After the Forest by Kell Woods is a love letter to fairytales. A dark and enchanting fantasy that explores the repercussions of a childhood filled with magic and a young women contending with the truth of happily ever after. This is a story that follows what happens after they escape the witch in the gingerbread house and attempt to live normal lives while dealing with the traumatic experience from their childhood.

Greta has a secret that she has been trying to keep about the witch’s grimoire that is hidden away. It whispers in her ear, promising a way to keep her family warm and fed. A recipe inside would prove to make the best gingerbread you’ve ver tasted. Living in a village full of superstition, her mysteriously addictive gingerbread, becomes a source of gossip and suspicion.

Everyone knows what happened to Greta and Hans all those years ago so now everything they do is cast in scorn and clouded with suspicion. These characters are imperfect and flawed but they have intriguing backstories that balance them out. An interesting plot that is imaginative as it is romantic, with a cast of complex personalities and a dash of darkness. This was the perfect recipe for a beautifully written fairytale.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers Australia for an advanced reader copy via NetGalley of After the Forest by Kell Woods.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an early copy in exchange for a honest review. A Hansel and Gretel retelling following Hansel and Gretel as adults after they have escaped the witch. After the Forest really is a fairytale for adults. It beautifully encapsulates the dark tone, atmosphere and writing of many classic fairytales. Gretel is a brilliant protagonist and the magic and sense of impending unrest really drive the story forward.

"How would it feel to never again be at someone else's mercy?" - This is the line that I feel sums up this book.

I honestly struggled a little early on with this book. I loved the premise - what happens after the event we all know, what does it do to people? But there were so many characters and things happening in the beginning. I'm glad I stuck with it though! It is a story about discovering who you are set in a fairy tale world. It is a great read. I look forward to more from this author.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC from NetGalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

If you grew up reading twisted fairytales or retellings, After the Forest by Kell Woods is for you. A reimagining of Hansel and Gretel, we follow the grown up siblings as they try to shake the rumours that surround their dark past.

This book isn’t a genre that I’d typically reach for, but I loved reading it SO much! Woods has artfully crafted a magical world and story that nods to the fairytale we know and love, while building out the adult characters in a unique and spellbinding way. I was captivated by Greta as she navigates balancing her desire to be accepted by her village neighbours while still dabbling in magic she knows will get her ostracised.

After the Forest has a bit of everything: romance, magic, mystery; and manages to combine these elements without being tiresome. The characters and world building were brilliantly done, and I’ll be watching what this author brings out next - Kell Woods is certainly a writer to watch.

5 ⭐️

2.5 stars.

I thought I could quite enjoy this one with it's fairy tale vibes, witchcraft and baking, but it fell a bit flat for me. Some parts I found to be quite entertaining but then there were other parts where the novel felt slightly lifeless. Although, I think if you liked The Bear and the Nightingale you might enjoy this a bit more than I did. I think I have come to the realisation that these kind of narratives aren't for me. One last thing I wanted to comment on was that sometimes the writing felt disjointed, where the scene didn't unfold smoothly in my mind.

Thanks to Harper Collins Australia via Netgalley for this ARC.

I was so excited when I was approved to read an advance copy of After the Forest by Kell Woods. I immediately started reading only to be sadly disappointed. After the Forest is based 20 years after the characters Hans and Greta escape the witch in the gingerbread house. This is a bold and dark retelling of what happened to Hans and Greta as they struggle to get by in a brutal war-torn German countryside village. The black forest surrounding the village is fraught with dark magic, superstition and wolves. As Greta continues to make gingerbread from a mysterious book of recipes, Hans gambles his money away to ease his trauma.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. I found the characters very one dimensional and frankly I wasn’t interested in any of their journeys to self-discovery throughout the book. The plot itself seemed choppy as well as predictable. The saving grace was Woods beautiful descriptive writing that left you entranced at times but was quickly overtaken by its lack of character substance. I really struggled to continue reading this book and often at times thought about not finishing.

