Ok so this was a good story. But it was like a story being told to you, but you just really didn’t care. If that makes sense? Like I didn’t care enough about the characters to really care what was happening in the story. There were characters, and things happened to said characters, and then it ends.

I wanted to like it more. It was ok.

The narration was also ok. But when the male parts came it was a little grating to the ears. All the males sounded craggy and old?

And animal cruelty in ch. 25. Oofta.

I absolutely loved the narration of this book and thought that the narrator did an amazing job of bringing the story to life! I love that this is a story about how the lives turned out for characters that we grew up hearing the story of. I love that this story took such an interesting turn. Every detail was beautifully put together and it really made for a fantastic experience. I really enjoyed the world building and how much of this story took place in nature. The characters were super fun and I had so many favorites and was even a fan of some of the villains of the story. The writing style was lovely and easy to follow and I never got lost when the pov changed. I expect that this book will be in my yearly top ten and I can't wait to see what Kell Woods writes next!

I read fairytale retellings frequently enough, but I find more than half of them monotonous because there are only so many ways the same fairytale can be respun. After the Forest feels different and fresh, and that is probably it is the tale of what happens to Hans (Hansel) and Greta (Gretel) after they escape the witch in the woods. I really loved this book. It has a subtle, enchanting atmosphere, but it simultaneously grounded in realism of the time period the book is set in. The story has an unrushed, steady pacing and the core mystery at the heart of the plot unfurls slowly. I enjoyed the characters in the book: conflicted, hopeful Greta; lost and directionless Hans; mysterious, thoughtful Mattias; and the array of side-characters, too.

I did not fully enjoy the ending—I was hoping to a different conclusion (SPOILERS: namely, for Greta to become an immortal witch who wields both types of magic and lives in the woods with her cursed bear husband), but I did not hate the ending we got either, so I consider that a plus.

As for the audiobook, the narrator speaks very slowly. I normally listen to audiobooks at 1.75x and I had to speed this one up to 2x and there were still times where it still sounded slow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook, in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook.

I absolutely loved that the story follows Greta (Gretel) a decade more after the events of Hansel and Gretel. Hans is a drunkard gambler and Greta stole the witch's grimoire and is now supporting them baking mildly enchanted gingerbread. The story effortless melds together several fairy tales (which I can't talk about because they are spoilers in themselves) into a cohesive and endearing story. It has just enough mystery to keep you intrigued and also a lot of heart. The first half of the book is almost entirely world building, so it does get a bit dry and boring, but the last half flies by. There were several times where you wanted to strangle Hans for being an absolute jerk and shake Greta for being so naive and blind to everything going on.

My few complaints with the audiobook--
• There is a separate story going on in the beginning of each chapter. It would've been great if the narrator changed their voice or even had a second narrator voice those parts just to keep it from blending into the main story.
• The narrator speaks very slowly. I normally listen to audiobooks at 1.25x and I had to speed this one up to 2x and there were still times where it moved slow.

All in all I really enjoyed the story. The epilogue was a bit confusing, but I'm hoping it left the door open for continued tales in this world.

this is going to be perfect for people who absolutely love Ava Reid, especially Juniper and Thorn, It gave me the same level of fantasy-story-retelling vibes but with less horror elements. Yet, it was still packed with intrigue and mystery. I enjoyed that this was a story taking place AFTER the well-known story rather than it being before or during which is generally what is written about. Hans is a gambler with a couple more problems, and Gretel has secrets of her own, and its refreshing to see these types of stories continues years and years into the future. The pacing in the beginning and towards the 3rd quarter were a bit odd for me but I definitely believe that this story is worth the read. I gave this story a 6.7/10

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for access to this advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review! The title will be released on October 3, 2023.

After the Forest by Kell Woods revisits the story of Hansel and Gretel. Instead of rehashing the fairytale, this story follows up with the two now-adult siblings, as they struggle with grim realities. The legacy of the witch comes back to haunt them.

The narrative focuses on Greta, a young woman suspected of being a witch in town and struggling to keep financially afloat. Her marriage prospects are limited because she lacks a dowry. Greta’s also been saddled with her selfish brother and his gambling problems. Hans is a self-pitying, egotistical, whiny baby. Add to that lecherous men, debt, and taxes… things we still contend with in our present world. It doesn’t exactly make this a fun read but gets your sympathy for the female protagonist.

Other elements I loved:
- Beautiful prose that is still simple, not overly flowery.
- The 1600s historical context grounds the story in reality and makes it feel more real.
- We get a minor dose of eeriness, although the book might’ve benefited from more.
- I think the book balances the realist tone and fantastical elements well.

