After the Forest
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Description
escaped the old woman's cottage in the Black Forest, but there was
no living happily ever after for them. The war has taken its toll on
these lands, husbands and sons lost, a country impoverished.
When the local Baron dies, his cruel, young and beautiful wife
raises taxes and a Blood Tithe, ensuring that those who can't pay
off their debts, pay through servitude.
Wolves are gathering around the village and a group of
mercenaries stalk the streets. A black bear has been sighted in the
forest, but an encounter with it leaves Greta puzzled by its gentle
and peaceful demeanour. Then there are the deaths; bodies have
been found in the woods, their blood taken, their hearts removed.
As the villagers become more desperate, whispers of witchcraft
abound. With Hans' gambling debts forcing him to take the Blood
Tithe, only the addictively-delicious gingerbread Greta makes -
created with the help of a book stolen when they escaped their
childhood captor - can offer a way out. But there's a price to pay for
using this blood skill, Tattermagic...and it could cost Greta
everything, unless she can find another way to beat the horrors.
Book Information
Posts
Das Buch hat mich positiv überrascht, es hat mir mehr gefallen als ich gedacht hätte. Es war interessant zu lesen was mit Hänsel und Gretel passiert wenn sie älter werden. Es war immer wieder Spannung dabei auch wenn sich einige Sachen etwas in die Länge gezogen haben. Auf einige Elemente musste ich mich erst einlassen, weil ich sie in diesem Setting nicht erwarten habe und sie anfangs etwas falsch am Platz waren. Das Ende war ziemlich wuselig, aber dennoch gut.
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!
I'm not sure what to write about this book. I had a fine time reading and thought to give it 3 stars, but the more I think about it I only have things I didn't like :/ I didn't like the pacing the of the book (in the beginning it took a lot of time and in the end everything happend to fast and felt to easy). Sometimes the characters actions felt like that was necessary for the story but not what the character would do and the inconsistently mixed in german words irritated me because most were simply unecessary (e.g. using Herr, Frau and Fräulein and german city names helped me get into the setting but writing bürgermeister instead of mayor was not my thing). Therefore I gave it two stars but since I had a fine time and surprisingly liked the setting I might settle for 2,5⭐.
This was a fun and gripping book, weaving together several German Fairytales and creating a lovely story about family, love magic. I loved Greta as a protagonist, she was strong, brave, but not perfect, sometimes insecure or scared, but always trying to do what's right and help those around her. I liked how she interacted with those around her and never lost sight of who she is. Also, I'm very jealous of her abilities, especially the fox-related one 👀 The world is also great and well-researched, I had vivid pictures in my head while reading all the time and really liked the atmosphere of the rural black forest several hundred years ago 😊 the other characters were also interesting, even though I at times felt like some of their stories could have gotten more room because all of them were interesting! All in all a very enjoyable story, a little feminist, very gripping amd honest! Would recommend for readers of historical fantasy! 😊
3,5⭐️-3,75⭐️ / 5 Wie der Name "After the Forest" schon erahnen lässt, geht es um das Leben von Hänsel und Gretel (hier: Greta und Hans), nachdem sie aus dem Wald zurückgekehrt sind. Während der ersten 150Seiten war ich bereit das Buch abzubrechen, habe mich dann aber dagegen entschieden. Es hat mir rundum besser gefallen als erwartet. Das Buch spielt in Deutschland um 1650. Die Namen der Charaktere sind alle deutsch, was aber das eigentlich "merkwürdige" ist, ist die Verwendung einiger deutsche Begriffe, die in einem englischen Text sehr unpassend erscheinen: bürgermeister? Rathaus ? Marktplatz ? Gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber nicht störend für die Story. Das Pacing ist in der ersten Hälfte des Buches langsam (für mich zu langsam), wird aber in der zweiten Hälfte besser. Das Buch ist nicht schwer auf Englisch, aber wer Zweifel hat, sollte lieber auf eine Übersetzung warten. Wer auf Retellings steht, dem könnte das hier gut gefallen.
