"Whisperwood, a town that’s not on any maps, that nobody goes to, and nobody comes from"
I was so here for this premise! Throw in folk magic, witch hunters, and horror? Sold!
Unfortunately, even with the really cool plot line and concepts...it fell flat due to the characters. I just could not find it in me to give a damn about Anna and the people she interacted with. It felt like the situation of her being plunged into the secret goings on of Whisperwood was forced and happened way too fast for no real reason. I just couldn't keep interested which sucked because I had high hopes.

When Anna arrives in Whisperwood, fleeing from something or someone, she quickly notices that the town also has its secrets and monsters.
I sadly just couldn't get into this book. The summary sounded incredibly cool, but for me, I felt the distribution of information and the continuation of the plot wasn't quick enough to keep me interested. I really liked the way the author phrased things in and of itself and found a lot of the imagery very vivid and beautiful, but when I realised I was at a point in the book where I felt I should know and understand a lot more about the characters and the world than I did and probably would for another big bunch of pages, I stopped reading. Some of the interactions between Anna and the other characters fell a little flat for me, which could also be related to me not knowing enough about her and the world to draw such clear lines around each characters stereotypes. Maybe this book is more for people who enjoy a story with slower paced information distribution and guessing a lot more what's going on. I feel like I can't really rate it properly on these grounds, but since I'm required to by NetGalley to submit my review, I'll settle at a solid three stars. Since I liked the idea and the author's style I would absolutely try another book by them though!

Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the cover and the description, but I could not get into the story. I generally adore horror, fantasy, and the Witcher, but this did not hold my attention. I will try again later and give a more through review when I do so.

What a great book, creepy and so engaging. This page turner is perfect for spooky season. And wow what an ending. Thank you so much for my eArc.

Wonderfully creepy and enchanting. It pulled me in from the beginning and I was not expecting the ending!

Whisperwood is a dark fantasy with an intriguing premise, a young woman, on the run from her past, searches for a remote town that is rumored to be haunted so she can hide and be safe.

I struggled with this book. Anna’s character was never fully fleshed out, and she makes statements and assumptions that put her deep into the “secretive”town’s goings-ons when she literally had just arrived. I found the town of Whisperwood to have a very complicated situation that I barely understood. The Unsongs, the Tides, the Whispers, the Unspokens, the political hierarchy, the jobs of the young people, I kept forgetting what it all was and had to scan back into the book to remind myself.

I decided to DNF at 40% because of shallow characters and overly complicated town within a minimally built world.

I have very mixed feelings about Whisperwood. I really enjoyed Alex Woodroe's writing style, it was descriptive and it had a great flow to it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get into the story itself. While I was drawn to the concept of the story, I wasn't able to get into it as much as I hoped.

This book was extremely hard for me to get into. The writing style just wasn't for me and I struggled to connect with the characters. At over 50% into the story I didn't see this coming out as a better experience for me so I decided to put it down. It is not an objectively bad book, just not one that I felt I would enjoy.

This sounded like an enticing fairytale, but the characters just didn't connect with me. I may try again in future, but sadly it was a DNF. Apologies.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up DNFing this book at 28%, which I hate to do. I think maybe I just didn't read this at the right time, or that my expectations made it so I couldn't enjoy the book for what it really is. I don't typically read fantasy or period pieces, and this book is both those things. I struggled a lot with the language and honestly thought that I was reading about teenagers/young adults -- I had to keep reminding myself that the main character, Anna, is actually a grown woman running from a traumatic past. The vanishing town was a neat idea, but overall I didn't feel drawn to the story.

First of all the cover is lovely! That's what attracted me to this book. And I love creepy stories which are set in forests and this book delivered! But I felt like the middle was a bit slow paced, and characters could be more . overall I enjoyed the atmosphere and eeriness. thanks for the copy on net gallery

Whisperwood is a truly captivating read that has you hanging on every word unable to turn the pages fast enough. I absolutely loved this book and thought it was beautifully creepy and it made my spooky little heart happy.

A very dark fantasy, a novel where a young girl go exploring the unknown and may she will discover that monsters exists and not everything is what it seems
Well plotted, creepy and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I've put off this review a bit so I can try to get a grasp on my feelings about this book. I'm still not sure I'm there. It took me 18 days to finish this, and I'm not sure if that was because of the book, or me and how tired I've been lately.

