This was such a dark and eerie fairytale-like story. I enjoyed how original it felt, and I'm sure if you liked a story like The Salt Grows heavy then you'd enjoy this as well!

Loved the writing style of The Butcher of the Forest! This dark fairytale will have the reader immersed in the world fairly quickly. The story was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my sit anxious to know what was going to happen next. Definitely recommend for those who are looking for a dark fantasy read!

This is a 4 star read only because I disliked the ending. Yes, I know I'm being petty.

This was absolutely beautiful! I'll forever love any and all well-written Alice in Wonderland retellings that lean toward dark fantasy. (Loved American McGee's Alice video game and Christina Henry's Alice.) While The Butcher of the Forest isn't as violent and gruesome like those two examples, there's still enough darkness and despair that it touched my rotting heart.

There are layers upon layers of metaphors in this story that could apply to any number of historical contexts (people's lives during war and conquest, classicism, human trafficking, etc.). These are hinted at time and again without being heavy-handed and written off as historical facts or even life lessons. The author leads you into those metaphors without having to hold your hand as a reader.

Even though this is a novella, I think the author excelled in creating an MC to root for. There are enough details to make me care whether Veris succeeded or not in her quest to find the Tyrant's two children.

There's a twist at the end that added more depth to Veris as a character. While it was sort of obvious, it really made everything come full circle in the end.

I have a slight aversion to long sentences and purple prose, but strangely, it actually worked out pretty well in this case. Reading the prose felt like I was eating a box of my favorite chocolates. So delectable!

I'm very happy that this was one of my first reads of 2024!

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.

Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed was an amazing read. It’s a dark fantasy/horror novella which runs about 160 pages but it tells a complete and well rounded story.

The story’s pacing doesn’t let up from the second the action begins. The main character is engaging and no nonsense. She is middle aged and I really liked that. I love reading fantasy stories where the character has some experience. Feels more grounded.

I love the author’s writing. Scenes are beautifully described. There’s some gore and darker elements but it was at a level I could process without keeping me up at night.

Thanks to @torbooks and @netgalley for giving me an opportunity to read this ARC.

I would like to start by thanking TOR and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

The Butcher of the Forest is a dark fairytale novella that starts you out right in the middle of the action, and kept a fast pace the entire time. The writing was superb and the imagery was so well done, it was easy to visualize all the creatures and things that Veris encountered through her journey. I actually enjoyed the darker elements of this story and found myself fascinated with the forest itself and it's inhabitants.

For me, personally, I didn't connect with the main character Veris until towards the end of the book. While there is minimal backstory to her life, it wasn't quite enough for me to be invested in her, or the children, making it out of the forest and I wished I could have seen more interactions with her and her family or people of the village even to get a better idea of who she was before she went into the forest. Her lack of worry for herself makes sense by the end but it doesn't help in making me invested in her survival.

Overall this was a very intriguing read and I would recommend to others who like a darker fairytale vibe.

Such a quick, yet adventurous read! I loved how fast paced the journey was, and the battle to get back the children was simple, yet tricky. A great read!

This novella follows Veris as she is forced to enter the dark, magical forest to rescue two of the Tyrant's children within 24 hours, or they will be forever lost to the forest. Veris is chosen because she is the only person to have entered the forest and survived.

This novella was immediately intriguing, and it really ran with the story. It did a great job of hooking the reader and taking advantage of its limited page number. I truly felt that this book did a great job of building a world around it and getting the reader invested, which I have often struggled with in novellas. I felt very connected to Veris and this world, and my only negative is that I left with a lot of questions and I wanted more!

While the language is beautiful, the story is grim. There are quite a few trigger warnings, such as child sex abuse and child death, and it is quite bloody.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this short, straight to the point fairy tale. It was certainly dark, but I was immediately transported to the land and felt like the writing pulled me directly into our protagonists story.

