The Forest of Adventures by Katie M John

Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults
Genre: Fantasy/Romance

The Forest of Adventures was on my to-read list until Katie sent me the link to her website where I was able to purchase a signed ARC copy from her. Due to a stupidly long to-read list though I only got round to reading it a little while ago, but I have now finished it and I have to say it's really really good.
I'll give a brief synopsis before I go into a review, you know, just in case I start babbling and you don't have a clue what I'm talking about.

Mina Singer has a steady boyfriend, a steady life and it's pretty much a given that she will marry Sam and have a steady, yet predictable future. This all goes down the drain with the appearance of Blake, the new boy in school. And as she finds herself drawn further and further from Sam and closer to Blake, things take a dramatic turn and tragedy strikes, changing everything in Mina's life forever.

If I had to pick one thing I really liked about this book it was the Arthurian theme. I love all the old myths of Arthur, Merlin and Camelot and other such things so I was thrilled by all the alternative back story to the legend. I won't say too much here, for obvious reasons, I don't want to spoil it.
There is, however, a lot more to this book than myth and legend, it is a beautiful love story and yet a tragic story about brothers, jealousy and a woman named Morgan (Who I guarantee you will hate from the first second you meet her!)
The love triangle between Sam, Mina and Blake isn't your usual sort and I was intrigued by how the story was told. I found it refreshing to have hints of things to come from Mina's point of view when to the reader they were only just happening. In a lot of books, this writing technique can often spoil the plot, but in this case it creates a sense of unease and tension and it really kept me gripped.
Knowing Mina was going to make difficult and hard choices regarding Sam and Blake before she actually made them was fascinating, yet I couldn't help still being surprised when she made them.

As for the actual romance, it was beautifully told. It wasn't too over the top and it was more endearing and romantic than erotic (which is sometimes a good thing, although I do like a bit of both in the books I read ;-) something that surprises people sometimes) although there were some scenes that could have easily gone that way!

I can't really say anymore without spoiling the plot, but I will say this is a romantic, adventurous and heart-racing story with some fantastically described battle scenes that will take your breath away.
I will most definitely be reading the sequel to this!  Well done Katie :-)

For my post of the pics of my signed copy of the book, click here: Forest of Adventures