was looking forward to reading specific stories or folklore pertaining to the forest, but those chapters only indicated that there are many stories about those things. That was extremely disappointing. Tell me a freaking story already.
The book indicated several newspaper articles about the forest, its history, the folklore, the forest’s natural beauty, and other topics— which I already knew about— but I had hoped that the author would have expounded upon those many articles and produced something more substantive. Again, I was disappointed.
This book looks and feels self-published. The Latin names of flora and fauna were not italicized. It was repetitive by nature. It was vague and had non-specific information. Did I mention it was repetitive? I literally fell asleep reading this book… and then just speed-read the rest of it. I hardly ever count a book I speed read as having been read, but this was an exception because it had no substance, so there was no point in spending time absorbing the words on these pages.
Overall, it was 137 pages that could’ve easily been summarized in fewer than 20 pages.
I understand that writing is tricky business. But, if it’s your passion— share it with something deeper. Flesh it out a little. Make it live… because the Aokiagahara Forest is way more vibrant and alive than the writing here.
I hope in future novels this author goes into more details… and, for the love of reading, hire an editor. There’s a lot of promise in your writing, but you need to put in more effort.
Several of the chapters could’ve been combined and produced better narrative than what was in the book. It was so bad that I couldn’t tell if my mind had wandered off while and I was rereading paragraphs, or if it was just that repetitive; But, a quick check of the page numbers revealed that it was just that repetitive.
I was looking forward to reading specific stories or folklore pertaining to the forest, but those chapters only indicated that there are many stories about those things. That was extremely disappointing. Tell me a freaking story already.
The book indicated several newspaper articles about the forest, its history, the folklore, the forest’s natural beauty, and other topics— which I already knew about— but I had hoped that the author would have expounded upon those many articles and produced something more substantive. Again, I was disappointed.
This book looks and feels self-published. The Latin names of flora and fauna were not italicized. It was repetitive by nature. It was vague and had non-specific information. Did I mention it was repetitive? I literally fell asleep reading this book… and then just speed-read the rest of it. I hardly ever count a book I speed read as having been read, but this was an exception because it had no substance, so there was no point in spending time absorbing the words on these pages.
Overall, it was 137 pages that could’ve easily been summarized in fewer than 20 pages.
I understand that writing is tricky business. But, if it’s your passion— share it with something deeper. Flesh it out a little. Make it live… because the Aokiagahara Forest is way more vibrant and alive than the writing here.
I hope in future novels this author goes into more details… and, for the love of reading, hire an editor. There’s a lot of promise in your writing, but you need to put in more effort.
Displaying 1 of 1 review