It dragged for me in the beginning, and I wasn't really clear on what was going on. Once it got going though, it definitely caught my interest a bit more. I loved the characters, the author did an excellent job of making them well rounded and making me, as a reader, care about them. Perdy was probably my favorite, she was sweet, but tough, and her story reminded me of myself when I was young a little.

Overall, this is a good dark fantasy, and I look forward to seeing more from this author.

Fast-paced. Creepy. Enchanting.

And did you see that cover?! So pretty. 💖

I would classify Whisperwood as haunted-forest historical horror. In a sense, it is unlike any other horror books I've read, in terms of the time period and settings. Another positive note is the amount of strong and admirable women in this story.

I did find the middle part to drag a bit though, to be honest.

But all in all? Great fun, I'll keep an eye out for future books by Alex Woodroe.

<i>***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review*** </i>

Welp! It’s not even autumn, yet I am eating up horror books right now and enjoying myself.

<i>Whisperwood</i> was—I don’t know how to put it—weird? In a very good way actually.

The main character, Anna, didn’t quite develop over the plot-line but the story was well-driven and well-written overall. Whisperwood is a town of secrets, and secrets lead to ill fates. There was this subtle gothicness to the atmosphere that I really liked, blending in folklore and fairy tales.

The book definitely succeeded in the horror and thriller part. Adding to that, the fantasy and world-building was amazing! I also loved the supernatural concept <3

It was fun to read this and, I’ll say this again, support + read small authors! Hoping to read more of Alex Woodroe soon again!

Rounding up, it’s 3.75.
★ ★ ★ ★/5
Would recommend it to anyone who wants to dip into creepy vibes ;)

⊹ . ⋆ ☽ ⋆ . ➶

Anna is on the run from a dark and dangerous past, so desperate she is willing to disappear into any backwaters part of the world just to find a place where no one has ever heard of her husband, a fanatical witch hunter. Although initially mistrusted, she finds herself drawn into a small community that is fighting an alternative world full of dark and often dangerous creatures. The setting is remarkably intriguing but I struggled a bit with the pace of the revealing. I enjoyed the tidal scenes where everyone would vanish and the world would seem almost like a twisted Alice in wonderland full of vicious and alien beings but the dialogue was often frustrating and drawn out, like the rules about not discussing things that were misunderstood. Overall, I think this is a really good book but not something that I would read again because of the small towns folk hush hush conversations that seemed too in depth yet frustratingly uninformative.

If you like dark fantasy, folk horror, folk magic and creepy forests, you might like:

🌲 Whisperwood by Alex Woodroe 🌲

This dark fantasy, folk horror novel inspired by Romanian folklore follows Anna, a young woman who flees from her brutal past and finds herself in the eerie, isolated town of Whisperwood. Anna soon notices everything works differently here, and dark creatures known as Whispers roam in the woods around the town…

🍄

Whisperwood is a dark, atmospheric novel that blends fantasy with folk horror and still leaves room for humour. For me personally, the folk horror elements were the strongest aspect of the book and captivated me the most. The often terrifying creatures from Romanian folklore - here called Whispers - were brought to life intricately, making me very horrified and very fascinated at the same time. I was constantly anticipating the next scene about the Whispers and loved gradually learning more about the mysterious world they came from. Together with the detailed descriptions of the creepy town, the dark forest and the magical realm of the Whispers, I was truly transported to this very unique world Woodroe has crafted.

The characters and their motivations were a bit less fleshed out than some other elements of the story, which made it at times difficult for me to distinguish them from each other and really feel with them. I think the cast was just a bit too large for a novel of around 300 pages. While we got to know the protagonist a bit better, I would have loved to see her healing journey more in depth and discover more about her deeper thoughts and feelings.

This wasn't my favourite story, but I loved the folklore elements, the atmosphere and the setting, and I want to try some of Woodroe's other (folk horror) works in the future. I'm very glad I was introduced to Romanian folklore and will definitely do some further reading on the fascinating creatures and figures - like the Dochia, pricolici, iele and vâlve - mentioned in Whisperwood!

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫

Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the eARC.

This is a tricky one to review as I've got mixed feelings. Whisperwood certainly has the eerie atmosphere, mysterious characters and unusual horrors I enjoy
I also enjoyed how whimsical it was, with elements of superstition and folklore however at times it just felt a little flat. I'm sure there will be lots of you that will enjoy this, so please check out the blurb.

A book that was written very well. I had a hard time following what was going on. I am sure that the author was trying to convey how confusing it was for the townspeople dealing with the Whispers. There was a lot of death and the use of the occult. I think that many people will find this enjoyable.