AFTER THE FOREST is a reimagining of Hansel and Gretel, asking what happens next to the characters.

I liked that it occurred after the fairy tale itself, looking at the impact of that experience on children. Both Hans and Greta have scars and are dealing with it (or not dealing with it) in their own way. But there is also the book's own spin on the fairy tale, slowly teasing out what actually happened across the book.

This is not the only fairy tale present. There are elements from several woven into the tale, with Snow White being the most obvious. Each chapter opens with a little snippet of a tale. It takes a while for this tale to link to the book, revealing what exactly it is recounting. It did feel pretty disconnected from the main tale until the end, which I didn't like so much, but it did add to the feel of a world where magic existed in the cracks that "ordinary people" overlooked.

The inclusion of these elements, particularly the ones less obviously tied to a specific story, drawing more generally from folklore, help this book feel more like a sequel than a retelling. It is its own thing, full of magic. It also leans into the idea of forgotten, misremembered tales where fear is used to justify turning on those who are different.

The book is set in a vaguely Early Modern part of Germany (or something that is meant to very strongly hint you are in what is now Germany.) The vagueness of it lends itself to that fairy-tale feeling, that world just beyond reach that could be anywhere.

After the Forest is a Hansle and Grettle retelling set twenty years after they were abandoned in the forest and emprisoned by the witch.
Hansel (Hans) has a gambling problem and has racked up a debt, and Grettle tries her best to keep them afloat and keep hold of their home by making and selling bewitchingly delicious gingerbread. But the villagers are mistrustful of Gretta after what happened to them as children in the woods all those years ago. And Gretta has a secret she's been harbouring all these years which if discoverd could have her killed - she stole the witches grimoire and has been using it to bake her delicious gingerbread recipes to keep a roof over her and Hans heads.
When Gretta is almost killed by a bear at the start of the book and discovers dark magic in the woods, she uncovers magic of her own, which leads her down a path of discovery and danger.
I loved the writing prose in this book and thought the narrator did an amazing job bringing the book to life along with all the different character voices, too. I loved Gretta and was rooting for her from the beginning. This was such a cleverly woven retelling full of darkness, shape-shifters, magic, witches, wolves, bears, and links to Snow White towards the end, too.
As a debut, this was amazing, and I'm excited to see what Kell Woods writes next.

2 ⭐️

This author certainly knows how to create a dark setting for a story. I liked the magic system with the notion of nature magic vs. dark pain driven magic. The author is also very good at writing characters that are made for you to hate, like the herr gretas brother owes money to.

If you like fairytale retellings that have dark vibes and are more character driven, i think you'll love this.

Sadly, I am not one of those people. I spent most of the book lost and waiting for something to happen. The plot twists were predictable, and yet the last 4 chapters feature not only most of the action but also the explanations of what was happening the whole time.

While I liked the story paragraphs at the start of each chapter, trying to figure out the relevance was drawing me out of the main story. The aim of our villain was revealed far too late for me. Its a creepy addition, and I feel the plot would have been better paced if we saw our characters live in fear of her coming for them.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a perfectly good book that delivered on the fairytale feeling and atmosphere whilst departing just enough from the original story to feel unique. The characters were engaging and I enjoyed the way they interacted with each other whilst the plot points unravelled. The magical element in this book was great - I particularly enjoyed the varying magical abilities and the ways they all crossed over.

My issue with this book just fell with the fact there was too much happening! All of the ideas and plot pathways that Woods included were well thought out and engaging in their own right, but there were just too many of them that it felt like everything was thrown at this book. It meant that not everything was explored in as much depth as I would have liked - the execution was just not there. So whilst, I did enjoy this one at face value, I was left wanting a more focused and detailed narrative.

TW: death of a parent, murder, animal cruelty, animal fighting/bear baiting, gambling, alcoholism, child abandonment

This is the tale of Hansel and Gretal as adults. Hans is a drunk, he hates the world and is in debt. Gretal is an outcast, rumours of her past have labelled her as a witch. All she does is make gingerbread from the witch's book, a book that talks to her.

This book contains different kinds of magic, good and bad, persecution of witches, small town vibes, shapeshifters, woods, German words and self-discovery.

Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. It was very slow and repetitive. I listened to it on audiobook on twice the speed to get through the longer parts. I did like the romance in it and the German. I do wonder if I would have had a different experience if I'd read the book, rather than listened to it.

After the Forest is a retelling of Hansel an Gretal but based 20 years after the events we know so well. Hans is a mess, consumed by gambling debts and risking their family in the process, Greta is the focus of village whispers about that day in the forest, but she is also known for the infamous and addictive gingerbread men that she bakes, the baking that stops her and her brother from becoming homeless. Greta is hiding a secret though, the last remains of magic from that day in the forest, she took a grimoire, a magical grimoire that speaks to her, provides spells and incantations, and tries to seduce her into behaving against herself – and it’s this book she uses to bake her gingerbread people (literally) cannot resist. But can Greta keep resisting the power whispered to her by this book or is the danger even closer to home?

