The Knight and the Butcherbird is Alix Harrow's take on a post-apocalyptic fairytale. While it's a quick short read, it stays with you. I like Harrow's approach to fairytales and how they fit so many themes ( love, grief, illness) into a novella. The characters and the story were top-tier, invoked emotions and I remained engaged the entire time.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Harrow knows how to write short fiction! The Knight and The Butcherbird is beautifully written and packs a huge punch for less than 40 pages. The characters and the world immerse you immediately into a story that asks how far would you go for someone you love? All I can say is that I can’t wait for Harrow’s next short story!

While fantasy is not usually my jam, I have enjoyed works by this author before and The Knight and the Butcherbird held true to what I like about Alix's works: a unique twist, a story that at its heart is about love, and incredible world building that sucks you right in. This short story captured my interest from the very beginning and I loved the flawed characters we met. I really enjoyed the cautionary tale, that while presented as fantasy has a very real-world moral of the story. I would absolutely read a longer length version of this story to delve more into the characters and the scenarios introduced in this story!

This novella hooked me immediately, no hesitation.
I've been wanting to read Alix E. Harrow for so long and I'm so glad I read this one.
Cannot wait to continue their backlog

Every time I tried to guess whats going on I was happily mistaken
I immediately gravitated to the knight and I needed to know everything about him and his story
For a novella it really pulled at my heart strings and I wish I could go back to the world

Very much recommend

Alix E. Harrow’s ability to package deep meaningful themes into mere 36 pages is mind-blowing. The Knight and the Butcherbird does not follow a typical narrative and isn’t particularly clear it it’s message which makes it perfect. Your interpretation of this story is entirely up to your experience with change, grief and chronic illnesses. It’s the kind of book where you can read multiple times and still learn something new. The world is a blend of medieval and dystopian which is truly unique, reflecting the universal unchanging nature of grief and terminal illnesses. No matter how advanced, how wealthy one gets a health problem is a problem no one can escape. It’s a reminder that the cost of love is always grief, which is kinda bleak but honest nonetheless.

This story was brief but never lacking poignance. I went in not knowing even a smidge of the synopsis and I was captivated immediately. This was the perfecting pacing for a short story, plopping readers into the middle of a rich, apocalyptic world. Exploring heavy themes of grief, this story was tragic and romantic and explored heartache in a way I haven’t seen before. Mourning is a long, slow, confusing, and ever changing process and the way this story presented such was unique and quite moving.

As with any good short story, it could have gone on and on. A beautifully strange and gut wrenching read.

Alix E. Harrow just released a new short story this week: The Knight and the Butcherbird. Set in a post-apocalyptic Appalachian community hundreds of years in the future, it reads like a fairy tale with demons and knights.

Why I Chose This Book:
Though I’ve only read two of her books so far, I’m always excited for more from Alix E. Harrow. The description for this short story sounded intriguing, despite its futuristic, dystopian setting.

What I Liked:
- The writing! Alix E. Harrow consistently has such beautiful and impactful writing. As always, that is on display here.
- Great world-building despite the short format. The author packs a lot into this story, and it feels full enough that it could easily be expanded into a full novel.

What Didn’t Work For Me:
- Futuristic, dystopian setting. This is not a slight towards the author in any way; I just rarely enjoy these kinds of settings. Real life is already stressful enough haha. I like the author’s other works (set in the present or past) and was willing to give this a try, but it’s just not my thing.

Final Thoughts
The Knight and the Butcherbird is a well-crafted short story, and although it’s not my preferred genre, I think it will find the right readers to fully enjoy it. Its stunning prose and thoughtful characterization is enough to make new fans of Alix E. Harrow’s work. While this wasn’t my personal favorite from her, I will still be reading her other novels and short stories.

Wow, this novella blew me away. I've had mixed results with Harrow in the past and the first few pages were sort of hard to get into (after finishing, I went back to the beginning and appreciated it a lot more the second time), but I kept reading, and then I was hooked. I highlighted so many lines throughout the story; the prose was sharp and beautiful, and the themes were timely. And the overall thought I had of this story was how deeply romantic it was, but it was romance told in a complex, haunting way. I really applaud Harrow for this work and am grateful I had the chance to read it.

I am not at all surprised that I ended up loving The Knight and the Butcherbird. Being more familiar with Harrow’s work by now, I knew that she would throw in some twisty elements that, when they click, they click hard and she managed to do it again with this short story. This is an unconventional love story set in a dystopian future where the results of climate change, environmental degradation, illness, corruption, and war have warped the world as we know it and turned it into a bleak and disease-ridden reality. Even in this future, the ugly side of human nature continues to prevail against the weak majority. It was almost terrifying how easy it was to picture this future because of the state of our world and I think that made this an even more impactful read for me.