Overall I give After the Forest 2/5 stars. The ARC is still in manuscript form so changes may come into effect before release. This book may appeal to those who like dark magic and fairytale retellings which I often enjoy but sadly this book I did not.

This was a wonderful grown-up fairytale and a very strong debut. The character writing was excellent--I especially loved the deep and complex familial and community relationships, and how well developed the side characters were--and the plot a really well-struck balance between the fairytale elements and new ideas. It was especially fun seeing a fairytale retelling exploring what happens *after* the story finishes, and allowed for a lot of rich explorations of trauma, grief and the lingering cost of surviving an 'adventure'. I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding, which again struck a lovely balance between the historical and speculative elements. Overall this was a great read, and I'll be following the author's career with interest!

Many thanks to HarperCollins AU and NetGalley for the eARC.

Fifteen years after Hansel and Gretel escaped the gingerbread house, the siblings are still struggling. With their parents and stepmother all deceased, the siblings are now on their own. Hans has a gambling problem and Greta is baking gingerbread to help keep them afloat and pay off their debts.

Greta has a secret and it’s hidden in her gingerbread. When she escaped from the old witch all those years ago, she took with her the book of spells which has been whispering in her ear all this time.

The town by the forest is suspicious of Greta, her red hair and her history in the forest leading the people to label her a witch.

This book has everything you’d hope in a fairytale written for adults. The writing is beautiful and the description of the forest, plants and animals are magical.

Reading this book, it’s hard to imagine that this is a debut novel. Kell Woods is a wonderful storyteller and this book has a great mix of mystery, magic and love.

I will definitely be looking to get a copy of this book when it’s available and I’ll be looking out for more books by Kell Woods in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers Australia and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

TW: animal fighting, animal abuse, death, violence, gambling

Thank you HarperCollins Publishers Australia and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive this ARC.

After the Forest was a fantastic retelling and story continuation of Hansel and Gretel.

It has a great balance of the original story magic and the new additional magic and romance.

I recommend everyone reads this book to be transported into a new time and place.

We all know and love a fairytale retelling but what about a “what happens next”.
After the forest takes the story of Hansel and Gretel and explores the story beyond the children’s escape. We meet the children two decades after the escape the clutches of the witch in the forest. But this isn’t the happily ever after we all expected. Hans has gambled away the siblings money and Greta is avoided by many villagers for her strange ways “what child kills and old woman!”

Greta finds herself turning to the book she stole from the old woman’s gingerbread house to try and save the family from ruin. But with suspicion already surrounding the siblings, a new stranger in town and people mysteriously being killed. Greta finds herself under more and more scrutiny as she uses more and more magic to try and save those around her.

This was a fantastic reimagining of such a classic tale, I loved how the author wove new magic and characters into the original story, making it her own.

Some parts of the story needed a bit more or seemed like a quick add on such as the Mira/Rob relationship but overall a beautifully well thought out book with mystery, magic and some big surprises that I did not guess at all.

This book is a Hansel and Gretel re-imagining set 15 years after they came across the witch in the forest as kids.

Hans and Gretta are struggling to get by. Hans is gambling and drinking their money away while Greta is working really hard to keep them afloat by baking and selling her special ginger bread cookies.
Her cookies are extra special thanks to the grimoire she stole from the witch. It talks to her and helps her put magic into the cookies. These cookies make the town suspicious of her and she becomes the talk of the town.

I really enjoyed the setting of this story and the magic.

This book has:
-Magic
-Witches and shifters
-Mystery
-a story of love and resilience
-Check CWs as it has some dark themes
Thank you harpervoyager/harpercollins for allowing me to read the arc

THIS WAS A SUPER SATISFYING READ.

