An enchanting folk-horror/fantasy, WHISPERWOOD is a fresh, richly imaginative fable filled with flawed people and ominous creatures, but it holds empathy, humanity, and respect for them all. Alex Woodroe has conjured up a magical place brimming with Darkness & Light, but most of all, Hope.

A young woman, running from her traumatic past and tormentor finds herself in a strange village on the edge of even stranger, otherworldly woods.  The writing gives a very atmospheric feel to this clever, often gruesome story, and the descriptions of the town and woods with its occupants are wonderful.  But, for me, the human characters never really seemed fully defined, though I loved the bursts of snappy, often snarky narration and dialogue. A decent novel, all in all and I would certainly be interested to see what this author comes up with next.  3.5 stars

Anna is running from one night May I straight into another she hears about whisperwood from a vendor who tells her if she doesn’t leave before sundown she may never get to leave at all. People who go there are never seen again but Anna has been on the run for a while and is ready to settle Lynn. She goes to the local guesthouse that’s run by Miss Carson and it’s told to stay there she must sign a contract one agreeing to do favors while a guest there and two never ask questions about things you don’t understand. Wanting to stay she signs it. The next morning however when she wakes up she goes out to the town and sees it is abandon then she can’t find anyone around in while investigating at the end of town near the woods she hears laughter only to come face-to-face with a strange looking creature. This is just the beginning of her strange time in whisperwood from witches to those elusive strange creatures the horror has just begun. I couldn’t wait to read this book and I must say I was not disappointed I love a good horror story with good monsters which is 80 saying in this book delivered if you are a big fan of horror with magical realism occult and macabre tales the new definitely love this book I certainly did and highly recommend it. I want to think Flametree press and Net Galley for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This is beautiful and creepy. I am obsessed. I really want to listen to this one too. It is perfect for an audiobook. There is a whole setting in this book that I think most people would love. Oh and the opening is perfect!

I am a huge fan!

Whisperwood is the debut novel from Alex Woodrow.

It tells the story of Anna, a woman who in a bid to outrun her traumatic past runs to the arse end of the arse end of anywhere civilised.

In a bid to find somewhere to belong, she travels to the forbidding village of Whisperwood. A village that holds dark secrets and is ruled by superstition.

As soon as she enters the village, she comes across the unwelcoming villagers. Electing to stay overnight, she finds herself haunted by the evil of her past. However, it soon becomes clear that she cannot leave. Trapped, she attempts to find her place in the village. Soon she begins to uncover the strange occurrences as inexplicable events lead her to find the truth of the Whispers that live in the dark forest that surrounds Whisperwood.

Whisperwood is a strange beast, it's kind of a mix of The Wicker Man, Annihilation and Grimm's fairytales.

In all honesty, I quite liked Whisperwood, but I did find it to be a mixed bag of a book. However, if asked I would find it hard to exactly put my finger on what stopped me from loving it.

As a writer, I think Alex Woodrow is really good. She brought to the table originality in spades. I loved the inclusion of Romanian folklore and the different types of creatures that inhabit the world. She brings them to life so well.

Throughout the book, Alex Woodrow peppers the book with some fantastic bits of prose, like this one when she is describing the essence of what the Whispers are

Whispers come and look for the angry bits of soul left in the body. They draw them out and make Pricolici. Whether moving or still, they are made of unfinished tasks. They alter the natural order of the world.”

The characters in the book are gnerally good especially Anna. However, I think it is the side characters of the story that, for me, hampered the tale that Alex Woodrow was weaving. I just felt there were too many of them and none really stood out against the tide, except for the most unlikeliest character, the matriarchal Mrs Crosman, who rules the village with a heavy dose of steel and vitriol.

However, that aside, I really liked the character of Anna. She's snarky, pragmatic and incredibly strong. In addition to that, despite what she has gone through, she has a willingness to trust, and you can see that she just wants to belong. Although, why she wants to belong in Whisperwood is a bit beyond me, they are certainly not the friendliest of bunches.

The book is strongest when the descriptions of the creatures come to the fore, especially when we enter the third act of the book. This is when Anna and a party of villagers enter the forest in order to find a list member of Whisperwood. For me, the book comes alive in this third act and that is when the magic of the story fizzes off the page. The forest around Whisperwood is alive and dangerous, and Alice Woodroe convincingly brings the weird and wonderful beings alive.