I don’t want to say anything that will give this story away because it’s obviously *very short* (too short imho but I will probably always say that about Harrow’s stories) but it’s also a story that I think readers should dive into knowing as little as possible. That said, I loved how Harrow took something that the world sees as horrifying and demonic and somehow turned it into this painful yet beautiful moment of transformation. She does a brilliant job of taking the natural process of change and the resilience of humans over time and creates something so poignant that can be interpreted in various ways—which I think also lends even more power to the message of this story. It’s bleak but hopeful and it’s of loss but also of new beginnings. It doesn’t necessarily have to read that way though and it can just as easily be seen as a simple and engaging short story about love and survival set in a dystopian world.

Either way, I think readers who enjoy short stories, dystopian settings, weird love, and portrayals of grief and human nature, will probably find something to enjoy in this story!

Special thanks to the publisher for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars!

A haunting dystopian fairytale. What it means to love til death do us part. What it means to become a demon.

“Why do people change, Sir John? Because they are cursed, pursued, poisoned, trapped, under siege. Because they have to.”

A modern folktale set in a dystopian future where outlanders live hard short lives and those in enclaves live long lives resisting change. This story is about change, love, storytelling, and making a difference in your own small way.

With The Knight and the Butcherbird, Alix E Harrow has created an intense post-apocalyptic fantasy world with well developed characters on less than 40 pages. The short story is well rounded and thought provoking. The main message is that change is inevitable or, as they say ‘the wheel is turning’. Multiple references to real, recent events make it relevant to all of us. This is a fascinating story about love, loss, illness and survival.
I really enjoyed the combination of dystopian, fantasy, horror and historical elements with a touch of romance. The writing is perfect and leaves you wanting more. The characters are interesting and authentic.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Amazon Original Stories and the author for the opportunity to read a free advance copy. The above is my own opinion and honest review.

This captivating story unfolds in a post-apocalyptic world haunted by both demons and the past. Harrow masterfully blends sci-fi, dystopian, and fairy tale elements, crafting an immersive world with striking immediacy. Through the storyteller’s desperate struggle to save the one she loves, you can feel the raw emotion and urgency driving the narrative.

The lesson here is I really need to read more novellas/short stories. This was so beautifully written and really felt like a complete story which is sometimes my problem with short stories. I know Harrow is known for her short stories and after reading The Knight and the Butcherbird I can see why. I've never read a dystopian story quite like this but I love the idea of reverting back to the language of knights to describe the task force dedicated to essentially fighting zombies. But what happens when one of the zombies (for lack of a better term) is someone you love? The emphasis here on storytelling and what stories are told was so well done and haunting and I know this story is going to sit with me far longer than the time I took to read it.

I highly recommend this beautiful and haunting short story. I am excited to read other Harrow short stories now!

Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I will always read something by Alix E. Harrow, and her ability to write well-crafted worlds and evoke feeling in short stories is astounding. The Six Deaths of the Saint is one of my favorite short stories.

The Knight and the Butcherbird didn’t disappoint, highlighting several themes appropriate for our current times: impact of climate, crafting narratives as propaganda, wealth disparity and its effects on communities, and the importance of storytelling to keep history. But it also made one think of the lengths we would go to protect our loved ones and get answers.

I enjoyed the dystopian setting, the prose, the emotion, and the characters. Harrow packs a punch in few pages. I definitely recommend picking this up, and I wish that I could purchase her short stories.

Much thanks for Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

obsessed with the story, obsessed with the writing style, obsessed with the atmospheric setting, excellent! give me 14 of 'em!!!!

This is a wonderful short story. The dystopian setting, with a sort of medieval twist was very interesting, and I was immediately hooked.
The author does a wonderful job depicting the lengths someone will go through to protect the people they love, and how love and grief can change someone.

This story is dark, yet hopeful. I was hooked from the very beginning. My only issue is that it was over before it really began.

"May's transformation struck me suddenly as the lesser one. Would she still know me?"

Alix E. Harrow is a master at short fiction that will hit you like a punch to the gut. This story, which blends a distant—yet entirely plausible—future with themes of the far off past, was filled to the brim with feeling. In a little under 50 pages, Harrow crafted not one but two compelling love stories and brought their arcs to a satisfying—if not bittersweet—conclusion.

Honestly, if I can even become half the writer that Harrow is, I’d consider myself immensely accomplished. I can’t want to get my hands on her next full-length work.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Alix E. Harrow is one of my favorite authors. Her novels are great but she does something truly special with her short stories. She packs so much in these stories. This is an absolutely heartbreaking tale of love, grief and even hope. It is truly fascinating how much emotions she fit in under 40 pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story was a little bit more on the bizarre horror sode of my tastes, but seeing as it’s Alix E. Harrow, still ultimately a hit!

This is a post-apocalyptic story unlike any particular dystopian take I’ve read before: cancer has morphed over time to cause people to shift into what the world has labeled as “demons,” or really, just something that isn’t yet understood. We have a “knight,” who in this time period is more of an assassin demon hunter. He quickly finds himself at odds with our MC, but it turns out they both have something major to hide.

This begs a lot of questions for the reader, and really packs a punch in so few pages. It’s lyrical, evocative, lush in its writing style, and entirely unique. If you can get down with something a little horror and strange in your fantasy, I think you’ll enjoy this!