scijessreads

The Butcher of the Forest was a dense, haunting journey fully realized within a novella-length story. Veris has a history with the forest at the north edge of her village in the kingdom. A forest that usually lets people in, and never back out. Veris made it out, but not without scars that we don’t fully understand until close to the end of the book.

Her return from the forest makes her the one person the Tyrant can command to go back to the forest and save his lost children. But a successful rescue mission will be much harder than anyone realizes, and the lives of everyone in Veris’ village are at stake.

We are treated to a dark forest of creatures, rules, and hunger that slowly increase the tension as Veris ventures further into the woods to find the children. Along the way, we slowly learn more about Veris’ history with the forest and her tenuous relationship with her own future. For the entire journey, we don’t know if she will succeed, or if the forest will consume both her and the children. Even at the end of the book, there is tension in the resolution. This is an old folk tale, dark fantasy, and eldritch horror wrapped into a single package that keeps you turning the pages.

*I read this book as an ARC. All opinions are my own. Publication date is 2/27/2024.