After the Forest has similar vibes as Small Favors by Erin A. Craig, sans the creeping dread.

Ultimately, I was bored through much of the book. The dreariness of the world and lack of interesting plot developments failed to give me what I love from reading fantasy. I felt beaten over the head with the misfortune that befalls Greta. Quite a bit of the book passes before the fantasy elements come to the fore, and much of the book gets mired in the mundane daily drama of village life. There is a romance…that I don’t know how to feel about. I think the main problem is that the book takes too long to get to the main substance of the story—past the halfway point. The final third does increase the fantasy and the excitement.

This isn’t a memorable take on Hansel and Gretel. I wouldn’t broadly recommend—unless a reader is a retelling enthusiast and is fine with extremely slow-burn storytelling and depressing stories.

Audiobook Narration: Esther Wane as a narrator takes you by the hand and brings you along for the journey. She lends the story that bit of lyrical magic so that the story flows beautifully.

After the Forest
A brilliantly dark and magical fairytale about an all grown up Hans(Hansel) and Greta(Gretel). Now adults and long “after the forest,” Greta bakes her famous gingerbread from a recipe out of a talking book stolen from the old witch and Hans has a gambling addiction. The story unfolds in a classic Grimm’s fairytale style and there are references to several other fairytale characters as well.

I loved this debut novel and all of the fairytale magic. The narration by Esther Wane @esthermwane is exceptional. If you enjoy fairytales reimagined, this is one not to be missed. The publisher’s blurb had me at “Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour.” Now I’m craving a gingerbread heart.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio @netgalley @kellinthewoods for an advance audio copy of this beautifully written fairytale. The cover art is gorgeous too!

“Gossip there was like a fresh baked loaf. To be broken apart and savored.”

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating: 4.5 ☆☆☆☆

I absolutely loved the dark atmosphere of this book. The writing was beautiful and lyrical, and when it needed to be, unsettling.

Have you seen the Brothers Grimm movie? The idea of a bunch of fairytales within another, with the main story being original? Because that was this book. You have elements of Hansel and Gretel, Snow White Rose Red, Bearskin, etc, all set to this singular story of a girl who survived, a girl with nagic of her own.

I loved most of the characters. However, I hated Hans. I found no forgiveness in me for him. And the beginning dragged, but once it got going, it didn't stop.

I definitely recommend if you love fairytales and fairytale retellings.

This was an interesting take on the classic story of Hansel and Gretel. What did happen to the two of them after the witch died and they escaped the woods? Did they live happily ever after? Or did life get in the way for both of them?

The story starts out with Greta doing what she does best, baking gingerbread using a tried and true recipe that has villages for miles around raving about her baking. But her prowess in the kitchen doesn't stop both Greta and Hans from struggling to get by after the death of both their mother and their father. Hans especially cannot get out from under his gambling debts and it is up to Greta to help him again and again. But a magic recipe from a book might not be enough to save them this time around.

I loved the way the book wove different fairy tales into one cohesive storyline. You have the traditional Hansel and Gretel woven in with the story of Snow White and the huntsman and it made sense at the end. My complaints about the book would be how naive Greta is and how ridiculous Hans is throughout. Greta's ability to empathize later in the book was a welcome change to this storyline and showed that she has the ability to change and adapt as a person once her views of the world were found to be false. As a huge lover of fairytales and of retellings this was a good book. If you enjoy them too I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

I wanted to love this book but I found it a little bit all over the place. I couldn’t connect to the characters and it’s seemed very predictable. I love the idea of continuing the story of Hansel and Gretel but this seemed to be a story of continuous things happening to “Greta” which ended up being a predictable pattern in the book, The narrator was easy to listen to.
I received this ARC via Netgalley and Macmillan audio in exchange for an honest review.

Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their parents are long dead, Hans has a gambling problem, and they live on a countryside that is in ruin.

Greta has a secret. The witches grimoire, has been whispering secrets about how to make the best gingerbread. As long as Greta can bake, she can keep her family afloat.

But in a village of superstition, Greta and her mysterious addictive gingerbread is a source of gossip and suspicion.

I picked this one up because I was looking for a Hansel and Gretal retelling. This one was a take on that, though it was different than I imagined. This story was very plot driven, and unfortunately at the expense of character development. I wanted a little more about the characters and what really got them going. I loved Greta’s character, but I wanted more. There were also so many characters, I felt that had some of them been given up, the pages could have been spent developing the main characters better. I listened to this one on audio, and while I enjoyed the narrator, I still struggled with the story. I found myself looking to my print copy to see if I truly understood what was being said. I did think that this was a beautiful story, and the world building was fantastic.

I cannot say enough nice things about the cover. It is just stunning and summarized the book so well! It really caught the essence of the whole book.