Description
escaped the old woman's cottage in the Black Forest, but there was
no living happily ever after for them. The war has taken its toll on
these lands, husbands and sons lost, a country impoverished.
When the local Baron dies, his cruel, young and beautiful wife
raises taxes and a Blood Tithe, ensuring that those who can't pay
off their debts, pay through servitude.
Wolves are gathering around the village and a group of
mercenaries stalk the streets. A black bear has been sighted in the
forest, but an encounter with it leaves Greta puzzled by its gentle
and peaceful demeanour. Then there are the deaths; bodies have
been found in the woods, their blood taken, their hearts removed.
As the villagers become more desperate, whispers of witchcraft
abound. With Hans' gambling debts forcing him to take the Blood
Tithe, only the addictively-delicious gingerbread Greta makes -
created with the help of a book stolen when they escaped their
childhood captor - can offer a way out. But there's a price to pay for
using this blood skill, Tattermagic...and it could cost Greta
everything, unless she can find another way to beat the horrors.
Book Information
Posts
Das Buch hat mich positiv überrascht, es hat mir mehr gefallen als ich gedacht hätte. Es war interessant zu lesen was mit Hänsel und Gretel passiert wenn sie älter werden. Es war immer wieder Spannung dabei auch wenn sich einige Sachen etwas in die Länge gezogen haben. Auf einige Elemente musste ich mich erst einlassen, weil ich sie in diesem Setting nicht erwarten habe und sie anfangs etwas falsch am Platz waren. Das Ende war ziemlich wuselig, aber dennoch gut.
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!
I'm not sure what to write about this book. I had a fine time reading and thought to give it 3 stars, but the more I think about it I only have things I didn't like :/ I didn't like the pacing the of the book (in the beginning it took a lot of time and in the end everything happend to fast and felt to easy). Sometimes the characters actions felt like that was necessary for the story but not what the character would do and the inconsistently mixed in german words irritated me because most were simply unecessary (e.g. using Herr, Frau and Fräulein and german city names helped me get into the setting but writing bürgermeister instead of mayor was not my thing). Therefore I gave it two stars but since I had a fine time and surprisingly liked the setting I might settle for 2,5⭐.
This was a fun and gripping book, weaving together several German Fairytales and creating a lovely story about family, love magic. I loved Greta as a protagonist, she was strong, brave, but not perfect, sometimes insecure or scared, but always trying to do what's right and help those around her. I liked how she interacted with those around her and never lost sight of who she is. Also, I'm very jealous of her abilities, especially the fox-related one 👀 The world is also great and well-researched, I had vivid pictures in my head while reading all the time and really liked the atmosphere of the rural black forest several hundred years ago 😊 the other characters were also interesting, even though I at times felt like some of their stories could have gotten more room because all of them were interesting! All in all a very enjoyable story, a little feminist, very gripping amd honest! Would recommend for readers of historical fantasy! 😊
3,5⭐️-3,75⭐️ / 5 Wie der Name "After the Forest" schon erahnen lässt, geht es um das Leben von Hänsel und Gretel (hier: Greta und Hans), nachdem sie aus dem Wald zurückgekehrt sind. Während der ersten 150Seiten war ich bereit das Buch abzubrechen, habe mich dann aber dagegen entschieden. Es hat mir rundum besser gefallen als erwartet. Das Buch spielt in Deutschland um 1650. Die Namen der Charaktere sind alle deutsch, was aber das eigentlich "merkwürdige" ist, ist die Verwendung einiger deutsche Begriffe, die in einem englischen Text sehr unpassend erscheinen: bürgermeister? Rathaus ? Marktplatz ? Gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber nicht störend für die Story. Das Pacing ist in der ersten Hälfte des Buches langsam (für mich zu langsam), wird aber in der zweiten Hälfte besser. Das Buch ist nicht schwer auf Englisch, aber wer Zweifel hat, sollte lieber auf eine Übersetzung warten. Wer auf Retellings steht, dem könnte das hier gut gefallen.