I cannot fully communicate how much I love this book. It was so clever, tender, funny, and atmospheric.

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest handles shame and grief, but also friendship, forgiveness, love, and acceptance. There were lines that made me laugh and others that made me stop and think (and even tear up a bit).

I adored Clare, the titular undead fox. His passion for his work and his mushroom garden are paired with overwhelming insecurities about his appearance and how he's perceived. This makes him a very sympathetic character, one that young readers will have no trouble relating to. What young person hasn't been horrified at their appearance, and worried everyone doesn't like them? But Clare discovers that self-love is worth pursuing, which is a powerful lesson for young readers. You really just want to give him a hug!

The side characters are full and well-fleshed out. The setting is charming and quirky. At some points, the plot had my heart in my throat! It also had a really unique take on death and the afterlife - a very comforting take. So well-executed and such a satisfying read. I highly recommend it.

I received this book through Netgalley, but I will certainly be purchasing a copy when it releases!

Enjoyment rating: 5 stars
Quality rating: 5 stars

Ohhh this book!

I very rarely cry because of a book. This book not only made me cry, but I read some of the final passages to my husband so he could cry too. This is the kind of book that cements my belief that middle grade is where the best books are being published.

That all said, this isn’t a book for every kid. It’s about death, grief, and loss — but also about friendship, unselfishness, and love. It’s about our deepest fears and the greatest parts of life. That might sound like hyperbole for a book about an undead fox, but I promise it’s not.

The characters are far from perfect, but they’re lifelike and lovable. Every side character and even the narrator have complex, memorable things about them. The characters had more depth than many characters I read from books for older audiences. Clare has a lot of insecurities and worries in a way that makes him so lovable and someone you want to root for, even when those traits are causing problems for him and the characters around him. He has a lot of growth that develops in a natural, gentle way that feels like getting a warm hug after processing your own feelings of inadequacy.
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The writing was also poetic and beautiful. The setting comes to life with vibrant descriptions and creative elements. There is humor and sparkle throughout.

I don’t think I can truly write a review that captures how beautiful and special this book is. Just go read it. It’s magical, and I hope people will be reading this book one hundred years from now.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a pure delight. The writing was fantastic--propulsive, heartfelt, and whimsical (but not in a distracting, cutesy way). I just loved the narration style, the characters, the setting, the world. What a brilliant mind Aubrey Hartman has. The book fit together like a perfect puzzle, every peice lovingly and carefully crafted. This feels like a classic.

Beautiful and heartwarming story. So many lessons within one book but put into a way that’s not preachy. The atmosphere was just perfection and made me feel like I was constantly reading this book in a lovely forest in the fall. Cottagecore vibes to the max. Characters were fleshed out and grew over time. I fell in love with the two main characters and shed a small tear of happiness in the end.

This book is going to win all of the awards. The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest is the kind of book that lingers—in the best, most bittersweet way. It’s eerie yet cozy, melancholic yet full of hope, a perfect blend of Kate DiCamillo’s emotional depth and Tim Burton’s signature whimsy. Clare, the undead fox, is one of the most memorable protagonists I’ve come across in a long time. He’s resigned himself to his afterlife as an Usher of souls—until a stubborn badger named Gingersnipes crashes into his existence and throws everything he knows into question. Their journey through Deadwood Forest is full of atmospheric beauty, quiet humor, and big existential questions wrapped up in a story that feels both timeless and utterly original. I adored every second of it.

This is the most genuine and heartfelt story and I absolutely adore it. Warning: bring tissues. This is a beautiful tale about friendship, compassion, hope, life and death. This is a book that will stay with you long after you set it down. A true treasure.

Love
Death
Acceptance
Trust
Friends
Loneliness
This beautiful story about love, death, and acceptance had me cry more than I thought it would! I recommend this to any age group, unless death makes you quesy. Clare is a lonely fox until a little badger comes along. They both teach other lessons and help with realizing something about themselves. Clare feels he’s unloved, the badger feels she’s useless.
Disclaimer: aiming to not spoil anything! I recommend this so so much! Now it may not have all of you cry or tear up like I did, but it’s a beautiful story. All age groups can take something away from this. Kids can/ will definitely learn empathy from this one! Clare’s story will have you laugh, cry, and all the in between emotions. It’s heartwarming, think of a children’s movie that spoke to you and had you tear up. That’s what this book is like (to me). Clare is the usher to help wandering souls who come to Deadwood Forest. Each soul belongs in one of the four realms and each soul goes to where they belong. I can say too, although it may seem morbid, it had me look at death differently. Overall, it’s a journey of death, life, self love and acceptance.

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest is a cozy middle grade novel about grief, death, and found family. We meet Clare, the usher of souls to the Afterlife and Gingersnipes, a dead badger who seems unable to move on. Clare tends his garden of mushrooms, sells them to "trashrats" and is content with his role of usher. But when Gingersnipes appears, everything changes and his world goes topsy turvy. I found The Undead Fox unique and enjoyable and the end had me tearing up. A delight!

It’s like if Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune was written for middle grade. It warmed my heart, shattered it, and mushed it back together by the end. So so good!

Clare is an usher of souls who helps newly dead animals pass on to the four realms of the afterlife: peace, pleasure, progress, or pain. One particularly badgering badger named Gingersnipe causes a stir to his routine. As he helps Gingersnipe, he learns more about himself and his past and learns how to be at peace with his own fate.