If you are looking for a gothic fairytale retelling of Hansel and Gretal, then check this one out.

Thank you so much to Tor Books, @TorBooks, Macmillian Audio, @macmillanaudio, and Netgalley, @netgalley for copies of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the copy of this ALC!

After the Woods is the story of what life might have been like for Hansel and Gretel years after they encountered the witch. It also has elements from other fairytales, such as Snow White, and centers around dark magic in a forest and a witch’s grimoire that leads Greta to make magical gingerbread.

I struggled to get into this book for the first half. It has a slow pace and a LOT of details and characters. Given the familiarity of the fairytales, I didn’t expect to be asking myself who some characters were almost halfway through the book. The second half definitely picked up with some action and more plot points, and I did really enjoy that half, so I’m glad I didn’t DNF. Overall, it meets somewhere in the middle for me - I liked it and think there’s a good reader base for it.

What was life like for Hansel and Greta once they grew up? How have the events of their fairytale encounter with the witch in the woods (who lured them in with cakes and candy only to kidnap them and threaten to cook them) affected them? After hearing this premise I was excited to read the book, but I am sorry to say what I expected was vastly different from what I found.

As an adult fantasy I expected to meet mature characters, struggling still to process the trauma of their childhood in the midst of "adulting". I was looking for and introspective take on the kinds of stories we tell children, or an exploration of the toll trauma takes on us years later.

Instead, I found a very plot driven story with underdeveloped characters. Hansel is just plain annoying. I believe I was supposed to find him so ) but also pity him as Greta does, but my empathy for him depleted quickly as his function became more "Patriarchy Bad" as the story continued (something I wholeheartedly agree with but don't need to be clobbered with at every turn to see it). Greta is cast as a strong female character and stalwart of the family, but she is super naive. Her actions made no sense to me and simply served to drive the plot making her still seem quite childish. The most interesting character is actually the talking grimoire that Greta stole when escaping the witch. This character I enjoyed.

I listened to the audiobook, and at first I thought not having the book in print was making keeping track of all of the other characters difficult. But the more I listened the more I realized, no, there were simply too many characters and the plotting often became difficult to follow because there was just too much going on. I later learned that Woods was also drawing on another fairy tale (Snow White and Red Rose), but many of theses pieces are not introduced until the midpoint of the story and only work to make the plot more difficult to believe as a reader (at least for me).

Despite my difficulty following the story (and to some extent caring) the performance by the narrator in the audio is well done. I honestly believe I would have felt even more distant from the events were I simply reading. Here delivery tightened the tension in places and kept me interested when the plot itself was lacking and appreciative of the the twists when they were revealed.

Perhaps my expectations ahead of reading sabotaged my ability to read the story for what it was, but the adult in my was longing for less fairytale plotting and more maturity and depth. If, however, you are looking for a story with fairytale vibes and a lot of action, you may enjoy this more than I did.

Many thanks to MacMillian Audio and Netgalley for providing early access to the audiobook in exchange for this honest review.

Let’s talk about “After the Forest.” This story is a retelling of the Grimm Brother’s “Hansel and Gretel” with elements of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” In this version, Hans and Greta are all grown up and they are experiencing the impact of their trauma on their adult lives. While they attempt to navigate adulthood, different supernatural forces begin to take purchase in their lives.

In general, I think that “After the Forest” was well written with realistically unlikable characters. It was interesting to see a twist on such a classic story, especially since it gave us a glimpse into life after the “happily ever after.” That said, I had a lot of trouble connecting to Greta. I found her to be naive and extremely obtuse. Usually, I enjoy a soft fmc since we get so much of the invincible, “not like the other girls”, “strong” fmc in fantasy. However, Greta came off as weak and incapable. Despite that, I could see other readers enjoying Greta’s unique pov. If you love Elain from ACOTAR you’d probably love Greta.

The storytelling was beautiful, but I found it to be a bit too languid for much of the book and the pacing left me feeling impatient for much of the story. Again, I could see some people enjoying the more relaxed pace.

Ultimately, “After the Forest” is a good book, if not exactly my taste. I would recommend it to fans of “Once Upon a Time” and “Into the Woods.”

I received this audiobook as an ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Short Synopsis:
This dark fairytale takes place 20 years after the Hansel and Greta story we know. Hansel is deeply in debt. Greta is surviving by owning the witch’s grimoire and baking the magical gingerbread recipe inside.

My Thoughts:
This was much more slower paced than I was expecting. But it was such an interesting perspective with an unique magic system.

