For the most part, I liked this, though I wasn't aware at first that it was a novella. The atmosphere of the entire story is haunted and tense, with an undertone of grief. I feel that's definitely where the majority of this novella shines. There were a few moments, though, where the writing wasn't entirely clear to me as to what was going on at the moment or what had happened. Also, I felt like the ending was both very abrupt and that things kind of fizzled out in a way that left me a little dissatisfied. Overall, I do think it's worth a try if you like haunted forests with a semi-Over the Garden Wall feel (minus some of the cheerful whimsy).

I didn't know what to expect going into this novella - I requested it purely based on the strength of Premee Mohamed's works I had read before, and on this point especially I wasn't disappointed. As ever, her prose is lush but also petrifying. The Butcher of the Forest is a dark fairytale, with plenty of body horror (not only concerned human bodies). For my tastes it perhaps didn't delve deeply enough - although for a novella it packs a lot in, and the atmosphere is pervasive, I found Veris (our protagonist, and the only fully explored character) to still feel rather flat. The conclusion is fairly open-ended, so there is potential for this world to be explored further - and I will continue to pick up anything Premee Mohamed writes. Even when her works provide a mere glimpse into a world, the feeling of them (and creeping fear) stays with you after reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a haunting and dark fairytale perfect for the fall season. Mohamed manages to entrance the reader with her prose as she leads us into a forest full of mystery and ominous threats. I loved how gruesome the story was and the strong character of the heroine who is fierce in her beliefs. I absolutely loved reading this, it felt like a fever dream.

"The Butcher of the Forest" by Premee Mohamed is a haunting and atmospheric dark fairytale that plunges readers into a world of magic, danger, and ancient mysteries.

The story is set in a land under the oppressive rule of a foreign tyrant, where a forbidden and perilous forest lies at the northern edge. Veris Thorn, a world-weary woman with a mysterious past, is the only person known to have entered this forest and survived. When the tyrant's children go missing inside the forest, Veris is compelled to return to the treacherous woods to retrieve them.

Mohamed's storytelling is nothing short of mesmerizing. The prose is beautifully crafted, immersing readers in the eerie and enigmatic world of the forest. The author weaves an atmosphere of palpable tension and dread, making every step into the forest feel like a descent into the unknown.

Veris Thorn is a compelling protagonist, haunted by her past and driven by a fierce determination to survive and protect the children. Her complexity and resilience make her a character readers can readily invest in. The forest itself becomes a character, a malevolent force filled with ancient secrets and maleficent creatures that keep the tension high throughout the narrative.

The novella's brevity is one of its strengths, as it maintains a relentless pace, keeping readers engaged from beginning to end. Every sentence serves a purpose, and the story wastes no time in delivering its dark and eerie atmosphere.

"The Butcher of the Forest" is a masterclass in dark fantasy storytelling. Premee Mohamed skillfully combines elements of horror, fantasy, and fairytale to create a rich and immersive reading experience. This novella is a testament to the author's talent for crafting unforgettable and atmospheric tales. Fans of dark fantasy and those who appreciate stories with a sinister edge will find much to savor in this chilling and beautifully written work.

2.5 🌟
A gruesome fairytale.

Veris, a reluctant hero, is forced by a tyrannical ruler to venture into the Elmever forest, a cursed place where no one has ever returned alive. But Veris knows the forest better than anyone, having once escaped its clutches. Now, she must use her knowledge and cunning to rescue the tyrant's children, or her family will pay the price.

I quite liked the writing style, but at times it became too heavy with too long and detailed descriptions that honestly took me out of the story a bit. The plot twist didn’t really surprise me at all, I just didn’t care much for it. The ending left some things unanswered that made me question whether this was just a setup for an upcoming series. In that case, I would’ve liked more worldbuilding.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for the ARC. This is my honest review.
The Butcher of the Forest is a sad, dark, almost beautiful, and definitely strange novella/fairytale.
At first, it feels as though you are reading someone’s creative writing project. Then it slowly morphs into something (not a little) resembling a Grimm’s Fairy Tale. Not a Disneyfied fairy tale, but one that is brooding, and scary, and not without its morals.
There are many lessons to learn in this little story, and it is very well written, but so well written that it becomes almost a hindrance to the storytelling. The prose is so verbose, and the descriptions so long, that sometimes I found myself wandering away from the story.
And then, once in awhile, the author would throw in a piece of modern language (like the expression ‘pushing forty’) that just felt completely out of place.
All told, I didn’t NOT like it. I wanted to know where it would lead, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was sequel at some point, because it certainly leaves open that possibility. There are so many questions unanswered.
As for the morals of the story, we’ll some are obvious…but, in the end, I struggled with what I was really supposed to have learned, if anything at all. There is no happy ending, or really any ending at all. But so it is with most old school tales.
For lovers of dark fairytales, have a go. You may love it.

Wanted to love this, but the writing was a big too literary for me, and the story way too slow in pace for a Novella.

I’m a fan of Stephen King and have read several of his lengthy tomes. I also adore Tolkien and have read LOTR two times (once with appendices). I love fantasy and am unafraid to read a lengthy book. That said, the amount of 500 + page books in the genre that are part of an ongoing series often intimidates me into avoiding it. I was in the mood for a short, lighthearted fantasy book after reading several extremely dark titles dealing with murder and crime. Though Premee Mohamed The Butcher of the Forrest wasn’t lighthearted, it was short, so I decided to give it a shot.

The Butcher of the Forrest, a slim novella, is a fairytale for adults. The main story is quite simple: a tyrannical ruler, known simply as The Tyrant, forces one of his peasants to go into a darkly enchanted forest to retrieve his two lost children. Veris Thorn, the peasant, is somewhat skilled in magic; she once successfully went into the forest to retrieve another child. Because of this, the Tyrant tells her that if she’s unable to rescue his kids, she and the people of her town will be murdered. What a guy!

Fantasy books tend to spend a lot of time building the world. In Butcher, Mohamed drops us right into the action; the book begins with The Tyrant’s men forcing Veris to leave her house and get into a carriage to see their boss. She’s immediately told what she needs to do and what will happen if her mission fails. You learn all you need to know about the world and the characters that populate it along the way. The fast pace jibbed quite well with my ADHD.

If you liked Stephen King’s Fairy Tale, or the original Grimm’s, I highly recommended checking this one out. I was given an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. It will be available for purchase on February 27, 2024.

A world-weary woman races against the clock to rescue the children of a wrathful tyrant from a dangerous, otherworldly forest.

This was good but not great. The author definitely has promise.

I don’t read many novellas, with that said I may convert to reading more after this!

I would categorize this as sci-fi/ fantasy.

While there isn’t a lot of monologue, it makes up for it with the plot.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the ending, but you may! I don’t like open ended endings, I need MOREEEEE 🤣🤌🏻

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