Whisperwood is a strong debut that makes me want to read more from Alex Woodroe, and I definitely cannot wait to see what she brings in the future, and I hope it revolves around the Romanian folklore which was captivating.

“I saw something otherworldly. I’ve been looking for answers ever since. Looking for proof that there’s anything more to this world than the eye can see.”
Anna just needs to escape her past life, get lost in a place she can never be found again. Whisperwood is that kind of town, once you spend the night, there is no leaving.
The setting is dark and beautiful with a mysterious old world feel. The setting really is a character unto itself. The story reminded me of The Neverending Story with the brutal darkness seeping into the light. It is the dappled sunlight flashing through the trees before being overcome by thunderheads from the storm.
The characters seem like they could be from Neil Gaiman or Tim Burton with their unique quirkiness.
This quote from the book sums it up best-
“Dangerous things are often beautiful, and I was looking at something that was clearly both.”

A wonderful read that keeps you up at night wanting to finish it. It was layered and beautiful and brutal all at the same time, and the characters were impossible not to love. There were several moments where I had to stop and ask WTF, and couldn't stop reading. It was a unique take on the 'the town is weird' & the 'the woods are haunted' tropes, and it was refreshing to read a story inspired by mythology that was something other than Greek.

3 Stars
One Liner: Good atmosphere, great premise; choppy execution

Anna has been running away, living in remote towns and villages where no one knows her. She has also been exploring the regions to find out more about the local folklore and supernatural beings. She lands in Whisperwood, a town with too many secrets, mysteries, and deaths- a place where a person can enter but not leave of their own accord.
Anna’s arrival escalates dangers and death (or so it seems), and soon, she’s right in the middle of chaos and fear. With her natural inclination to help and be useful, Anna decides to work with some of the townsfolk to find answers to their questions. But can they come out alive after going deep into the Whisperwood forest?
The story comes from Anna’s first-person POV.

What I Like:
Folk horror is my favorite, as it relies on setting, atmosphere, and folklore rather than excessive gore. The descriptions of the woods, the mythical creatures (from Romanian folklore and author-created), and the creepy vibes are spot on.
The descriptions of the creatures are detailed enough to easily visualize them. I like how I didn’t have to wonder about their appearances or stop reading to Google them. This made them more real and integral to the setting.
The narrator’s voice has a good dose of dark humor that’s snarky, self-deprecating, and the kind you see when someone’s trying to stay sane (coping mechanism). This perfectly suits Anna’s backstory and her arc.
The dialogue can be a hit or a miss. They are choppy and come with random jokes that will not make you laugh. I like this because the dialogues seem to fit whatever little we understand about the town and its people.
The prose has quality without feeling heavy-handed or dense. It imagery of the setting is strong but doesn’t go overboard. A few alliterations (violent violet) made me smile.
The ending feels gentler than it could have been. I think it’s intentional and eases the reader out of the setting rather than shoving them out. Also, there’s no attempt to add a ‘twist’ at the end or shock the readers. I appreciate this and like the ending (even if all questions aren’t answered).

What Could Have Been Better for Me:
The book is slow and fast at the same time. The narration is super slow, and it feels like we are going in circles at times. However, the events happen so fast (literally in a couple of days) that it’s amazing how people form and break bonds in minutes.
The book has a strong beginning and establishes a sense of eeriness. However, it fails to sustain the intensity over time, especially with the villagers. They turn into regular superstitious witch-hunting folk but still don’t feel dangerous. Also, the period is vague. The dialogues read modern, but the costumes and stuff feel historical. Maybe it’s set somewhere in between.
It’s common for people to die in horror books. However, that doesn’t mean they will not be fully developed. Many side characters are vague and don’t have enough depth. Even Anna despite her tragic past is blurry. Since I couldn’t empathize with her character (despite all the hardships), it’s harder for me to see her growth as organic. That impact just isn’t there.
Furthermore, I’m not entirely sure how Anna’s past plays into the core plot. While we see some moments linking to it, those could have been done through means too. Though it shows there are different kinds of horrors, the concept needs to be more cohesive.
This book should either have been a novella (by removing unwanted parts) or a longer novel (with another 50-70 pages) that elaborates on the setting, characters, their pasts and motivations. Right now, it’s stuck in the middle, exactly where it should not be.