The characters were perfection. Clare’s insecurity and gentleness make it so the reader can’t help but feel empathy towards him. His growth is phenomenal as he learns about his past and heals from the trauma he experienced as a young kit. The narrator’s spunky voice made this feel fun like a classic fairytale story. The humor sprinkled throughout was just enough to temper the serious tone. Everything was beautifully done! While I didn’t cry (like I thought I might), I did tear up at the narrator’s note at the end.

“This is a story about death. It is also a tale of love. But, in the quietest corners of the pages, it is an exploration of loss.”

Beautiful!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was kind of deep for a middle grade book exploring the stages of grief after death and coming to terms with it and things that have happened in your life. The characters were all interesting, and you could feel empathy towards them as the author explains how they've died and what they're going through searching through the deadwood forest to move on.

It also portrays how we as humans are very destructive in the grand scheme of things and need to do better as a whole for the environment and the creatures that we share space with. I wish that the e-arc could have provided some of the pictures to help move the story along and provide a little more description of what was going on, but I'm sure once it is published and they are there they will be great for it's intended audience. It's definitely worth a read

Utterly, utterly wonderful. THE UNDEAD FOX is heartbreaking, funny, dark, and beautifully cozy all at the same time. It had the cadence of the best children's classics (and that cover is just perfection!) From the characters to the world of Deadwood Forest, this is a story that I will carry with me for a long time.

This book was so utterly perfect and I know I’m never going to stop thinking or talking about it. The writing style shows such a great love and respect for the audience which is often lacking in both middle grade and young adult books, and it was really wonderful to see. The characters were so well crafted with a high level of depth that any age can appreciate. At the risk of being repetitive, I love reading children’s literature from authors who don’t look down on their audience, and who truly see the people reading it as full humans who can understand complex ideas and emotions. Too often this genre oversimplifies and sugarcoats things, as if they’ve forgotten what it was to be 8-12 and find a book like this. I can’t wait to buy a physical copy of this book for my collection, and I’m so excited to see the final illustrations!! The few included in the ARC were beautiful so I can only imagine what a treat we’re going to be in for!

A creative well-written tale. The author made a great choice to turn the characters into animals to make the theme and characters relatable but at the same time distance. Great choice (and the cover is amazing). Has very particular scenes that stay with us for a while and make us think and rethink.
I thought it was interesting that the fox didn't ask the badger's name (only after a few days) I too tend to forget that because a name doesn't add much information about the person when we're trying to learn more specific characteristics.

I really enjoyed this book! It was well written, I loved the story and the characters. It was very much worth the read and it was super easy and just overall charming.

I really enjoyed this story. It was an easy read, and sweet, feel good, heartwarming, and a good cozy read. I will definitely read the next book and look forward to it.

I want you to love this book as much as I did, reading it. Every word feels as though it were crafted for pleasure. Each description. Each turn of phrase. And each snarky come back by the main characters, a dead fox named Clare, and a dead badger named Gingersnipes (I read the whole book thinking her name was Gingersnaps.) Oh, and the narrator, we can’t forget the narrator, who warns us that it is about to get scary, or gruesome, or just about anything that is about to happen.

Clare helps souls of animals pass onto the four realms of eternity. They are Pain, Pleasure, Progress and Peace. She was told that she could either usher souls, or she could go to Pain, which she didn’t want to do.

When Gingersnipes shows up, Clare can’t figure out where to send her, and so she hangs around, and asks questions. So many questions.
Clare, for example, wants to go out, to figure out something.

“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere”
“To do what?”
“Something”
“You’re going somewhere to see someone about something?”
“Precisely” Clare said, hurrying off.
“Okay, but next time, don't prattle on about needless details!” Gingersnipes called after him. “It’s exhausting.”


This is instead a story of death, but also love. I know that sounds saccharine, but it works. And it is fun to read, so most of the audience won’t notice. There is no great moral here, other than to treat others as you would want to be treated.

Really, if I could give it ten stars, I would. And even though I have read the ARC, I still have it on my pre-order list. It is that good.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book will be published on the 25th of February 2025.

I really enjoyed how good Aubrey Hartman wrote this, it had that element that I was looking for and thought it was a beautifully done story. It had a unique concept and thought it was a great children's book in showing moving on. I enjoyed the journey and was glad I got to read this.

Another winner from the author of The Lion of Lark Hayes Manor. A unique and intriguing story about a fox whose job is to usher lost souls into various realms of the afterlife. It was a unique take on what the afterlife may look like and really made one think about how the choices we make during our lifetimes may affect our afterlife. Clare, the undead fox and usher of souls, is aided by the least likely of allies to discover his true worth and purpose. Gingersnipes was one of my favorite characters as underneath her silly exterior she was wise and just the animal Clare needed in his life.

Deadwood Forest is a place of an everlasting fall - a season that is not quite dead, and yet still living. Clare lives in the Deadwood Forest, and is an undead fox. Clare was hit by a car a long time ago, and given two choices, to either go to the Afterlife or help be an Usher with other souls, chose the option of Usher. One day, a badger named Gingersnipes, appears on Clare's doorstep. Clare tries to help the badger into the Afterlife, but Gingersnipes cannot go. But this is not how things are supposed to go, and so the balance of life and death gets muddled. To try to fix this, they try to find Hesterfowl, a grouse who has visions and saw trouble ahead for Deadwood Forest. Once they do find Hesterfowl, Clare learns that part of that vision encompasses the fate of Clare himself.

This book packs quite an emotional punch. It is about grief and loss, and saying goodbye. Because of that, it is also a teaching book, as well. The themes are accessible for many age groups, and the entertainment factor makes this a quick, page-turning read. Also, I absolutely adored the cover of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.