I loved and admired Michelle Paver's previous books Dark Matter and Thin Air so much I was almost reluctant to start Rainforest in case it was an anti-climax.
Paver creates unease and dissonance in dangerous environments, her protagonists usually stiff upper lipped British male professionals.
Rainforest is no exception. Simon is an unlikable character hoping to rescue his etymologist career by going to a remote. research site in the rainforest. His colleagues are cut from the same cloth, all of them with undesirable secrets.
Simon is trying to escape from an obsession. He becomes convinced he needs to confront it head on by taking a hallucinogenic concoction used by the Mayans for centuries. But the Shaman, whose brother died in violent circumstances, refuses to help yet another white outsider.
The tension and terror builds as Simon loses his way and becomes lost in the rainforest. Paver somehow makes the supernatural appear normal, while the normal- the ferocious weather, the wild animals, the deadly insects - are also intent on preying on Simon.
Not as exceptional as her first two novels but meticulously researched and sent a shiver down the spine.

The way this book was set up was incredible! I loved the journal style and it really was an expirence like no other.

This horror story is told in the style of a personal journal that is being written at the suggestion of a doctor, following a breakdown. The main character Simon is ghastly in many ways - at first, he seems almost a comic creation ("the only real girls I encountered were Marjorie's friends - whom I loathed, because of their affected terror of my stick insects"). The author evokes his character brilliantly - there are many telling details, for example in his pipedreams about a young woman: "even then I did all the talking. In my fantasies I could never make her reply." Gradually more and more disturbing and violent imagery and incidents start to crop up in the story, and it becomes an increasingly unsettling read. Looking back to the start, hints were already there - like Simon's "talisman" of "a dead woman's hair wrapped round a twig."

The main setting is an archaeological dig in a South American rainforest. The descriptions of wildlife, expedition conditions and weather are vivid, and based on extensive research (the author's note is awesome). There is a fabulous description of a storm ("The wind is rattling in the pimenta palms and flattening the bamboo beyond the rocks... a blazing white cord spears the ridge, then there's a rippling crack of thunder and the ridge disappears behind an iron-grey wall of rain"). Simon is taking part in the expedition because of his academic interest/obsession with mantids (a class of insects).

The book is set in the 1970s, but in many ways it felt like it could be set in an earlier era. Early scenes in the rainforest reminded me a bit of the pastiche newsreel in the first Paddington film about 'The Explorer' in Peru - a send-up of British Empire era chaps blithely going off to foreign climes to explore/conquer/exploit. Simon describes another man on the expedition as having "a russet beard and Billy Bunter glasses... His cut-glass diction evokes the era of cricket on the Green and honey still for tea." Simon constantly makes racist comments about the indigenous people helping the expedition. Perhaps this is part of the horror then - that in this corner of the rainforest, posh British ex-pats are still acting like it's 1908.

*spoiler alert* A few very minor quibbles - as the story reached crisis point, the journal format appeared to be abandoned for a present-tense narrative, e.g. "I leave them behind and struggle up the ridge my hand hurting viciously". This made for a more gripping read, but I was left wondering if I'd missed a transition somewhere. Also, while the dislikeable elements of Simon's character are crucial to the story, they meant that when he was in peril, I didn't feel especially anxious on his behalf. At the end, it's implied his character has changed for the better as a result of his terrifying experiences - he is suddenly quite 'woke' in his attitudes in the final pages, and has achieved some measure of stability and happiness. I wasn't sure about this as a note to end on, especially for a horror story. *spoiler end*

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Creepily effective study of an obsessed (and pretty horrible) academic who goes to the rainforest to study mantids and get away from the death of the woman he had loved. As part of an archaeological dig at a Mayan temple, he is haunted by guilt and by…. Something.

The 1970s grimness of it all is palpable - lots of awful white men taking advantage of the Maya and generally getting away with it. There’s a real tension as Simon gets further involved, and as his journalling reveals just why he’s had to get so far away from home. Suspenseful and grim, Paver does this sort of thing excellently and her research shines through without being exposition heavy

Following on from Wakenhyrst, Thin Air and Dark Matter, Michelle Paver returns with a psychological tale that twists and weaves itself pulling you into the disturbed mind of the main protagonist - Doctor Simon Corbett.

Simon Corbett is a scientist who studies mantids/mantises and when the opportunity arises of him to travel to South American jungle to study the creatures for three months , he seizes the opportunity; however - he is running away from tragedy and obsession. A short lived friendship /obsession that ended in death.

It's 1973 and a world where colonial /western attitudes still reign and the scientist along with the people who are part of an archaeological dig treat the local community with contempt, derision and arrogance. An indian community that holds strong beliefs and where life and death life in co-existence.

As the visit develops, Simon Corbett becomes more and more haunted by past events and feels that he is being watched ..haunted.; ignoring local advice he wants to venture deeper into the jungle and in doing so may disturb spirits.....

The tension in this novel is palpable; the mental decline and obsession of Corbett to connect with the past; the terrors hidden within the jungle- imagined and real; the claustrophobia within the small group of visitors and their tensions and the continued awareness that games are being played with lives.

Michelle Paver grips you and the jungle environment although enthralling is no doubt a place full of darkness and danger. The only downside to this read is that at times it was hard to empathise with Corbett despite his struggle to bring peace and understanding to his past.