To summarize, Whisperwood is a decent debut combining Romanian folklore and creativity to present an atmospheric story. However, it needed more structuring to deliver the intended. The author is definitely talented, and I’d be happy to read more books by her.
Thank you, NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
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The links to the reviews will be updated after the blog tour on 14th July.

Going into the book I had high hopes. Folk horror is such a cool sub genre and the book promised a really cool story. However I was a bit disappointed by the end.

The story centers around Anna, an outsider looking to find herself a new home in a town nobody really knows about, which was a great premise. Things go wrong right off the bat and immediately we are plunged into a town full of mystery and strangeness and I would have loved for this to be expanded upon much further. Instead the story seems to go way too fast and too slow at the same time. Friendships are made within hours and characters are introduced but then never really expanded upon before rushing into the next thing.

I felt like the pacing was very off the whole time, especially the beginning and end. The middle was where things shined the most as the world came much more alive. There were some great vivid and creepy scenes I really enjoyed, only to be then diminished by stilted dialogue or a poorly placed joke.

I wish there was more time spent on exploration and learning rather than being whipped about and getting info dumped on us. I also wish we were given more time to understand for ourselves how to feel rather than being told directly by the story.

Overall though I did love the Whispers and the strangeness of the other world. The description of the creatures were great and I loved the eerieness they brought. I think there is some great potential there, it just felt a bit too rough in its current state.

Alex Woodroe’s debut novel Whisperwood transports the reader from the comforts of home to the forests of Romania. Fleeing her former lover, heroine Anna finds herself in the secluded town of Whisperwood. Bound by mysterious folk magic in the settlement, Anna is forced to investigate the deepest woods and their darkest secrets.

Woodroe’s writing is fascinating and compelling from the start, made even more involving by her unmistakable adoration for the subject matter. Whisperwood is a novel of folklore and a celebration of Romanian legend. The town of Whisperwood is a well-constructed setting, from the secrets of the beings known as “Whispers” that lurk in the shadows, to the townspeople all around.

Woodroe delves deep into Anna’s tragic past and presents her with a powerful strength of her own. The story unfolds beautifully through Anna’s eyes as she encounters new friends and deadly enemies. Woodroe ensures the novel unfolds in a measured and steady pace, though some of the relationships occasionally feel hurried.

The strongest aspects of the book are when Woodroe focuses on the horror. Her love for folklore and mysterious creatures of the forest positively shines through and provide the strongest sections of the book. Whisperwood is a positively delightful debut and a reminder of the beauty that can be found in the woods

If I were to break things down into subgenres, I would say this is somewhere between folk horror and dark fantasy. It’s also my first and only work of Romanian speculative fiction, for whatever that’s worth. Regardless, I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Anna is keeping on the move, looking to escape the traumas she has endured. (It’s not clear that anything is actually *chasing* her, but the demons we carry…) She ends up in a remote and isolated forest village. There, she learns that the village is on the edge of a forest the residents name the Unspoken, inhabited by creatures they collectively call the Whispers, and that no one ever leaves the village. There’s been a stasis between the Whispers and the villagers for a while now, but that seems to be breaking down; the Whispers have taken people, and killed people, in the past, and it looks like they might be doing so again.

What happens is a mix of horror, fantasy, and small-town power politics. Anna as an outsider with an outside perspective, is both welcomed and viewed with suspicion. As the dealings with the Whispers get more fraught and more deadly, she gets more deeply enmeshed in the town’s history and secrets.

It’s dark, and it’s well done, but it’s not perfect. I had trouble keeping most of the villagers straight, and I felt like her friends among them were too quick and too unsuspicious in their embrace of Anna. But this was a solid story and worth the reading.

Anna is fleeing from danger in her home when she arrives at the mysterious town of Whisperwood. Once in this town, she realizes there may be more horrors here than from where she is escaping. Strange creatures roam the land, demanding sacrifices, and only a few individuals in town can help.