Veris lives in a land run by a terrible Tyrant. The Tyrant’s children have disappeared in the nearby dark forest, which no one has ever come out alive from, except for Veris. The Tyrant sends her into the forest to retrieve his children, or he will kill her entire village. There is also little hope she will retrieve the children in the 24 hours they have before they become a permanent part of the forest, so the heat is on as they say.

Since the story is so short, you don’t get a lot of time to get into Veris as a character, or why or really any of the motivations of the characters aside form Veris, but you do get a vivid imaginary world built and you can feel the dread immediately in the first few pages. I don’t want to give anything away, but I truly enjoyed being in this world (only as an observer!) And would not mind a sequel if the author wants to do one. In this short story, she raises some very valid questions about the kingdom’s future and it would be interesting to see another perspective. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this digital ARC copy.

If you are a fan of Nettle and Bone or Juniper and Thorne, then you will love this story. It is a fast-paced and story set in dangerous and magical (not the fun kind) gothic woods where nothing is as it seems, and dangers lurk around every corner.

This Cozy Horror is perfect for the fans of Folklore, Cryptids, Faeries, and the Fae (not the cool sexy kind) then you will love this world. All rules still apply, don't give them your name, don't eat the food, and don't fall for their tricks or you will be trapped forever. Stay out of faery rings!

Though it is a short story it is not one that you can just power through, the sentence structure is lyrical and almost like reading poetry. I took several breaks to really absorb the story, sometimes rereading paragraphs multiple times to fully absorb the descriptions and story. The sentences are long, with a lot of commas and descriptors and it took me a few chapters to get used to the style of writing, but I have to say that this story could not have been written as well without it.

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohammed is a fantasy novella following Veris, a woman who went into the north woods to fetch a child and returned. No one returns from the north woods, a place where two worlds are close. She’s rudely awoken one night and fetched by the Tyrant to find his two children who have entered the woods. Everyone knows that you only have only a day to find them before the forest takes them for god.

I found Veris an interesting character, thrust into a situation she didn’t want but handled it admirably to protect the life she’d carved for herself in a horrible world. All my questions about her (such as why did she go into the woods if she’s so unassuming) were all answered by the end. I also loved, loved, loved that Mohammed didn’t shy away from a hard choice, even if it left me crying after I finished as I reflected on myself as a parent.

It’s a wonderful story. Dark, yes, but also quite deep.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC so I could give an honest review.

3.5/5
This was a lovely dark and eerie fairytale book. It was a blend of fantasy and horror, that kept you on the edge of your seat because you never knew what would happen. There was a lot of faerie lore, like don't tell people your name, don't eat the food, and bargains with creatures.
I enjoyed the main character, though I wish we got a little bit more about the children and a bit more about the world-building. The writing style was also a little wordy, but once I got into a flow it was okay.

After having read and enjoyed several of this author's books, I was interested in checking out this upcoming release. In terms of narrative, this novel has a distinctive style. I appreciated the sense of atmosphere, which felt right for a dark fairy.

Yet despite the nice prose, I struggled to immerse myself in the story itself. I felt very detached from the characters which left me in different to their fates.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

Though obviously set in a dark and deadly forest I spent way too much time wondering who the butcher is and still don't know. That didn't prevent me from thoroughly enjoying this short tale and its grotesque and magical creatures. Veris is a refreshing female character who uses her intellect and tangible skills when ordered to rescue the Tyrant's children from the devouring Elmever woods that she successfully escaped from once before with child in tow (a feat no one has ever accomplished). I clung to her instantly and wanted her to succeed, even more so upon learning of the hardship she experienced after the death of her parents. There are unexpected layers of trauma and family bonds/expectations here, suspense and danger are ever-present, and the vivid images of every awful creature were so unique and terrifying and certainly put that horror element to work. This is not a light fantasy, more of a Grimm that went even farther over the edge, bloody and nightmarish.
I wasn't planning for a sequel but with an ending like that I look forward to it.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Premee Mohamed for the e-copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

This book was a very good mixture of horror and fantasy. The author showed how to balance the two and still produce a worthwhile story. The journey is with a strong-willed main character who survives all odds to ensure the safety and well-being of the children who are in danger.

