A very interesting story of the lives of Hans and Greta, after the traumatic childhood event of being shoved in a cage and almost eaten by an evil crone, their story "After the Forest" by @kellinthewoods
Greta, having stolen the magical spellbook of the old crone, sells her gingerbread to help her and her brother survive, while he blows all their money on gambling and drinking, trying to numb the pain from his childhood.
When mysterious animals start appearing in the woods, people go missing, and Greta stars hallucinating, things go a bit crazy. Will her magic kill her or save her?
This story was MUCH darker than I anticipated. Hans and Greta, as adults, live their lives in the shadow of a war, a cruel tithe and the burning of witches. A mystery man arrives into town and piques Gretas interest a childhood friend retuns from war, both helping her to work through the trauma of her life.
This book is very much Gretas story in self discovery.
I really liked this story, it really didn't feel like a fairytale retelling either, Kell did an excellent job of being inspired by the old fairytale, but giving it its own life.

I fell in love with this cover when I first saw it. It is very vibrant and after reading the book it all makes sense. Each thing is something that is involved with the plot. Even though I ended up not loving the story I can still appreciate it.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Greta. She has a brother named Hans and they are trying to get by as adults after everything that happened to them with the witch in the gingerbread house. This isn’t a story that gets many retellings and because of that I thought it was very unique. The characters are aged up and it shows the aftermath, especially for Hans who really can’t get his life together.

Greta is definitely the stronger one of the two. She tries to pick up the messes that Hans causes while trying to also put out her own fires when it comes to people talking about her doing witchcraft and an unpleasant man trying to have his way with her.

It took me a long while to actually feel something for the book and even when I did it wasn’t a strong one. It was hard to connect with the characters or the plot. I could understand their problems but it was still missing that spark. It also felt like there was a lot going on in the background and the plot became convoluted. The second half of the book was definitely a lot better and had more action than the first part.

Overall, this was just okay. I liked that it was a unique retelling and the audiobook was well done but I didn’t have a connection to the story.

If you ever thought about what happened to Hansel and Gretal after they escaped the witch, this book is for your. It is a wonderful debut novel with wolves, bears, witches, and curses to be broken and scared villagers.

Kell Woods' writing style is engaging, and this book is impossible to put down. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

Wow - this was great. Woods somehow managed to wrap a bunch of folktales and fairytales into one magical retelling without it feeling like it was "too much." Rather, the story was wholly original and inventive with little nods here and there to traditional tales (with the exception being the Hansel and Gretel story, as this is definitely a continuation of sorts of that story). The characters were rich and well developed, and the atmosphere was impeccably written. I felt like I was there. I loved the magic and the writing - which were sometimes one and the same. Wood's writing feels like you are being wrapped in magic. I wasn't able to predict everything, which is always a plus. I really loved it. Reading this was a magical experience.