Read if You Like:
🌲 Fairytale retellings
🌲 Gothic fantasy
🌲 Slow burn romance
🌲 Morally gray characters
🌲 Gingerbread
🌲The Witch’s Heart//Book of Gothel

Look at this gorgeous cover! It is absolutely amazing and has an amazing amount of the book elements here on the cover. Which you don't always see, covers usually are vague but this one brings you into the story before you ever start with page one.

I love a good retelling. This one is the story after the one that we know. The story of Hansel and Gretel after they are all grown up. In this what happens after tale, we learn that things are not all that great for Hans and Greta, their parents are dead, the town thinks Greta is a witch, because she has red hair, and Hans is a gambling addict. These kids who were abandoned in the woods and found themselves in the witches' house full of enticing gingerbread did not have the best of lives once they came back. Greta seems to carry the biggest of the burdens in their twosome.

Greta is an amazingly strong female character. She goes through a metamorphosis but really, she has always been strong. She learns of magic beyond her magical talking cookbook. This cookbook (Grimoire) has been Greta's best friend since the woods incident, teaching her how to make gingerbread so enchanting the townsfolk can't help but buy it and dream of it. Though she has no interest in the darker whisperings of this book. I feel for Greta a lot because she feels she can never be really happy, an outcast, no hope to be wed or have children, but that hope all changes in a day when a tall, dark stranger comes to town. Though with him lots of bad stuff seemed to follow. Including a mysterious character breaking into her house leaving blood red apples and whispering of forbid fruit.

We know that we have the after of Hansel and Gretel, but it really feels like we have a sort of retelling of Snow White as well. It may not be but there are a lot of parallels including skin as white as snow, black hair, blood red lips, a huntsman, apples, mirrors etc. It isn't at all like the Disney Snow White, but it still reminds me a lot of that story.

This amazing debut has a beautifully crafted fairy tale full of everything that makes an adult fairy tale wonderful. Pain, growth, magical creatures, magic, and finding oneself...also a splash of romance. Not everyone in this story is good, in fact there are talks of dog and bear baiting, animal abuse, and child neglect. The story is well woven to not glorify any of the bad things, and most of the horrible things are not described and happen off page. Like the animal fights. Overall, this story is very entertaining, and gives a different spin on some classic tales. It is a bit slow in pacing and there seems to be a bit more manipulation than magic. I also like the humanization of the main bad guy because sometimes we do bad things out of good intentions or grief. The narrator did a wonderful job bringing a voice to each of our characters as well.

I was intrigued by the concept here, and thought it would be a perfect audiobook choice for me. I enjoyed the narrator's voice, unfortunately what I didn't enjoy was the plodding nature of the story. I just felt like nothing was happening. And what was happening just felt banal and obvious and uninteresting to me. I just couldn't connect with the characters or the story as a whole, and I wasn't able to remain engaged enough to finish.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all, I ended up making it through but I did not enjoy it. I’m not sure what wasn’t doing it for me but it was something

If you are a fan of fairy tales, myth, lore, and the classic Grimm tales, you will love the
deep dark mystery and magic weaving the story of After the Forest. Greta and her brother
Hans are the children we remember from the story of the gingerbread house who are
abandoned in the woods, defeat a witch at her own game and return home. But this story
introduces us to the siblings once they are grown and after they have struggled to survive
the hard life which has truly gotten no better once escaping the clutches of the witch.
Hans cannot stop gambling and Greta struggles to keep them out of debt in the only way
she knows how, baking. Yet the books she pulled from the witch’s house so long ago,
whispers to her of unknown power and influence if only she will give in to the lure of
control. There are so many references to other fairy tales as well, not just Hans and Greta.
Though I found this story so intriguing and mysterious, it is not what I would call a fun
read. It is dark and deep; it is about self-sacrifice and loss of self and loved ones. There
are quite a few heavy hitting themes, and I would not equate this to the light and fluffy
versions of what we think of as fairy tales but rather the original fairy tales which often
have some tragic endings. I certainly rank this book as highly as I would Naomi Novak
and Spinning Silver or Uprooted. It was such an incredible read and I hope this author
has more in store for us.

Ever wonder what happened to Hansel and Gretel after they escaped the evil witch?

After the Forest takes us to the village where Hans and Greta, now adults, live under a shroud of scrutiny and distrust.

This story embodies the dark but hopeful tone of a traditional fairy tale. We have magic, intrigue, mystery, and a touch of romance.

Pacing is a slow build. As events unfold, we see the effects of PTSD and how childhood trauma alters a person’s perception of themself, as well as the way other people view them. Content is poignant and thoughtful.

We have a few instances of animal cruelty involving dogs and bears. They’re short, and I skipped past them.

The audiobook production is excellent. I enjoyed Esther Wane’s narration.

*Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free download.*