The Forest God is a pleasant short story that I imagine could fit in any modern collection of fairy tales. I'm very fond of it as it brings me back to stories from my childhood. Not everything in the world has to be a grand epic. As I read I thought this would be a perfect story to read in class. As a fairy tale, it is enjoyable for people of all ages.

In short, it is the story about a Witch's Apprentice and a Young Noble whose paths cross one day. The Noble has injured a Hare which is the current incarnation of the Forest God. The Forest God is healed by Margery and neither of them takes to the Noble, Hugh. He insists on being part of a spell so that he can apologize to the Forest God. From there, their relationship unfolds as it is revealed Hugh's family are unapproved lords of the land and Hugh must undergo three tasks to get the Forest Gods' approval. The tasks are to collect a stone from the river, to shoot the heart of a deer mid-jump, and to collect glowworm samples. Margery has self-esteem issues due to being taken away from her family when she was ten as well as everyone remarking about how ugly she is. The Forest God and Margery bond quickly and he begins to question if becoming domesticated is good for him. As the story progresses we discover what happened to the Witch's last apprentice, why Hugh's parents are cursed, and the real reason for Margery being chosen. The two are also forbidden from falling and love and acting out on that. Margery must become a Witch and Hugh must become the Lord of the Land.

I would recommend this story particularly for fans of Neil Gaiman. It has that classic fantasy feel to it with a dash of innocence.

This is a well crafted cozy folk story full of gentle yet vivid characters. Beautiful, descriptive world building in such a short novella is really impressive. The every day magic of this really reminded me of a Studio Ghibli film.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me access to this ARC!

This is excellent and packs a lot into a short book. The author created excellent characters and put them in a moving tale with no superfluous words. Well done and recommended. I look forward to her next work!

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

This is a beautifully written little novella that evoked classic folklore with every page. It was reminiscent of Emily Tesh’s Silver in the Wood with themes of sacrifice and duty to the land. For fans of mythology and folklore with a dash of romance this is a great read.

I was provided an eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a short novella about .... a love story and a forest god who's turned into a hare? It's been a few days since I put this down, and I can't remember anything about the story, which tells me that nothing about it was memorable enough to keep me interested in the story, the characters or the setting.

Therefore, I can't say much about this more than I liked the cover.

What seems on the surface to be an extremely simple story actually turns out to be deeper and very touching.

What I liked:

I have a soft spot for hares, and I couldn't help but pick this up once I saw it involved a hare in such a main role. I was not disappointed as there were plenty of descriptions surrounding the Forest God in this form.

The characters are easy to connect to and their relationships are fleshed out more than you'd expect for such a short piece of fiction.

What I didn't like:

Honestly, I can't think of anything I'd change about this. There was maybe one character that seemed more like an afterthought, but other than that this was just a good short read.

A simple yet beautifully evoked novella charting the life of The Forest God who is intimately tied to all the life of the forest. It was completely its own story but some of the themes reminded me of Joanne Harris' Pocketful of Crows. I loved this and was left with a strange sense of bittersweet satisfaction for a long time afterwards.

Such a special story. The Forest God is so driven by the forces of nature and it’s so ethereal that reading it felt like listening to a playlist featuring Florence + The Machine, Hozier and Aurora. Besides the whole tone of the story I also appreciated the length. It could very easily have been dragged out as a full novel, but I thought it was exactly right and just perfect!

I devoured this novella in one sitting. Partially because it is a novella and partially because I was swept up in this simple, but beautiful story. Nothing is overdone in this novella. It isn’t too lean or too heavy in certain areas. It was crafted with precision, so even though I greatly enjoyed the story, I was very satisfied with the ending. I don’t need it to be extended or changed in any way. However, because it is so short I don’t want to say too much about the plot and give anything away.

I also grew attached to the characters and their cozy setting rather quickly. While they all banter back and forth, they grow closer together and learn lessons about responsibility, love, and how what we may view as our greatest weakness may be our biggest strength. These are good lessons for people of any age to learn and I like the fact that it doesn’t shy away from the idea that sometimes it is necessary to make a hard decision. There are situations in life where we won’t get what we want because of our responsibilities.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Jamie Lackey for providing me with an ARC of The Forest God!