The atmosphere surrounding Whisperwood is established succinctly, and you get the idea that it is a dark, closed-off area. This book was terrifying from the get-go. The horror scenes were written well, and several parts were very creepy. These scary themes pair well with the lore surrounding the town and the Walkers specifically.

Our protagonist is running from two very different monsters—the human from her past who traumatized her and the monsters in Whisperwood. The novel strikes a delicate balance between these two horrors and their effects on Anna. It brings up an essential theme that not all monsters are evil.

The twists were surprising, and I especially liked the sections with the Pricolici. I wasn’t expecting this to be a period piece, so that took me some time to adjust to. Some sections were a little slow, but I found that the dialogue helped move things forward.

If you want a new horror author to check out, I recommend reading Whisperwood!

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very fun and well placed dark fantasy in the vein of Between two Fires and the witches.

I instantly liked the main character she is a very endearing person who has flaws just like the rest of us. The horror and suspense in this book was heavier than I thought it would be and that is always a huge positive in my books.

The world building was another area of the book that really surprised me. The author is able to make this world come alive with the mystery and lore he has built around it. If you're looking for a dark and fun fantasy read you cannot go wrong with this novel!

The opening sentence of this is so good it needs it's own space here. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book overall, it was easy to step into this world alongside Anna.
I found the pacing a bit odd for me, sometimes going fast and then slowing down before hitting the gas again. I didn't dislike the book because of this, but I did notice and wondered about it.
I enjoyed reading about romanian mythology and I found it quite refreshing, the setting of Whisperwood is particularly vivid and exactly what one would hope to find when reading a tale about getting lost in the woods.
Another thing that caught my attention is that we follow the main character's pov with extreme loyalty, so we can only know what she knows and learn what she learns. And, for one human to try and understand the whole of the Unspoken, is, of course, an impossible undertaking. But I like the feel of this. This one stop in Anna's journey that we get to travel with her. It ends, yes, but it'll stay with you far longer.
I appreciated the way the horror and gore crept in slowly, silently, so sometimes you wouldn't really see it coming.
The dialogue is all quite witty and quick, which some might find unrealistic, but I thought was well handled and never felt boring or dragging,
The characters were good, some lacked a bit of nuance but again, we follow Anna closely, and there's only so much we can learn in a couple days of acquaintance. I think we all fell a bit in love with Perdi, though.
Speaking of which: if you're looking for some fantasy (or some whatever) without romance: this is your book guys.

Whisperwood is a dark and mysterious fantasy-like tale that packs a creepy punch. This story is very tight, taking place over a short time period which gives the reader a tension that never really lets up. I think for that type of book, the length felt very fitting.

Personally, I didn't really identify with the characters very strongly and that prevented me from enjoying this book like I felt I could have. I'm not sure if it was just not the right time for me to be reading Whisperwood or if it's just not entirely for me. That said, I think this might be a great fit for someone who enjoyed Gallant by V.E. Schwab or Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

A wonderful dark fantasy that will keep you hooked from start to finish. There were moments that kept me on my toes.

I requested this book as it was marketed for fans of the Witcher series. It sounded like a great folk horror tale with whispering in the forest. Unfortunately I struggled with this book, the pacing was off and I felt that I never really knew what was going on, a couple of days moved so fast and I struggled to take it in.
Didn’t connect with any of the characters and it felt like Anna became instant friends with her new neighbours which was kind of heart to understand. I was confused by Anna as I didn’t understand why she left her town or the decisions she made,
Loved the premise of the story and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the whispers. Loved the overall darkness of the book. Quick read, Amazing cover choice. Despite the parts that I didn’t enjoy i lied enough to be a 2.5-3 star read.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this advanced copy.

The story was pleasant and enjoyable enough. I unfortunately couldn't handle the period accurate dialogue which is totally on me and something iIve never really enjoyed (it messes with my add).

This was the kind of thing that I was hoping to read. It was refreshing and honestly surprisingly good. I would love to read something else of Woodroe and the world of Whisperwood

I thought it was pretty cool.

I adore this genre. Dark fantasy is just so enticing, I could keep reading it forever.
I've been on a reading slump, but I totally got out of it because of this book!