After the Forest

 

Today's post is on After the Forest by Kell Woods. It is 375 pages long and is published by TOR Books. The cover is green with different forest themed elements like leaves, wolves, and like on it. The intended reader is someone who likes fairy tales and their retellings. There is mild foul language, implied sex, and mild violence in this novel. The story follows the third person close of the main character, Greta. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour. A drop of blood to bind its power.
1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg.
Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war. Greta has a secret, the witch's grimoire, secreted away and whispering in her ear, and the recipe inside that makes the most sinfully delicious - and addictive - gingerbread.
As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat. But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her intoxicating gingerbread is a source of ever-growing suspicion and vicious gossip.
And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta's own powers - magic she is still trying to understand - may be the only thing that can save her ... If it doesn't kill her first.

Review- A interesting look at the Hensel and Greta folk legend with an eye to how women are seen in their communities. Greta and Hans are barely surviving when a new baroness raises the taxes and starts demanding payment in flesh. Greta wants to protect her brother from the baroness but she also has her won problems to deal with. This is was a good read, if you like fairy tales and folklore, which I do. The writing is good, the characters are believable, and the setting is immersive. Woods did a good job and I would like to read more from her. 

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.