Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

After the Forest by Kell Woods

12 reviews

lilybear3's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I picked this up because one of the 5th graders in my outreach suggested it to me, it's like their favorite book.  First off, this book is considered adult fantasy (not spicy and the fact that I have to add that, because people will wonder, is discourse for another day).  I don't think it was overly explicit, a few swear words here & there, a few sexually suggestive moments, some violence, but nothing crazy.  I don't know why I'm adding all this, but that is my context.

I loved the idea of retelling/adding onto the Hansel and Gretel fairytale. I felt the additional characters added more depth to the story and helped bring the village to life.  The story was also kind of like a mystery in that you and Greta are given bits of information over time and are figuring out how it all fits together.  The bits of a second story are at the beginning of each chapter in italics give a little more depth.  Our MC is Greta, but (hot take) I wished for more of Hans even though he's a mess.  I thought the story was intricate and interesting.  That being said, the first like 60% of the book was slow paced, lots of discussions happening, not so much plot-driven.  There was some world building involved, but it wasn't heavy so that made it hard to get into.  Past that, the story picks up and it was good.  Some people found reveals to be obvious, but I never pick up on those so it was a surprise to me!

Beautiful cover by the way!  I could see this being adapted into a tv show or movie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Misogyny

Moderate: Violence, Grief, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, War, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Child abuse

20sidedbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death of parent, Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage

madisongturner's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, and Animal death

This is a very dark novel. There is very graphic content, especially in Chapter 25-27.

rachelsarahjjones's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

carrie915's review

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Violence, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Death

becandthebooks's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

 Oh my goodness I want to eat this book up like one of Greta’s gingerbreads! The beautifully lyrical combination of writing and the narration by Esther Wane has me wanting to restart this audiobook again!

“After The Forest” follows Hans and Greta (Hansel and Gretel) approximately 15 years after they were imprisoned by the old crone in the forest. It explores what kind of a life they lived after such trauma, with sprinklings of Snow White & Rose Red, Rumpelstiltskin, magical beasts, witch trials and an unlikely romance.

Kell Woods writing is just stunning and Esther Wane’s voice performance was so complementary to this whimsical fairytale retelling! I will 100% be picking up what Kell Woods comes out with next!

Pure joy 💛 Off to bake gingerbread.

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⚠️ TW: After reading some other reviews I’ve learnt that Chapter 25 is the chapter number with some descriptive animal cruelty (bearbaiting). Reviewers who skipped this chapter have said it didn’t hinder their experience. I listened to it and it was graphic, but it is also written for a different time and that’s how I tackle these situations personally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

rambles's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

The story is an impressive mix of the Hansel and Gretel story, Rose Red, and a little Beauty and the Beast. It made me crave gingerbread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Miscarriage and Rape

sarrie's review

sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 

Tl;DR - 2.5 stars. A cold, disconnected story with a reactionary character, this was a frustrating read for me. 

I genuinely was expecting something very different than what I got with this and I’m quite disappointed. For some reason I thought this was more modern, however this leans very hard into the fairy tale ‘retellings/what if’ stories we’ve been getting a lot of the past few years. Hans and Greta are now adults and this follows their lives as more supernatural beings begin to enter it and how they deal with life after ‘the witch’. 

My biggest complaint on this is that Greta was just so bland. I’m not sure if this was due to the writing, which in general felt very disconnected and cold, or the character herself. Even after the traumatic events of her childhood, the frequent supernatural events that followed, and the magical book that talks to her in her own home daily she still manages to find shapeshifters and werewolves surprising and frightening. I believe I would have started having problems well before the book started whispering in my mind, but to each their own. 

Sadly I spent the entirety of the book disconnected, cold to the characters and only growing more frustrated. Greta felt a lot like many female characters I read in these types of stories, reactionary and mild in manner. If you met these women on a Tuesday in the supermarket you’d never know. Which, if this was literary fiction then yeah I can see that making sense. But in a fantasy novel? A retelling of a fairy tale? It makes for a dull and frustrating time for the reader. 

2.5 bewitching gingerbread houses 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Violence, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Misogyny

pceldridge's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Murder, War, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Classism, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual harassment