The Christmas Forest

Such a lovely story, which took me only a few hours to read from start to finish. Loved the characters and the ending is how i had hoped it would be. It's the first time that i have read any books by Rebecca Boxall and am now eager to read more. Recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

Bravo! An original Christmas tale that has romance and great characters that are well drawn and gripping. Some twists that got me by surprise. As someone who has worked with people with Aspergers, the depiction is realistic and well drawn. Loved it!

On the small island of Jersey, lives two sisters of Enid and Bess. Losing their parents when they were in their early twenties, the girls are now in their late 30s, and have only each other. Enid has Asperger's, and Bess tries to protect her as much as she can. Living next door to each other helps, and their lives are interwoven. Enid has made a connection with a man from Australia, and plans on going to see him over Christmas. Bess, who wants children, stays with a loser boyfriend on the hopes that someday....which never comes. Really liked this story, and the point of view of both sisters, plus the view from Fred in Australia. Each chapter is from a different view, which helps keep the story going into richer details than from just one character. Highly recommend this book and author. Great Christmas read.

Lovely book that is well written.
The characters were very easy to warm to. The book was not predictable at all. Perfect Christmas read

This one wasn't what I had hoped it would be. Honestly, most of the way through the book I was very lost. The author clearly didn't do her research while writing this one. While reading I couldn't tell where the story was when it came to location. I couldn't tell if the characters were in England or in the US because everyone talked like everyone else. Sadly, I give this book a 1 1/2 stars!

I have never read Rebecca Boxall before but this book was really good. The subject of the story matter was real and showed how Enid lived and how life's worse moments could change her. Not doing what she was brave enough to do after the disaster at the airport what typically happened to her in times of stress, Her love story with Fred They were both strong characters as well as all the others. I highly recommend this book.

I absolutely love all of the terrific holiday books that are out there this year and I hope you are too! Last year, which really was the first year that I actually read a lot of holiday books, I came across author Rebecca Boxall. I fell in love with her 2017 book, Christmas on the Coast, and immediately had to go back and read her previous year's offerings, Christmas at the Vicarage and Home for Winter. All of these were well told, beautiful stories set during the holidays but heartwarming tales for all year. This year, Boxall is back with her newest novella, The Christmas Forest.

Enid lives in a charming coastal town next door to her sister, Bess, in matching "Christmas" cottages where they have lived, side by side, since their parent's tragic death. Enid has Asperger's Syndrome which interferes with a person's ability to "socialize" in a neuro-typical manner but, otherwise, they generally are quite brilliant and nearly always talented in some fashion or another. Through a holiday card exchange, Enid has met Fred who lives in Australia. Fred also has recently lost her mother, for whom he was the sole care-giver as she battled Multiple Sclerosis. Through writing and talking on the phone, the two have formed a bond that they believe is ready for the next step - Enid travelling to Australia to meet Fred in person. However, it is extremely difficult for someone with Asperger's to trust - people, airplanes, strangers in general - and it is even more difficult for them to be "trapped" in a plane. But Enid believes that she is ready - until everything goes to hell in a hand-basket at the airport! Will these two ever be able to overcome the obstacles to be together?

I admit that I loved the story from start to finish and, because it is a novella, that only took an afternoon! While the writing itself is not as taut as with her previous novels, I found the characters to more than make up for that. Perhaps it is because I am part of a  family that has lived with MS and other auto-immune diseases and have a son with Asperger's, I totally and completely related to Enid and a young boy, Dan, as well as Fred, who cared for his mother. They charmed me with their humor, had me crying with their set-backs and made me grin like a Cheshire cat in the end. And that is exactly what a good cozy novel is supposed to do! I loved this story and I hope will too! 

I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of The Christmas Forest from #Netgalley, especially since I have been anxiously waiting for this book since last Christmas! Thanks also to #RebeccaBoxall and @AmazonPublishingUK !

Lovely festive Christmas read. Perfect for over the long winter nights. Magical storyline. Great characters that pull it all together

The Christmas Forest is a lovely holiday read . The story of two sisters, one out going and bubbly and one who had Asperger’s and struggles with socializing.

It is well written, and you grow to love “quirky” Enid and her thoughts quickly. This is not your normal holiday romance but it is one I truly enjoyed reading because of that. Highly recommend for those that love a good holiday read!

It didn't take me long to do read this book as I didn't want to put my kindle down, The Christmas Forest is such a delightful read with characters you can't help but love, I enjoyed every minute of it.

