4.25⭐️

This was an entertaining take on the classic story of Hansel & Gretel, made for adults and young adults. Hans and Greta are all grown up, but the traumas of what they endured still linger. For Hans, this translates to gambling debts and anger. For Greta, she can’t remember what exactly happened inside that gingerbread house, and is haunted by what she may have done to get out. She’s also struggling with her own burgeoning magical capabilities, and the ethical questions they bring to the surface.

I quite enjoyed this take on the tale. While I struggled to connect with Hans, Greta was a fully-realized and highly sympathetic character to root for. The narrator, Esther Wane, did a great job as well.

Thank you Kell Woods, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

I became quite busy with things and wasn't able to read this as quickly as I would have liked, but this book definitely deserves a quick read. It's such a compelling story, using a mesh of fairy tales in a way that's not a complete miss for once! (I've read so many fairy tale mash-up misses, this was SUCH a refreshing good take~)

The characters are all compelling with reasons for how they act, even when I started getting testy with the main character, she quickly figured things out for herself and acted accordingly. No one is stupid in this book, even the ones that are in the wrong have some sort of reasoning for the way they act and I think the author does a wonderful job of illustrating this.

That ending scene was *so* tense, I felt so sad listening to it because it is heartbreaking, and yet the story continued to unfold in a really succinct way.

Now for the voice acting? Spectacular. I was going to comment that all of the male voices are really rather similar, and they kind of are, but the narrative makes sure to tell you who's speaking and there is still variation in the voice acting so it's an easy enough thing to get past. But all of the other voices, the story telling, the accent, it all fits perfectly into the setting and theme of the book, it really feels like your in an old English village yourself surrounded by the company. There was one instance where the accent made me think she said 'father' instead of 'farther' which was very funny when I realized it after a quick backtrack, but that was the only instance where I was a bit confused haha.

I recommend this, especially if you like *GOOD* fairy tell mash-up re-tellings.

I was really excited to read this book. A story about Hansel and Gretel, and what happens to them after they escaped the witch? Yes please! Unfortunately, this book, and mainly our main character Greta, did not work for me.

Wow. I saw an article about this book called Gingerbread and Magic and that is a great summary. This book is so full of witchy wonder and I got to enjoy it on audio. Esther Wayne did a wonderful job giving a perfect accent and voice to each character. If you love fairy tales, especially if you love Hansel and Gretel, you will love this story. A HUGE thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. It was a total delight.

Amazing, dark, and captivating retelling. Loved this book and think it will be very popular for fall. Would love a sequel!

It took me a while to really get into it, but I enjoyed After the Forest. I think I was about a quarter of the way through before something clicked for me and I actually got interested in the characters and the story. I felt like not much happened before that point. It was nice to have background, but I wasn't really drawn in. I think what stopped me from really connecting at first was the fact that I was expecting to be a little more immersed in mystery and mystique, like the fairy tale that this stems from. While the original story of Hansel and Gretl was mentioned, the characters seemed a bit far from the original until we got a little further into the tale. Once magic took a little more of a front seat, it was much easier to see the characters as a part of that story and not as something separate. I will say, I was just not much of a fan of Hans in general. However, Greta was far more interesting. Overall, this was a fun listen. I am interested to see where Kell Woods goes from here.

If you love atmospheric and dark fairy tale retellings that not only stay true to their gruesome original tales but expand on them, you'll love this. This was excellent storytelling at work, and I look forward to seeing what Kell Woods will write next.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

I couldn't get into this one AT ALL! I don't know if it was the narration or the story but I was bored senseless. Not for me.

This is an interesting and enchanting blend of fairy tales with a nod to the older, darker nature of what fairy tales used to be. Despite some of the darker qualities, this was a nice light read that scratched all the right itches - romance, mystery, and magic!

It wasn't necessary bad but it felt disjointed and I was having to force myself to continue you. It has an audience out there somewhere but that doesn't include me.

This was a fun next story to follow the Hansel and Gretel story. The grimoire was perfect, almost like the devil/angel on Greta's shoulder. I loved the town and the bears and wolves and poisoned apples and I want to live there! The depth and darkness of this retelling feels more in line with the Grimm tales. Gorgeous cover and Excellent audio!