This was well-written and very interesting! But ultimately I don’t usually connect well with novellas because I don’t get super engaged with the characters, and that’s what happened here. But I will recommend it for purchase at my bookstore, and I know the type of person to recommend it to! It just wasn’t really for me.

The Butcher of the Forest is a dark and twisted fairytale with a forbidden forest. Our main character is Veris Thorn the only person who has ever made it out of the Elmever, so the task of retrieving the Rulers children falls on her. If she fails she'll lose everything.

I found myself skimming the support waiting for more action to occur. While Veris does have to figure out riddles, make bargains and the stakes of her journey are extremely high for a 160 page story the pace seemed to drag. I kept waiting for a battle to occur even a small one and it never happened. By the end I found I didn't care at all what happened to any of the characters.

That being said the writing was beautiful, and I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy this read it just wasn't for me unfortunately.

This was a very interesting read. The main character Veris is tasked with searching for the Tyrants children who have gone missing into the woods. He has sent some others to search for them but they did not come back. If she does not bring them back her family and town will be harmed. She is put in a very difficult position.

Throughout her journey she comes across different obstacles and fairytale like monsters. This is definitely on the darker side of what I enjoy reading, but it kept my interest. This was a quick read and the action began pretty quickly, I think that is what grabbed me when I started reading.

This is more of a novella and not a typical fantasy read. I enjoyed the story and this is not a typical book I would have grabbed to read. The writing was amazing and I would have to say the only thing I didn't like about it is that it just was a little too dark for me.

2.5* — The vibes of the book are totally there: a dark, grim fairytale/horror. That's something the author really succeeded with, in my opinion. The main character is another aspect i enjoyed, in that she was complex, relatable, brave, and overall, just stood out. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot lacked luster and fell short at times (especially the ending) because of the overt lyricism.

I see what this was going for and while I love the vision, I’m not really sold on the execution. The author clearly had a goal in mind for the type of language and prose, but I think the way it read was slightly mismatched and just seemed really long at times. As a result, the pacing seemed off as well. Though in terms of the plot, we are thrown directly into the start of the story, the excessive descriptions makes the hook lose some of its shine.

I would love for this plot to be expanded not in terms of prose, but backstory and life. That's what would make me, and I'm sure a lot of other readers, enjoy this much more. The plot is very enticing though, and I definitely love how the author's voice shines through.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the arc!

For those that love a Bite Sized Book of horror, this is a fun example. The setting is not innovative however, Mohamed is able to layer the expected with small elements that make the story engaging. Layers that are when put into practice make for a thrilling ride, magic forests, risen dead, fungus creations, the desperation that comes from the possibility of losing loved ones, and chases. There is less death in this than in many similar horror offerings, instead it is the possibility of being trapped and of loss that makes this horrific. Don’t worry there are intestines and severed heads as well…

I was happy to read something that I didn’t see the entirety of the ending coming. It wasn’t a hard fake out, it makes sense, but it is still surprising the choices made and the consequences of those choices.

Thank you to NetGalley & Premee Mohamed for a copy of this ARC, for which I'm providing an honest review!

While this book wasn't exactly within the realm of genres that I typically enjoy reading - this story was quite good. The prose took some getting used to, as I'm not as familiar with the lyrical-style, but it remained engrossing as I continued on. The story was whimsical, eerie, and filled to the brim with mythical creatures - and the attention to detail painted a beautiful atmosphere all the way through.

My main (and really, only) criticism, would be that I would have liked the characters and settings to have been a bit more fleshed out. Starting right from the rip with action-packed adventure left a little to be desired.

Give it a try! Even if you think it might be too far out of your comfort zone, you might be pleasantly surprised!