I do like a retelling told from a fresh perspective, the ‘happy ever after’ which isn’t so happy and the after effects of trauma and witchery, and this is quite a dark and often dismal read – Hans, you awful boy, I’m looking at you. As others have pointed out, there is an upsetting scene involving animal cruelty in chapter 25, involving dogs and bearbaiting, so be warned and skip this chapter – that said, if a chapter can be skipped at no cost to the story, I wish it had just been removed entirely and merely vaguely referred to.

The pacing is a little dragged out, it feels more of a journey than a destination book, but it’s well written, rich and well thought through, so I can’t complain about the journey itself (apart from Hans, I don’t want to travel anywhere with Hans). Greta is naïve at times, ok many times, but she’s fierce and loveable and just trying to do what’s best, but she is also easily seduced by the magic that teases a solution to all her problems.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

A haunting retelling of Hansel & Gretel with richly detailed prose and an irresistible plot. The pace is on the slower end but that didn't affect my enjoyment at all. Highly recommended.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Titan and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

This was a really good read. I liked that it was a continuation of a fairytale rather than just a retelling.

Greta was a great protagonist, likeable and strong but still fallible. I did wish that the big bad had a more fleshed out story, I was waiting for some big reveal but that aspect fell a bit flat for me.

After the Forest picks up the story of Hansel and Gretel twenty years after they escaped from the witches gingerbread house and not all is as happy as it should be. Hansel has turned out to be a gambling sot and Greta is left to work her fingers to the bone keeping food on the table and making sure they don’t die. Things are pretty bleak for Greta and all she has is a Grimoire full of dark magic and a recipe for the best gingerbread around.
This was really, really excellent I enjoyed it immensely. There’s a lot of fairy tale reimagining about so it makes a change to get a continuation after the happily ever after. It’s also quite dark which fits with the really quite disturbing original tale. I love that gothicy goodness. I mean they pushed a woman in to an oven and killed her there’s bound to be some trauma there surely? Great stuff!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

I loved this so so much! The setting was just great! This type of book is genuinely my favourite

Just finished reading After the Forest by Kell Woods, and it's an absolute must-read! I was absolutely captivated by this enchanting retelling of the classic Hansel and Gretel fairytale. I loved the character development and unique plot twists which kept me engaged throughout the story. It's an unforgettable journey that I highly recommend to anyone who loves fairytale retellings!

We all know the story of Hansel and Gretel, even if we can't remember when we first heard it. The story of a pair of young siblings who find themselves at the mercy of an evil witch who wants to make Gretel a slave whilst fattening Hansel up to eat. It's kind of horrific that such a story is told to children, but you've got to get them into horror young I guess. Kell Woods isn't retelling that story though, instead she's asking a question that rarely gets brought up; what happened after?

After the Forest answers this question, as we follow a now adult Greta as she and her brother, Hans, live their lives in a small town in the Black Forest, staying in a small cottage just outside of the small town of Lindenfeld. Whilst Greta is happy to live away from everyone else, gathering food in the forest, baking her special gingerbread, and keeping a low profile, her brother is not. Hans spends most of his time in the local tavern, drinking and gambling, borrowing and losing money as he does so, all in an attempt to drown out the trauma of what he and his sister went through years before.

When Greta finds out that her brother owes too much money, and that the two of them will be losing their home come the end of the month, she does what she can to earn enough to stay, preparing as much gingerbread from the stolen spell book in her care to sell during the Walpurgis celebrations. However, when a mysterious man arrives in the woods and snags her attention, along with a childhood friend returning home from war, and a mysterious band of mercenaries all coming to town at the same time, things begin to spin out of control and Greta will have to face some of the magic and darkness.

One of the most impressive things about After the Forest is that this is a debut novel. The way that Kell Woods writes her prose is nothing short of extraordinary. It has a lyrical, almost magical flow to it that slowly draws you into this world that feels like the work of someone who has honed their craft over many years, with many other titles under their belt. But now, this is a first book; and what a book to begin a career with.

After the Forest doesn't just feel like a simple narrative, as Woods fills this world with multiple characters that all have unique flavours to them, and a setting that draws upon some historical inspiration and her own creations to make a very realised and lived in setting. It takes a decent while into the book for things to really start happening, and the first several chapters are spent getting to know the characters and their lives; but it's done so in a way that feels very natural, and you almost forget that you're here for the story of Hansel and Gretel, and instead just slip into the day to day of these peoples lives.

