"All souls get what they deserve in the end . . "

It's not often I read a book that immediately leaps onto my all-time favorites list; a book so perfect that upon finishing, I instantly wanted to flip to the first page, and start the magic all over again. . .

Clare is not alive anymore, though he's not a ghost. Clare is an undead fox who is also an usher of wandering souls: he helps guide dead creatures to their rightful place in the afterlife.

"There are four realms in the Afterlife. While it's not my job to force you into any single one, I can tell you this: Each soul is drawn to the world where they will be most comfortable."

Though he loves his cozy cottagecore home surrounded by his glorious mushroom garden, Clare hates being undead . . . almost as much as he hates badgers. He's managed to adjust to his "unlife" of ushering, and being an authority on all things fungi. He is . . . content.

Until the day that BADGER shows up at his door.

I LOVED this! I laughed, then I bawled like a baby. This is a wonderful book that's a joy to read. Highly recommended for all ages.

Thank you to Little Brown Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman.

First, I want to start by saying my review is much later than expected due to medical issues I've been facing the past few months that have unfortunately taken up a great deal of my time and attention. I really appreciate the publisher's time and patience, and hats off to Aubrey for publishing her second book in May! What an accomplishment!

Due to my medical issues, I was unable to finish this ARC before the book was published, so I will be giving my opinion on the 50% of the novel I was able to read below.

4.5 Stars

Perfect for readers who love:
🦊 Stories about animals
🍁 Autumnal vibes
🏞️ Adventure
❤️ Emotionally insightful stories
❤️‍🩹 Stories about healing and the cycle of grief

WHAT I LOVED:

- Autumnal Vibes: This book has a wonderfully seasonal autumnal feel to it and one that I'm sure many kids will enjoy and find very cozy. I certainly loved cozying up with this book and returning to Clare's world each evening. It felt like home very quickly, which to me is a sign that an author has done their research to build a world people will want to stay in. For kids especially, I could see them very much enjoying this world and finding it interesting to read about.
- Worldbuilding - Speaking of which, what an amazing world! I loved the concept of an animal afterlife, Deadwood Forest, Clare's mushroom garden, and Clare being an usher for wandering souls. The concept of Peace, Pleasure, Progress, and Pain as afterlife locations was incredibly charming and insightful, and I think it would make for an interesting discussion point when reading the book to children.
- The Mice - I loved Little Two and Nine. They just added something special to the story and a bit of comic relief as well.
- Gingersnipes - Clare's discussions with the other main protagonist, a badger named Gingersnipes, were fun to read. I enjoyed watching her character unfold as the story progressed and her strength of character when challenges arose.
- Clare - Clare is such a charming character and I love how he has devoted his afterlife to helping other animals' souls find rest. His story is at times very painful, but I think it will provide comfort to young readers and help them feel less alone. I also appreciated how the author doesn't shy away from discussing painful emotions and trauma in a realistic, palatable way for children to understand. I think for anyone going through loss or change, this would be a comforting read.
- The Narrator - The narration and writing style was on point for this book. Aubrey's narrator comes across as friendly, kind, and relatable. I think kids will like her style of narration and find it easy to read and connect with throughout the story.

WHAT I LIKED:
- Side Characters - There are various interactions with other animal side characters throughout this world, including a sort of psychic/seer animal character that was really interesting. It sort of gives the book a Disney-story, whimsical feel that added charm to the whole reading experience. I liked that we didn't see just one side of the world, but branched out on a larger journey and were able to see other animals in other contexts along the way.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Honestly, I have no dislikes to report for this book. I think it's very charming, palatable, comforting, and cozy. I can see how kids would enjoy it as someone who has worked as a children's reading interventionist and I can already see how interventionists or educators could use this book to spark discussions in classes. The only area I could see parents objecting to is the premise of there being a certain afterlife for animals and perhaps some more religious families may disagree with ideas asserted in this book, but if that is the case, then this book just probably isn't for them and that's okay. I think if you're open to a fun narrative with a lot of self-reflection, emotional learning, and an exploration of some heavier themes (grief, trauma) in a lighter, more palatable narrative, this is a great book for your family and kids. It's very gentle in the way that it treats these themes, while also not shying away from addressing hard experiences, so I think it strikes the perfect balance. As an adult, I highly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to any children in my life.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read! I'm sorry I wasn't able to finish it before it got published, but again, I deeply appreciate the publisher's patience for my review and for extending me an advanced copy to read. This is a beautiful story and one that I can honestly say I wish I had access to as a kid! I hope young readers will enjoy it and I look forward to possibly reading it to my kids one day should I have them. 😊