The Christmas Forest by Rebecca Boxall. An emotional Christmas romance with interesting and unique characters A lovely holiday read.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Such a sweet and fun Christmas romance. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

Abandoned book. Enid suffers with Asperger's Syndrome and is invited to spend Christmas in Australia with Fred. Her sister Bess encourages her to leave her comfort zone and accompany him. Will she do it? The book's premise was strong, but the narrative lacked continuity. About 60% into the book, I finally called it quits. I received an electronic copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the way the main characters narrate the story from a different point of view, in a chronological way, learning a little bit more with each line. I also found it very interesting to understand about how to interact with a person who has Asperger better. I never saw the plot twist in the middle coming and it really changed my expected directon of the book. This book oozed Christmas charm and the warmth from the Aga seeped through the pages of this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a warm feeling Christmas book to read.

This is a gentle, thoughtful look at life and love in an English coastal island village. Christmas plans and celebrations frame the setting for the interactions.
The story is told through several points of view; each POV shift is clearly identified and true to the world view of the character. I felt like I came to know the three lead characters pretty well, but I either missed an important bit of information about a few of the secondaries, or it was brought in close to the end as an interesting twist to redirect us from the path we thought their storylines were going to take. Either way, I really enjoyed the unique characters and the story told here.
I voluntarily read an advanced review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley and I offer my honest opinion in response.

It is a nice Christmas romance, the story of two sisters, one with Asperger syndrom, Are they going to follow their hearts? I just love the magic around Christmas. The three main characters are putting up the story.
Thank you Netgalley for this copy.

What a great book. Loved the plot and the well developed characters. Recommend this good read. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital arc. This is my unbiased review.

Lovely christmas story to get you in the mood for the festivities. Lovely story which warmed my heart, great writing style

First, I want to thank Rebecca Boxall, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me this book so I may bring you this review.

The Christmas Forest by Rebecca Boxall is one of the few Christmas books that I have read that will stick close to my heart. This Christmas story is unlike I have ever read before. I prefer reading stories that are creative where the author thinks outside of the box. She did just that. For this very reason I would gladly read and review for her again.

Rebecca Boxall’s main character is Enid suffers from Asperger’s. What makes this book so unique and unforgettable is you see the world through her eyes. You will see the joy she gets spending time with children and speaking about her love of owls. How they are on the same level she is. Sadly, in this book you will see her in panic mode and emotional lows as well.

My ultimate favorite storyline that Rebecca did and needs to be highly commended for was the budding friendship between Enid and Fred. I have read and 190 books this year. No two characters deserved to be together more. Nor have I read a sweeter yet old fashioned love story than this one. Fred looked past Enid’s Asperger’s and saw who she really was. He loved her for her. These two were meant to be together.
It was refreshing to see Enid and Fred write old school letters back and forth through the mail as form of communication. This day in age with texting and email that is lost on this generation.

Kudos to the graphic artist who designed the cover it is beautiful! It immediately caught my eye and needed to know what the book was about.

At the end of this book Rebecca does give some references to Asperger’s. Many are documentaries and some books.

This book would be great turned into a Hallmark Christmas Channel Movie. It has a lot of great elements to be a big hit. I would definitely watch it!!

This was a gentle tale of Enid and Bess, two sisters who are very close but who are very different people. Bess is outgoing and sociable and Enid likes routine and has Aspergers.

Both sisters struggle to find lasting love, but there might be something about this coming Christmas which is going to change things for both of them.

I really enjoyed this book, there are not many books which have someone with Aspergers in them and since I have a son with that condition, I was interested to see how Enid was characterised. The author did a good job of it; I wasn't quite as sure about the characterisation of Fred, who was Australian, lol. I also liked the secondary characters, friends of the two sisters who were more like family.

The epilogue tied up the loose ends very nicely and I think if you are looking for a nice read with a festive twist, you can't go far wrong with this book.

4.5 stars from me.

T

How better to start December than with a short light Christmas read? I really enjoyed this one.

I liked the fact that it centered around a main character who has Asperger’s. Enid was likeable and relatable and though her emotions and actions were not always rational, I could always understand where she was coming from.

Sure, pretty much all of this novella (apart from one event, which shook things up a bit) was pretty predictable, but I had fun with this one nonetheless. If you are looking for a seasonal read to pick up and read over Christmas, you could do worse than picking up this cozy little gem.

This is a first for me by this author... but it won't be my last.

A wonderful heart-warming story of two sisters who have lived side-by-side since their parent's tragic death.
A fantastic festive read for these long winter nights... full of humour, heart-ache and love.

In this festive novella by the author of Christmas at the Vicarage, will Enid follow her heart or her head?

Since the tragic loss of her parents, Enid has lived alone in a coastal cottage in Jersey. But this year someone new has come into her life: Fred, who truly gets her, and who knows how to make her happy. The only problem is that Enid has Asperger’s and doesn’t like to leave her comfort zone—and Fred lives in Australia.

Like Enid, Fred has survived heartbreak and is searching for a way to start again. Could a stranger on the other side of the world really bring new meaning to his life, or is he just setting himself up for another fall?