This book ticked all my boxes:

- Character development/growth. Look I love fairytale retellings but RARELY have I came across any that's good, and of course I was skeptical. Hansel and Gretel also was never a fairytale I loved because the story didn't make logical sense/have any purpose to me. Greta is giving, but she is not unreasonable. She has her moments but she held on to herself despite what was happening. Hans and Conran are obviously not the best, but that are very much human of society in every way we are, and not just existing so there's a "bad" guy.

- LORE TOLD THROUGH SHOW. Yes it's also a historical fiction so half the lore is somewhat set already but I enjoyed how the magical element of the lore was introduced and expanded through the story. If lore is word vomited at me, I honestly might as well go read a textbook :)

- Writing style is descriptive but not superfluous. It's quite straight to the point really. Scenes show up in my head as I read, what more can I ask for.

- A PROPER PLOT THAT MOVES, with fantasy and romance threaded through the story. NGL I teared up at one point and, boy that does not happen often esp. in romance - half the time I'm just awwww and the other half I cringe at how cliche the romance is.

Look I could go on forever but I'd much rather you enjoy the book lol. Looking forward to reading future publishing by this author!

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley (thank you!), and this is my honest review.

This is a tale of darkness, a fantasy that there is a happily ever after. A new book, debut, by a new author and if she keeps writing like this I will be happy as this is a wonderful story.

Greta and Hans, trying to make ends meet, alone in the woods. But there they make many magical and fantastical friends. This is their story and it is magic in itself. Such a well written tale that takes you into the woods, where you will be able to imagine what it looks like, you will feel the magic and you won't be able to put this book down.

I loved this book and I will read it again as I think it is a book that will excite me and entrance me again and again. This is a 4 1/2 star read from me and I look forward to seeing what this author writes next.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

After the Forest is a fairytale retelling-slash-sequel of Hansel and Gretel, mainly focusing on Greta’s life in a little village, fifteen years after the time of the original tale. She was struggling to make ends meets, the villagers did not like her, and Hans was in debt & did not help one bit.

First of all, the writing is beautiful & I enjoyed reading it very much. The worldbuilding is brilliant & detailed, down to the side characters: Greta’s friends, enemies, neighbors, & other villagers. The book started really strong, and I got to know most of the characters well and deep, I empathize with the majority of them pretty quick. I like the way the story starts with many conflicts, I had a great time figuring out which one would be the main issue. Towards the middle it became a bit tiresome because turns out not all of those conflicts relate to the main story. The third act, which comes with rapidly increasing pace and urgency and a twist, was deeply satisfying for me and wrapped things up neatly. Overall it’s a very great book, especially considering that this was a debut novel. I look forward to the author’s other work in the future.

eARC provided by NetGalley & Harper Voyager AU.

After the Forest was an enjoyable story from start to finish. I liked the premise and the way the fairy tale elements were blended with other fantasy and paranormal tropes. Greta was a compelling heroine I was instantly ready to get behind, and I enjoyed the romance component of her adventures too. The book's prose was easy reading but still created great atmosphere, and the world building was nicely handled throughout. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to fans of fairy tale retellings and generally fantasy reads. I am giving it 4.5 stars.

(My review will go live on my blog and on Goodreads at the links provided below on 26 September 2023, as per your preference. I will then share on social media too.)

After the Forest was such a new take on fairytale retellings. It had romance, mystery, and darkness. Much closer to how fairytales were originally told for adults before they became children's bedtime stories.
The writing in this book was so enthralling that I could picture every scene, which made the story even more gripping. There was always so much happening and bits and pieces of all different fairytales, not just the aftermath of Hansel and Gretal.
I would honestly say that this was a book I could easily recommend. However, the only thing that would make me pause before recommending this book to someone is the intense and very descriptive scene of animal cruelty. It was hard to read as an animal lover, which honestly shows how good the writing was, but it wasn't an easy thing to stomach.
That, however, didn't make me stop reading or even consider it because I needed to see how the story would end.
I will definitely be reading any books Kell Woods releases in the future.

➛ 𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴. 𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.