Reviews with content warning for Murder - After the Forest

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

After the Forest by Kell Woods

9 reviews

cozyreadings's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

Retellings have been so overdone in the last years, that I feel it's become hard to find one that isn't boring and repetitive. I would love to say that this one was an exception, but it wasn't. Although the premise is pretty interesting (the aftermath of a fairytale instead of the actual fairytale), it was easy to guess all the twists, and I feel like towards the end there were too many things trying to happen at once. Too many fairytales becoming mixed into one story, which made it a bit "overachieving".

Now for the positives. The atmosphere of the village and the woods was great. The townspeople were written well: when a character can make you feel such anger towards them yet at the same time feel sad for them, you know the character was written well. The magic parts were woven in neatly with the normal daily village life parts.

For a debut novel I am impressed, but as retellings go it still felt generic and like something I had read before. However I'm very interested to see what will be coming next from this author!

Content Warnings

questsandquietude's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

Content Warnings

ceruleanheather's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

After the Forest is not so much a retelling as it is a sequel. Quite literally, what happens after Hansel (Hans) and Gretel (Greta) escape the witch in the forest.

Greta makes money to support her and her brother through baking gingerbread (ironic), and Hans gets drunk and gambles as he tries to forget the past. Hans is quite frustrating, but his PTSD is understandable. Greta using the witch's book to help her make the gingerbread is so odd, but I guess it is needed for the story to work.

The book starts out slowly, explaining how Hans and Greta got to this point and their daily troubles. We get introduced to characters that are important, but not always fleshed out. Matthias is interesting and mysterious, but the insta love trope annoys me. The story picks up about a third of the way through.

I did like the atmosphere of the book. The magic, the setting, the realism of the town and their struggles. I also liked the bear and wolf storylines, and the smattering of other fairy tales that were referenced and reused. The author has a descriptive style that is enjoyable to read.

The story ended up being quite predictable. I figured out the *big reveal* many chapters before Greta made the connection. The characters are also a little flat. They exist for the plot, but don't seem to have much agency. Things that should have been questioned or investigated are just believed and people who are supposed to be smart do not seem to be so. Rob was the best character, and he was a side character!

*CW* chapter 25 has a fairly graphic scene involving animal cruelty. You can skip the scene honestly, and it does not affect the story. You can glean what happens.

*TW* chapter 27 has a scene involving relations without consent. It isn't very detailed, but still graphic in content. Again you can glean what happens, just skip page 447.

Content Warnings