WOW! This novella was such a treat to read. I sat down to start it, and ended up finishing it. As a practicing Wiccan, the synopsis of this one sold me right away. Following The Forest God throughout his life cycle in the forest tugged on my heartstrings. He is sometimes hunter, sometimes prey. This was a beautiful story about love and responsibility, and sometimes having to make really hard decisions. I recommend this to anyone that needs a light and quick read that will also leave you thinking.

Thank you again to those named above for the chance to read and review this ARC!

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher, for providing an e-arc for me to read!

The Forest God follows three characters:
Margery is a half-Witch: she's been apprenticing with the village's Witch for fifteen years now. Soon, she will take her vows and with it, the Witch's place. She's ready. The way she left fifteen years ago, she severed all connections to the village except for her sister.
We also meet the Young Lord Hugh, who wants to get to the end of a little mystery concerning his family.. and ends up shooting the Forest God, who is currently taking the form of a fluffy hare. With this, the trio's lives intertwine and the two mortals must choose between their duties to the land and their hearts' desire.

I loved this one!
It was kind of a surprise when I checked and saw that this was only about 80 pages. I had some free time and dove in.
I read this in one sitting, haven't once thought about putting it down.
Forest, wood, god, green man, these are all buzzwords for me. This read pretty much like a fairytale.
The only thing I was on the fence with is the representation of "ugliness". It felt weird and overly exaggerated to me, but I can kind of see the point and as I said, it read like a fairytale and we know that those are not always the most considerate.

However, it still meant a lot to me, and I would absolutely love to see similar stories!

1.5/5

I'm sorry but I do not like this novella. There is a whole lot of telling and not enough showing. The conversations between characters are awkward. In fact, awkward is how I would describe the flow of this novella in general.

If this was a middle grade novel I would maybe bump the rating up to a 2./5, but according to Netgalley it's adult.

The cover is gorgeous though. I'm quite disappointed so I'm leaving my review where it's at for now. Perhaps I will come back to this with a different state of mind.

What a simple, yet wonderful short story. Never have I ever felt so connected to the characters in so few pages. I didn't want to put it down. Jamie Lackey clearly has a talent and I'd like to see this story continue. I hope this book will eventually be published in a physical form, I'd love to have a copy on my bookshelf.

I received an e-book ARC of The Forest God from NetGalley and Air and Nothingness Press in return for my honest review, which follows below. I thank both for this opportunity.

I finished this in one sitting, partly because novellas are good for quick reads by definition but also because I was swept up by this seemingly simple but incredibly moving story. I wanted to finish so I knew how it ended, but I was mourning it because well, it would be over and there would be no more words to this story. I will admit this had me bawling my eyes out for most of the second half, a sign of a good author in my humble opinion. Tears can fall for many reasons over the course of a good tale, and I feel like I cried most of them. To be that connected to characters over a short novella is a bittersweet read indeed.

So without giving away spoilers, because this is just a beautiful read and I would hate to steal any magical discovery from the next reader on purpose, this is what I can tell you about The Forest God.

The Forest God has his life cycle in the forest as a different creature each time, sometimes he will be a hunter,sometimes prey, this time he is a hare. There is a Witch that lives in the forest and takes care of the nearby village and also communes with the Forest God, serving both as healer and apothecary. There is a Lord of the land that rules the village and makes sure the rituals required for the village to prosper is carried out. The title is approved by the Forest God.

The Forest God is wounded but not killed. The Witch's apprentice is the first to speak to the Forest God in many lifetimes. The Lord's son realizes he needs to become tied to the land to right an old grievance.

This would be a good book to read to children as well I think. It teaches responsibility and the love it takes to do whats right. It does not shy away from the fact that hard decisions are sometimes the only ones to make. But it is a beautiful story and I feel better for having read it. Every part of this was just a joy to read, I am just so thrilled by it.

I gave this 5 stars because I am going to recommend this to people, I would also give this as a gift. I would love to buy a copy when this is released. b