As much as I loved Hartman's debut novel, The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor, I wanted to love this one. I knew talking animals (and almost no humans) would be a stretch for me, but add in the existential question of "What do we deserve in death?" and I'm not sure I'll be able to convince many of my students to read it. It's one of those that reads more like it was written for adults than for kids. But, if you have readers who love award-winning animal stories like The Eyes and the Impossible or Elf Dog and Owl Head, then they will probably love the wit of this tale. I will still read anything Aubrey Hartman writes --she's that talented.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this touching arc!

5/5 stars

This was such a beautiful story about grief, loss, friendship, and love. A rare gem of a children's novel that doesn't talk down to the reader but talks to them, inviting them in with a cup of tree sap tea and a warm fire to learn about Clare, Gingersnipes, and the Deadwood Forest. This was so beautiful, from the imagery to the narration to the personal growth and realizations made throughout this! A perfect fall read on a cozy crunchy leaf day, just make sure you have some tissues handy 🥺🥺

I loved this book. It's funny, dark and heartwarming. We meet Clare, the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. He is not quite alive, not quite dead. He was hit by a car years earlier, and when given a choice to enter the Afterlife or become an Usher for wandering souls, he chose to help the souls find their rest.

Clare tends to his mushroom garden carefully, and keeps to himself, enjoying the predictability of his days: enjoy tea and his garden, and help a soul find its way to the Afterlife.

This quiet is shattered when a loud badger soul named Gingersnipes arrives one day. He tells her that there are four options for the Afterlife, and she can choose to remain forever in Peace, Pleasure, Progress or Pain. No matter which she tries to enter, she keeps ending up back at Clare's comfortable cottage.

Not understanding what is happening, Clare solicits help first from a Trashrat, then later from Hesterfowl, who tells him that Gingersnipes is the new Usher, and Clare must enter the Afterlife.

Clare is horrified, and resists, lying to Gingersnipes, and doing everything he can to stay in Deadwood Forest and continue helping spirits find their way.

This was an all-round surprising story. From its sometimes grim imagery and subject matter dealing with grief, fear, shame, loneliness, verbal abuse, and cruelty, it also has friendship, kindness, and bravery, and discusses learning to let go, and believing in oneself.

Clare is wonderful, and though he makes some poor decisions initially out of fear, the more time he spends with Gingersnipes the more he sees admirable qualities in a badger who has learned to consider herself useless, and he also learns to see admirable qualities in himself, while learning that he has held on to things that have impeded his progress.

Both these characters are sympathetic, and I came to care greatly for Clare, while immediately loving Gingersnipes.

I also loved the narrator of the story, who comments on the action, and uses kindness and humour to diffuse any nervousness or fear that a reader might experience along the way.

It's a lovely story, and has such a satisfying end.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this ARC in exchange for my review.

This novel gets far more emotional that I was expecting from a small forest mammal tale. It is very well written, and conveys so much emotional intelligence without preaching at readers. Clare is a lonely but still good hearted main character and his story is revealed a little at time, allowing the reader to get attached to him before his sad story comes out. The author was also smart to make the cabin in the forest homey but also very lonely, and to create a few characters who may not have hearts of gold in the end. It made the world feel very real and Clare's choices to have consequences. I may struggle with how to sell this to kids, knowing it may hit some in the heart strings, and miss others, but it's worth having.

You need to read all the way through the end notes. There are twists all the way through the last pages.

My usual rule is: don't read books with talking animals. It usually leads to disappointment. I made an exception for two books: Animal Farm by George Orwell and Alice's Farm by Maryrose Wood. This would be my third exception.

Today's tween/teen fiction and young adult fiction seems to focus primarily on Greek or Roman Mythology. If you like those types of books, this book is also for you. Instead of Charon, we have Clare, an undead fox, who ushers souls into the Afterlife. There are four choices for a lost soul: 1) Peace, 2) Pleasure, 3) Progress, and 4) Pain. Similar to the three realms of Greek Mythology: 1) Elysium (Peace), 2) Tartarus (Pain), and 3) Asphodel (Neutral).

