I'm honestly not sure what I read. I like to pick my books based on genre, then title page, then the synopsis. And this? Was no different from my methods. I let the cover design vibes guide me on this one completely, and they did a good job again.

We have Veris, who seemingly has some secrets up her sleeve that don't seem all that secret-ish when she's sent on mission impossible: Brother's Grimm Fairytale edition. This was such a unique read and was a short novella that captivated me in a short span for reading. I am a little sad I can't say I sat down and devoured this in one sitting (which totally would have been do-able).

But, this also gave me like science fiction fantasy vibes. If you have seen the movie Annihilation with Natalie Portman, it reminded me a lot of that. This obscure mission with not a lot of dialogue but some interesting plot creatures and a task that has some sort of open-ended resolve. I wish there was some more world building to this, because when I first started this- I thought I mistakenly started a series not on a Book 1.

If you wanted a beautifully wrapped up fantasy read, this won't fit the bill. However, this will leave you feel like you got embraced in a mind bending but satisfied hug.

I DNF'd at 42%.

Unfortunately, this was not for me. From the beginning, I had a lot of trouble with the quality of the writing. It felt clunky to me, somehow both overly descriptive but lacking in substance. It was odd in it's tone and I couldn't visualize a lot. I found myself skimming more than usual.

This feels like a dark fairy tale, which I usually love. I just found the world building lacking. The main character was a little flat in my opinion as well. This story would benefit from a little bit more development.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book!

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

This is an entrancing dark fairy tale novella. The protagonist, a practical woman in her late 30s, is sent into a horrifying and dangerous forest on a quest, and an adventure ensues. I really enjoyed the writing; at times it reads like nature writing, with sensory descriptions of the forest that made you feel that you were right there in the midst of it. The horror/fantasy elements reminded me at times of Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, at times of Princess Mononoke, and at times of Over the Garden Wall (if it was much darker). An excellent fall read.

Like the previous book I have read by this author (The Annual Migration of Clouds), this book does a lot in few pages. They also both had somewhat open-ended conclusions, so I come away from this one with the same feeling I had with the previous book: it feels like a window into a world about which I would love to read more stories.

It reads easily enough, but it feels like there are 20 words where 5 will do. I'd label this purple prose. I don't personally enjoy it, and I prefer economy of word. I stopped at 15% in. I can see it going over well with the target audience, probably an easy three stars, four to five for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

This novella was a perfect fall read. I liked the quest aspect of it, as well as the creepy, sentient forest with ancient creatures. However, I wasn't expecting the deeper commentary on power, corruption, and war. That was an unexpected but welcome surprise. The story felt fully fleshed out and well-contained in the limited number of pages, but the ending is just open-ended enough that there's the possibility for a sequel.

The Butcher of the Forest is a very interesting novella. It reads like an older fairytale, the ones that have a bite to them. I feel like discussing too much of the plot or the themes will spoil some of what happens and I really think people should read this novella. It's very good. The writing is well done, with just enough, for lack of a better word, flowery prose without it being overdone. It ends up helping the story feel like a fairytale, but doesn't make the story hard to read, something that can easily happen with a style of writing like this.

The one thing I think that could have been changed is a personal thing. The story is one long chapter, with no real breaks. I don't think it would have changed the story in any way to have some type of chapters, but i obviously didn't take anything off for that. I will definitely read more from Premee Mohamed after reading this.

Thank you to Tor for sending me an arc in exchange for review.


This is a very lyrical fairy tale esque story, I enjoyed my time reading it, however It didn’t really stand out to me from other books I’ve read.

This is a fairy tale, but one with more meat on the bones. It contains a brave protagonist, lost children, a cruel ruler, and a dark, dangerous forest. Premee Mohamed weaves a dreamlike narrative from these elements that is exciting, frightening, and very sad, but without becoming hopeless. The prose is lyrical and fits the fairy tale form. I absolutely loved it.

No one leaves the forest alive.

Veris wakes to a summoning from the castle with a message: locate the Tyrant’s children in the Elmever forest, or everyone she loves will die. As the only soul who has rescued someone from Elmever once before, she sets out again into the dark and magical land, knowing she tempts fate with each action.

Veris steps through hauntings, surviving with her keen sight through the forest’s facade. She meditates on keeping grounded as she confronts monsters and dark memories, things that propel her feet forward.

Rich and haunting, Mohamed’s story will stay with you long after the final page. You will race through the pages, frantically seeking what happens to Veris, Eleonor, and Aram as they face each dark foe in their effort to escape. And in the end, you, too, will want to be a little more like Veris.

Thank you to Tor Publishing, Preemee Mohamed and Netgalley for giving me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was very spooky and and interesting read. The MC is brillant, i loved reading about her