When Fred invites Enid to Australia for Christmas, her vivacious sister Bess begs her to take a risk for the first time ever. But Enid’s whole life is structured around familiarity. As the festive season approaches, she has a decision to make: play it safe, or embark on a momentous journey into the unknown?

Once I started I could not put it down... I read it in one sitting.

I look forward to more of Rebecca's work.

Thank-You Netgalley for my ARC.

Thank you for the copy of the book. I enjoyed reading it.
Here is my review of the book :

Narrative and plot

The narrative shifts between Enid, Bess, and Fred. I enjoy reading multiple narrative books because it gives into insight about what is going inside each character’s mind and how they perceive every turn of events. Somehow it makes the story more complete. For a novella, the plot was stronger than what I had anticipated. If you ignore the little bit of dragging that happened in the first part, the plot was just fine. In the end, it is heart-warming and carries a message for Christmas. The allegory in the fox’s journey and the relevance of it to the main plot took me by surprise although I should have seen that one coming.


Characters and Conflict

This is a story with multiple narratives. Naturally, there is an ensemble cast here. Each main character had a distinct personality and had their own inner struggle. Enid is your protagonist who you root for from the first page. I don’t know anyone with Asperger’s syndrome but this book seemed to know what it was talking about. Enid’s reaction to her situations and her routine all seemed real as if this is how a person with that kind of a syndrome would behave. Bess was strong on the outside but inside she had her own insecurities but she had to be the one in charge ever since the sisters lost their parents. The book addresses this and that adds beauty to Bess’s character even more.

Fred was a grounded character. He had his flaws but in the end, he came through. The other characters were all believable too except for Nigel. He was just plain from the beginning to end. Except for him, we don’t have a complete antagonist in here. However, all the characters had their struggles. Every single conflict was dealt with carefully.

Conclusion


This is a nice and warm holiday read, the one you can read with some light Christmas music on. I know I did and enjoyed the experience. It emphasizes the goodness that we yearn for, in this time of the year.

I loved this short story about quirky and endearing Enid and her online relationship with Fred and the time when she tries to go to Australia to meet him. Enid is sensitively portrayed and if you have someone in your life like her (and who doesn’t?) you can’t help but appreciate how spot on the character is with her sensitivities to certain things and her wonderful strengths. I hadn’t read a novel by Rebecca Boxall before and, to be honest, I chose this by the title and cover (beautiful!). I will look for her other work.
Thank you for my review mobi! Another great holiday read!

I rated this book 3.5 on my blog!

I'm normally very picky about romance/women's fiction - I love them, but there are so many too fluffy, too cheesy crap out there it's hard to find one that's truly amazing. The fact that the main character is someone with Asperger's convinced me to read this one. I hoped this would be something different than all the others.

In a sense it was different, but not as much as I was expecting. I liked it anyway. It wasn't very much what I thought it would be: not regarding the story, not the setting, not the autism (at least not exactly). I still managed to feel warm after finishing it, and I think when reading a Christmas themed book, this is probably one of the most important things.

The first half of the book was going on pretty slowly, and many times I felt we were never gonna get to the point, but the second half made up for it. Actually there was a huge plot twist that came completely out of the blue and I was just blinking, like what the hell? Some minor plot twist came later, too, and actually, I felt some of them a bit unlikely (especially the major one), but it was fun, and I didn't have to suspend belief THAT much. Just enough for a Christmas tale. :)

The characters were good, though not ones I felt very strongly for. They all had their own individual personality, though, and the fact that I didn't feel particularly attached might be because of the relatively short length of this story. (It's more of a novella than an actual novel.) At first I wasn't too happy about the several POV either (there are three narrators, Enid - the girl woman with Asperger's, her love interest Fred and her sister Bess), but by the end it didn't bother me anymore. One thing I should point out though: the whole time I felt like I was reading about way younger people. When I learn the fact that these people were all around 40 and above, I was actually surprised. Somehow because of the style, or the thinkink of the characters, or I don't know, I had the feeling I was reading a new adult novel. Actually, if I only read a couple of lines, I might have thought it to be young adult, but of course it was obvious from the start that these are adults and not teenagers. It maybe made sense for Enid, regarding her condition (she might seem at times childlike because for obvious reasons she doesn't get the social interactions/attitude), but it didn't for the others.

There's one thing I couldn't make sense of: there are 3 narrators, Enid, Bess and Fred. Or, I should say, 3 narrators, Enid, Bess and somebody unknown talking about Fred. These are 3 POVs, and though according to their writing it would be impossible to distinguish between them, it would be okay with me, but... why Enid and Bess talk for themselves and Fred doesn't..? What did the author want with this? Is there a reason? It bothered me pretty much, I kept forgetting I was reading about Fred, because I always expected him to talk in the first person, too. It would've been okay if it had some purpose, but I simply couldn't figure out what it was. Except for this his thoughts and acts were delivered the exact same way the others' were. We didn't know any more than he knew, saw and thought. I just...don't get it.