The story focuses on an undead fox named Clare, whose job is to usher souls into the Afterlife. For six years, he has had success and happiness doing his job, until he comes across a dead Badger, named Gingersnipes. Like a normal badger, Gingersnipes badgers Clare for finding the why behind the Afterlife. Together Clare and Gingersnipes encounter trash rats, a fortunetelling pheasant, and other animals. At the end, the hope is that Gingersnipes (or possibly Clare) find peace with their lives.

Very rarely you find a book that draws you in, heart and soul, and it touches you in the deepest way where you can’t help but weep . Clare and Gingersnipes instantly endeared themselves to me. I greatly enjoyed the adventures of the ghostly, clever, curious little badger and her unwilling guide to the afterlife, Clare, an undead cross fox usher who loves his tree sap tea and quiet little cabin with his mushroom garden, but has no real friends until Gingersnipes enters his unlife. Shortly before All Hallows Eve, when a dreadful prophecy his been foretold and Clare intends to hide away from taunting Human children who see him as a monster and the intense connection to the spirit world as he recovers from ushering a rather unpleasant spirit to one of the four realms of the afterlife, Clare finds himself the host of a spirit that is unwilling or unable to leave, a most vexing badgering badger who may spell the end of his up life as he knows it. He must venture beyond the Deadwoods in search of answers, brave the company of hostile animals that see him as a beast and Humans that view him as a monster, and most importantly, his own askew view of himself. In the process he will be confronted by his past, in ways both heartbreaking and haunt,ply hopeful. His morals will be out to the test when his calling comes into question and he will discover where he truly belongs and how a strong heart can turn a monster into a hero. Hints of Redwall, a taste of Scary Tales for Young Foxes, and more than enough mystery to sweep you along like a rivers current. I truly, deeply, almost painfully long for a sequel focusing on Gingersnipes with perhaps a some insights from the other side by our beloved Usher. This a tale of death, grief, and acceptance, but also unlikely friendship, unexpected kindnesses, and bravery to seek answers, even when those answers are hard. It’s told with a eloquent and honest voice, lyrical in prose. You can almost smell the Dewey dark pine trees and see the rainbow of color dappled mushrooms as the adventure unfolds. I simply can’t rave enough about the masterful storytelling and how much I long to go back and read it all over again.

I thought that this book was charming, atmospheric, and incredibly touching. We get to learn so much as we spend time with Clare and Gingersnipes. I have a soft spot in my heart for middle grade books and children's media in general that approach grief and loss with tenderness and warmth, and this book completely hits the spot in that regard. It reminded me of several things from my childhood, and is bound to become a formative book for a child today.

The only thing that held me back was the narration. It was wonderful, witty, and completely fitting by the end. However, it felt more suited for an audio format, or a readalong experience between a parent and child. As a singular person reading it on my phone, I felt a little detached, like I was missing out. I may have to revisit it as an audiobook to see what that experience is like!

In Deadwood Forest, it is always autumn. This feels like a cozy autumn book, with some laughs and Halloween spice. Even though the thematic focus is on death and loss, (and death of animals can sometimes be harder for kids than human death), The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest manages to remain warm and comforting. I will feel comfortable recommending it to library patrons for just that reason because it's always valuable to have a book that looks unflinchingly at death and manages to laugh and find peace.

My first time using NetGalley and I'm so glad I did. This was a surprisingly complex read for a middle book. It was talking animals, but dealing with death, grief, self-understanding, and acceptance. The comparison of Kate DiCamillo and Tim Burton is pretty apt. There is oddity and levity, but it is also heartwarming and insightful. I loved it. Can't wait to see the final images. I'm excited to pitch this one during summer reading promotions.

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest is a fantastic children's fantasy full of themes of friendship, purpose, acceptance, kindness, empathy, and doing the right thing. An undead fox in charge of ushering the souls of passed woodland creatures meets several creatures, friends and foe, and comes across situations both harrowing and humorous. I enjoyed the Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest immensely as an adult and think readers of all ages will love this tale.