That being said, this is a big book, at almost five hundred pages, and that might prove to be something of a test for some readers. There were times where I felt more engrossed in the book than others, times where I didn't want to put it down, and a few where I had to push myself to keep going. It has ups and downs, and that is perhaps the downside of creating such and in-depth world, that not everything is always to going to appeal to every reader. If you like long, winding narratives that don't rush towards the end then this is a book that will absolutely appeal to you, and you can really get lost within its pages; but on the flip side, if you like a faster flowing narrative you may struggle to get to the point where the main crux of the story really reveals itself.

Another slight criticism of the book that I have is that it contains a scene of explicit animal cruelty towards the end (Chapter 25: Baiting), in which the graphic depiction of bear hunting and violence towards animals is included. The book contained no trigger warning for this, and it's a shame as it's something that did upset the flow for me somewhat, as I am not a fan of animal cruelty at all. It took me out of the book, and I ended up having to skip ahead of some parts as I was unable to read them. A note at the start of the book about this could have helped to avoid this moment. This is also something I've seen brought up in other reviews, and so I hope that future publications will try to address this.

The hardcover version of the book is also very lovely to look at. I know you're not supposed to judge a book on appearance, but I couldn't help but do that with After the Forest. The cover art is gorgeous, and the bright, shining bronze stands out beautifully on the dark, deep greens chosen for the cover. The book looks like it belongs in the autumnal season, and the remote woodland setting really helped with this too. It's the perfect kind of book to sit in front of a fire reading, and it feels great in your hands. If you are going to pick up a copy and were holding out for a paperback release, do yourself a favour and at least check out the hardcover, as I think it's likely the best version of the book you could get.

Overall, I had a great experience reading After the Forest. It's a fantastic debut novel, one that shows off the skills of a new but very talented author, one who is likely going to go on to craft some truly memorable stories.

I really enjoyed this book, there was something quite exciting reading about Hansel & Gretel after ‘that’ encounter and it was such a wonderful concept! I felt the tone was quite ‘gritty’ and I really enjoyed how it played out.

I think Woods did a great job fleshing out the characters and the story flowed and escalated well!

I loved this take on what happened after Hansel and Gretel. This was the fairytale I didn't know I needed, and I loved it.

I loved the different ways that Hansel and Gretel dealt with what happened to them when they were younger, and their feelings about their dad.

The magical aspect was brilliant and seeing the effect that Gretel's baking has on those around her (especially at the wedding) was delightful.

I loved the forest setting, the mystery aspects of the story and Gretel getting to know a stranger.

The romance had me hooked and I couldn't stop reading until I found out how it ended.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I unfortunately didn't really get on with this one. I think my main issue was the writing style, which felt a bit flowery but to the detriment of the plot. There's a lot of meandering, disjointed scenes that don't flow well at all and it really threw me out of the story and atmosphere on multiple occasions.

I also didn't like Greta. She's suppose to be an adult yet still acts like a little girl and dare I say, a rather generic one.

Not a favourite unfortunately but I did enjoy the introduction of Germanic folklore, and the descriptions of the forest were suitably atmospheric.

This didn't quite live up to what I hoped it would be and failed to channel the kind of fairy-tale whimsy with a twist that I was looking for. More than once I found myself thinking that the story wasn't really going anywhere. Overall not bad, but not quite for me and not quite what I wanted.

An interesting read but not really for me.

I usually love a fairytale retelling and was thrilled to hear this was Hansel and Gretal! In the beginning I found it hard to keep up with lots of characters being dropped in with us expected to know who they are already. I liked the magical aspects like the curse for the bear and the book. The romance was ok and the setting was probably my favourite part.

Ok, but not as good as I’d hoped it would be.

Reading this rather than as an audiobook increased my enjoyment of it a lot.
A beautifully and atmospheric read, perfect for this time of year!

This Hänsel und Gretel retelling has a lot of cool and interesting features: fairytale aspects turned upside down, witches, a sentient grimoire, a living forest, an evil queen of sorts, shapeshifters... And everything is told from the POV of grown-up Greta (Gretel) with few flashbacks to her past - and interwoven with the story of girl twins. All in a German setting with German words that are mostly not cringy. :)
I liked the story with a few critique points: at times the plot and mythology seemed to be all over the place, and the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Also some characters seemed to be superfluous to the plot.
I personally would have loved a stronger focus on the grimoire and the arc of Greta coming into her powers.
Nonetheless it was an entertaining story with many good ideas.

4/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @torbooks for the eARC!

Set years after the tale of Hansel and Gretel, this story was very beautifully told.

It has witches, romance, and real life problems told in this fantasy land that kept me intrigued, It made me want more from this world, but I did really enjoy the flaws of these characters and how they were dealt with. The writing was whimsical and magical.

Overall, a fun, fast paced fantasy retelling with dark twists!