This supernatural tale of spirits and mind games is certainly worth reading - ideally late at dusk or nightfall. Gripping.

I‘m a huge fan of Michele Paver‘s novels but unfortunately I didn’t connect with this one. I know that the main character is supposed to be unlikeable but reading the story from his pov became too annoying at some point. I was also hoping for more eerieness. It was okay but I‘m sure it‘s not a story that will stick with me for long.

Thank you Netgalley, Orion Publishing Group | Orion and Michelle Paver for the eArc of Rainforest.

Rainforest is a foreboding, atmospheric, ghost story surrounding grief and letting go. Told in the form of a journal, our MC, Simon goes out to the rainforest, deep in the jungle to do some research. However, our Simon has a past which will not stay buried and he finds that the ghost of his past haunts him.

I really loved the main set up of this book and for Simon to tell his narrative as journal entries works really well. As it's a first POV, we really get into Simons head. How unsettling and vast the jungle is. How grief and not being able to let go of our past can affect our lives, I also liked the Mayan culture and mythology that was interwoven through this book. It made for a very unsettling, atmospheric read throughout. Michelle definitely has a way with words when it comes to psychological ghost stories.

The characters in this book were really interesting too. We had a mixture of different characteristics from a descendant of the Mayan from a nearby tribe, a few archaeologists and a captain to oversee the dig in which Simon has been roped into while he is researching different types of Mantis' , All of them had their own voices and their own agendas in this narrative. The ending was truly unsettling and left me wanting more ( In a good way!)
Ill definitely be purchasing this book if its made available as an audio as I feel it would be brilliant .

4 stars

Told via diary entries, Rainforest charts Simon Corbett’s unpleasant experience in the jungle. Although most of the people at the camp are there for the archaeological dig, Simon is more interested in mantids, but he finds himself distracted by the guilt that drove him into the rainforest in the first place.

As I’ve found with other Michelle Paver books, this story really shines in its rich and detailed atmosphere. The rainforest is so lushly described and I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that Paver was drawing on her own experiences of trekking through the jungle. I also found that the story flew by and I finished it off in just three sittings.

I do wish that there had been a little bit more of a focus on Simon’s scientific research and quite a lot more horror. There are certainly a few creepy scenes but I wish they’d started earlier in the story and been given more time to ramp up in intensity. That's just due to my personal taste though and I can see the level of horror in this working really well for readers who don't read that many scary books.

For the majority of the book, I felt it was a little underwhelming.... but then I realised how the creepiness had crept up on me whilst I had been distracted by how unlikeable our main character was.
I got to the end having enjoyed it more than I expected, even if I didn't quite get it

I’m a bit sad because I just didn’t like this book. I’ve loved and been properly scared by Paver’s other adult novels, so I was really excited to read Rainforest, but it just wasn’t what I expected. I disliked Simon, the main character and narrator, and I totally get that sometimes a character is meant to be unlikeable, but gosh was he annoying and creepy. I also didn’t really buy the whole trip, which is a shame because Paver shares her experience and inspiration in the author’s note, and that meant I couldn’t get invested into the plot/story. Sadly, it wasn’t gripping, uncanny or remotely atmospheric like Dark Matter or Thin Air. That being said, the research was insanely thorough and the writing was stunning, because it’s Michelle Paver after all. Disappointing for me, but I’m sure some people will enjoy it and I’ll definitely read what Paver writes next.

Michelle Paver has such a way with words, I thought I was with her characters in the rainforest - catching myself looking around for spiders and other creepy crawlies. I enjoyed this book but it wasn't as scary as I hoped it would be.

Phenomenal. All of the stars. Every single time I read a Michelle Paver book I am completely entranced. Sucked straight into the words and not let go until the very last page. This book took me completely unawares with its direction and I couldn’t have loved it more if I tried. I knew that it was going to be creepy but holy cow, the violence that lay within these pages was handled so well.

Simon is incredibly flawed. At times creepy, narcissistic and downright odd. He deeply mistrusts the local people of the part of the rainforest where he is working. He’s running away from his own demons back home in England. Demons of his own making that even now he just doesn’t seem to realise. And even now he just cannot let go of his obsessions. I liked that he was this way because you never once really feel for him. If anything I felt that the more he was haunted, the more comeuppance he was truly getting. His just desserts.

Written with consummate skill with gorgeous, often raw prose, and with a conclusion that made me physically shout out in horror, this was a joy and easily my top read of the year so far.

Every time I read one of her books it’s like coming home, and I am so grateful to have experienced that wonderful feeling once again! ♥️

* My thanks to Orion for a proof in exchange for an honest review. *

‘The virgin rainforest seems a paradise to Englishman Simon Corbett. A last chance to salvage his career. A final refuge from a terrible secret.

But the jungle is no Eden. It hides secrets of its own. It does not forgive.
A terrifying supernatural tale from Sunday Times bestseller Michelle Paver, author of Dark Matter, Thin Air and Wakenhyrst.’

My thoughts are all over the place after finishing this book. Simon, the MMC, was such an obsessive, creepy, nerdy & entitled little prick. And his rainforest adventure was just outright odd.
The severing at the end had me green around the gills. I was sickened.

That said, the writing was notable. And I was 1000% frightened on several occasions, so definitely props there!

I just need time to get my musings in order. I’ll come back to this.

Thank you NetGalley and Orion for this arc in exchange for review.
 
Pub: 10.09.25.