Very unique retelling of Hansel and Gretel. What I really loved about this story was that we got so much of the after, they are adults now, and life is not great for them. We get the fairy tale in snips throughout the story, and there are new layers baked in. A few cameos from other fairy tells and dark, witchy magic completes the tale. I really enjoyed this! It was a bit meandering in parts, which made for a long listen, but other than that, I loved it. 4.5 stars, thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Kell Woods did a great job with the concept for this Fairy Tale twist or better say "What happens next..." which I'm such a sucker for. I had no real idea of what this book was about, I just fell in love with the cover and immediately drew me in. When it starts by portraying the Hansel & Gretel story I was so excited and became positive I would absolutely love it.
To my disappointment, I couldn't engage with the story as much as I thought I would. Although the world development was great, the main character's personality was incredibly weak in my opinion. The story is really carried by all the secondary characters all the way up until around 70% of the book where we see a better build up on Greta's personality, adding to the cohesiveness of it all.
All in all, it was good and entertaining, not GREAT as I thought it would be based on how I tend to absolutely love these twists on classicals.
The cover art is outstanding and I absolutely love it.

I really wanted to love this book, but it fell short of my expectations. Very little of any interest happened, and I wasn't engaged by any of the characters. I'm sure there is an audience for this book, it just wasn't for me this time.

I LOVED this curiously striking retelling of Hansel and Gretel. My mind was alight with vivid flashbacks to their time in the witches house and then back to the magical world they currently reside in. The point of view is told mostly from Greta’s perspective. Her experiences, and the whole story really, was enchanting, exciting, and a little terrifying at times. Kell created a stunning world with wondrous magic and exquisitely flawed characters.

The narration was great but I will say the audio is a little tricky due to a change in perspective that isn’t precisely defined. It jumped to a different time and person and then right back to Greta but the first few times it’s so quick and random I had to rewind and make sure I heard it correctly. This might be a great one for a print/audio combo!

After the Forest is a fantastic debut so if you’re a fan of a fairy tale retelling then add this one to your list!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the alc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a debut novel that follows the story of Hansel and Gretel after the fairytale leaves off. It's told through Gretel or Gretta's perspective. I really appreciated that this book gives her character more depth and significant backstory. I also appreciated the way it handled her brother and how they ended up at the witch's house. It focuses on trauma, addictions, and their response to the things that happen to them

One of the best parts of this book was the food description in my opinion. I think all too often authors forget to use description that covers all five senses, but that wasn't the case here. So much of this book centers on the magic gingerbread that Gretta bakes, so we get a lot of very sensory scenes where I could almost smell the spices wafting from the oven.

Really just the description in general. That book was very evocative and you could really visualize the things that were happening.

I will say that this book felt a bit overlong for me. While I liked the concept, I felt this could've been trimmed down about 50 pages or so and been better for it. Some sections felt a bit repetitive. This made the second half of the book feeling like it was dragging a bit.

All in all, this was an enjoyable enough read. If you like fantasy and fairytale retellings, you will most likely enjoy this one. It's impressive considering that it's a debut and I imagine that Woods will write some great fantasy in the future.

I really enjoyed this book. It is Greta's story (Gretel in the fairytale) about her life "After the Forest" and her magic. I loved the inclusion of a fairytale story told at the beginning of each chapter. It was confusing at first since I was listening to the audiobook but after a while I understood what it was. I will go back and read the tale when I get a physical copy of this book. Some things were predictable but that doesn't take anything away from the plot or the characters. It makes it fun seeing if I was right or not!

I think this book was an interesting take on the "ever after" for Greta. I couldn't care less about Hans though... I loved the twists and the romance! Super excited for the physical copies!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC audiobook! ♥

I LOVE dark fairytale retellings, so this was right up my alley! Overall, this book decent, but considering it as a debut I think it is impressive.

This books strong points were definitely in its characters, with my favorite being the Book, however I found each character to be compelling in their own ways. I also appreciate when “witchy” books include the mother/maiden/crone to be a part of the witch lore!

Speaking of witches, I really enjoyed the magic system. It felt familiar so that it was easy to understand, especially when listening in the audio format, but it also had its own unique qualities that set it apart from other witchy magic systems.

My one trouble I ran into with this book was that the plot took too long to pick up. Thinking on it now, I can’t even recall too much of what happened in the first half of the book. I kept thinking “Wait why do I even care about this again?” However, it picks up in the last third, and I can say I am satisfied with the ending. I think maybe bringing more magic in the first half would have kept me more interested.

Overall a great debut! Thank you Netgalley!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. I have to say I was very excited for this book. It had such potential. Unfortunately it just felt so disjointed. I found myself not quite being able to follow what was going on, or why we were to care about the things that were happening. The narrative felt very messy and just didn’t work for me, and I was not invested in the characters at all. I do think that this story will work for some, unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

After the Woods is an after-story for Gretel of Hansel and Gretel. Gretel finds herself in posession of a magical grimoire and under suspicion of withcraft. The audiobook is beautifully narrated and wonderfully told.