I received an ARC from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This was such a cute story of friendship and self-love. Clare, the fox, learns lots of life lessons on his journey with his mortal enemy species, Gingersnipes the badger. They both discover a lot about themselves and how to deal with loss and grief. The book handled all these difficult topics with love, understanding, and care. The unlikely pair goes on quite the adventure and both come out better for it in the end. The writing was fun and descriptive and I had such a good time.

This might end up being my favorite middle grade of the year. The themes of this book were amazing. I loved Clare so much. The atmosphere was wonderful and I felt like I was transported there. I cannot wait to buy a physical book and reread this once my daughter is a bit older.

I cannot fully communicate how much I love this book. It was so clever, tender, funny, and atmospheric.

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest handles shame and grief, but also friendship, forgiveness, love, and acceptance. There were lines that made me laugh and others that made me stop and think (and even tear up a bit).

I adored Clare, the titular undead fox. His passion for his work and his mushroom garden are paired with overwhelming insecurities about his appearance and how he's perceived. This makes him a very sympathetic character, one that young readers will have no trouble relating to. What young person hasn't been horrified at their appearance, and worried everyone doesn't like them? But Clare discovers that self-love is worth pursuing, which is a powerful lesson for young readers. You really just want to give him a hug!

The side characters are full and well-fleshed out. The setting is charming and quirky. At some points, the plot had my heart in my throat! It also had a really unique take on death and the afterlife - a very comforting take. So well-executed and such a satisfying read. I highly recommend it.

I received this book through Netgalley, but I will certainly be purchasing a copy when it releases!

Enjoyment rating: 5 stars
Quality rating: 5 stars

Ohhh this book!

I very rarely cry because of a book. This book not only made me cry, but I read some of the final passages to my husband so he could cry too. This is the kind of book that cements my belief that middle grade is where the best books are being published.

That all said, this isn’t a book for every kid. It’s about death, grief, and loss — but also about friendship, unselfishness, and love. It’s about our deepest fears and the greatest parts of life. That might sound like hyperbole for a book about an undead fox, but I promise it’s not.

The characters are far from perfect, but they’re lifelike and lovable. Every side character and even the narrator have complex, memorable things about them. The characters had more depth than many characters I read from books for older audiences. Clare has a lot of insecurities and worries in a way that makes him so lovable and someone you want to root for, even when those traits are causing problems for him and the characters around him. He has a lot of growth that develops in a natural, gentle way that feels like getting a warm hug after processing your own feelings of inadequacy.
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The writing was also poetic and beautiful. The setting comes to life with vibrant descriptions and creative elements. There is humor and sparkle throughout.

I don’t think I can truly write a review that captures how beautiful and special this book is. Just go read it. It’s magical, and I hope people will be reading this book one hundred years from now.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a pure delight. The writing was fantastic--propulsive, heartfelt, and whimsical (but not in a distracting, cutesy way). I just loved the narration style, the characters, the setting, the world. What a brilliant mind Aubrey Hartman has. The book fit together like a perfect puzzle, every peice lovingly and carefully crafted. This feels like a classic.

Beautiful and heartwarming story. So many lessons within one book but put into a way that’s not preachy. The atmosphere was just perfection and made me feel like I was constantly reading this book in a lovely forest in the fall. Cottagecore vibes to the max. Characters were fleshed out and grew over time. I fell in love with the two main characters and shed a small tear of happiness in the end.

This book is going to win all of the awards. The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest is the kind of book that lingers—in the best, most bittersweet way. It’s eerie yet cozy, melancholic yet full of hope, a perfect blend of Kate DiCamillo’s emotional depth and Tim Burton’s signature whimsy. Clare, the undead fox, is one of the most memorable protagonists I’ve come across in a long time. He’s resigned himself to his afterlife as an Usher of souls—until a stubborn badger named Gingersnipes crashes into his existence and throws everything he knows into question. Their journey through Deadwood Forest is full of atmospheric beauty, quiet humor, and big existential questions wrapped up in a story that feels both timeless and utterly original. I adored every second of it.

This is the most genuine and heartfelt story and I absolutely adore it. Warning: bring tissues. This is a beautiful tale about friendship, compassion, hope, life and death. This is a book that will stay with you long after you set it down. A true treasure.