theblackunicorn

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Book Reviews and Synopses

The Black Unicorn

Terry Brooks

Brooks, Terry. The Black Unicorn. Ballantine Books. New York. 1987.

The Black Unicorn is said to be a National Bestseller. Maybe it is because people tell their friends to read because it’s so bad? I can see no one even remotely liking it. Not even the first sentence is well written. The story is about a woman losing an invisible unicorn. Really?

The Black Unicorn starts out with a young woman, her name unknown. She was born with a mental illness and a rare skin disease that causes her skin to change colors when her mood changes. Purple being sad, red - happy, yellow - agitated, and green - angry. As she matures she develops a liking for unicorns and has many invisible pets. Her mental illness gets overwhelming to those who she loves and her family has to lock her in a room. She does not become lonely there because she has her “unicorn.” One night, after three months in the room alone, her family goes to feed her and finds she is missing.

She had escaped out the window to go after her invisible friend. This part of the story is long, boring, and is even written worse than the previous chapters. After the disappointing part fades away, she gets lost and makes a shelter in a field to stay for the night. The story twists when she finds her unicorn, she is not happy! It gets very confusing and to be honest I did not want to read on. The woman and the unicorn continue to fight for about three more long chapters.

They soon make up and ride into the bright blue sky with a striking rainbow, the usual fairy tale ending.

The Black Unicorn could never be a classic. Almost every chapter starts out okay but, by the end I cannot bare to read on. Each chapter is followed by an even more disappointing chapter.

0 out of 5 stars

Contributed By

M. Stood

April 3rd, 2012