Otherwise, I enjoyed this little book pretty much. This was a good Christmas read, I think many people would enjoy it!

This novella length book will pull at your heartstrings. The Christmas Forest is a warm and emotion filled story about a woman named Enid who has Asperger. Today, Asperger's syndrome is technically no longer a diagnosis on its own. It is now part of a broader category called autism spectrum disorder. Someone who has it is just as smart as other folks, but they have more trouble with social skills. They also tend to have an obsessive focus on one topic or perform the same behaviors again and again. The sister's, Enid and Bess live next door to each other and have a warm,strong sisterly relationship with Bess popping in to check on Enid several times a day. Enid goes out of her comfort zone when she takes a chance on love with Fred. He is so sweet and tender with her, fully understanding her ways. Both sister's have a romance but one has some unexpected twists and turns along the way. There are plenty of other charming characters we meet along the way as well.
Pub Date 20 Nov 2018
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own.

Enid and Bess are sisters that life next door to each other in Jersey, Enid had Asbergers and so likes her life to be ordered and doesn't react well to change, so when she starts corresponding with Fred from Australia it is big deal........ especially when he wants her to go there for Christmas! How can she do it she couldn't get much further out of her comfort zone than that!

Lovely Christmas read, I loved the character of Enid and the sensitive way that she was portrayed, definitely one to read

I did wonder where this story was going but when I got to certain part (I won't spoilt the surprise of which part!) I was certainly surprised by what happened, which twisted the direction of the book. I thought it was great to read a book showing that people with disabilities such as Asperger’s can still have great loving relationships and also giving a greater understanding to what someone with Asperger's feels and how the condition affects them. I loved the characters and thought they were all key to the storyline and Jersey was a lovely setting.
A lovely heart warming read at anytime not just Christmas.

Great little story fit for the holiday season! I loved how there was so much emotion in this little Christmas romance and how it does pull at the heartstrings and make you appreciative of your loved one around the holidays.

“ The Christmas Forest” by Rebecca Boxall was a sweet Christmas novella perfect to cozy up to while listening to Christmas music or sipping a nice glass of hot cocoa. The main character has Asperger’s and was very likeable. I felt that the first part of the book was very slow to start, and I found myself putting the book down and coming back to it a couple of times before it began to get better. It was predictable at times, but I enjoyed it overall. 3.5 rounded up to 4.

* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Enid and Bess are sisters that life next door to each other in Jersey, Enid had Aspergers and so likes her life to be ordered and doesn't react well to change, so when she starts corresponding with Fred from Australia it is big deal........ especially when he wants her to go there for Christmas! How can she do it she couldn't get much further out of her comfort zone than that!

Lovely Christmas read, I loved the character of Enid and the sensitive way that she was portrayed, definitely one to read

This was such a sweet holiday story. It was a very quick, easy read that was perfect to get lost in for a couple of hours.

I really liked this little Christmas story. I read it in April but it did not bother me at all as Christmas elements were not very present in the story.
I really liked the fact that the main character has Asperger Syndrome. In this story, we can totally see that despite the fact that the main character has Asperger Syndrome, people with it can still have a totally normal life and even fall in love!
This story also really surprised me as I totally did not see happening the little plot twist in the middle of the book.
I also couldn't wait to discover what's going to happen to the other characters.
The only negative point in my opinion is that I thought that the author went a little bit too quick on some events.

Enid and Bess, sisters, live in side by side cottages in Jersey. Enid has Asperger’s and doesn’t like to leave her comfort zone. She is quite happy living next door to her sister, but on a whim one Christmas, she joins a Christmas card program. She and Fred, who lives in Australia, begin a long-distance friendship writing and talking on the phone over the year and Fred has invited Enid to visit him. How can she possibly fly across the world to spend Christmas with someone she has never met? This was a story of facing your fears, friendship, understanding, loneliness and love. If anything is going to go wrong for Enid, it does. Not only does Enid have to face her fears, but so does Bess. She is settling for a life that does not really make her happy and can Bess taking chances encourage her to do the same. The sisters were great characters, even though I wanted to shake Bess a few times. My heart broke for Enid and I could feel her fear at times. Each year Rebecca Boxall writes a Christmas novella and I have been enjoying them all. This one had characters that really grabbed me and I was rooting for them all the way. Dan, a young boy in the story with difficulties of his own, grabbed my heart and reminded me so much of my grandson. I thoroughly enjoyed this short, sweet novella and recommend it to anyone looking for something to read on a cold, wintry afternoon.

This was not a book that turned out to be what I expected at all! Not typical characters - but I thoroughly enjoyed it.