'Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour. A drop of blood to bind its power.
'1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg. Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war. Greta has a secret, the witch's grimoire, secreted away and whispering in her ear, and the recipe inside that makes the most sinfully delicious - and addictive - gingerbread.
'As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat. But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her intoxicating gingerbread is a source of ever-growing suspicion and vicious gossip. And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta's own powers - magic she is still trying to understand - may be the only thing that can save her ... If it doesn't kill her first.'
We all know the story of Hansel and Gretel, even if we can't remember when we first heard it. The story of a pair of young siblings who find themselves at the mercy of an evil witch who wants to make Gretel a slave whilst fattening Hansel up to eat. It's kind of horrific that such a story is told to children, but you've got to get them into horror young I guess. Kell Woods isn't retelling that story though, instead she's asking a question that rarely gets brought up; what happened after?
After the Forest answers this question, as we follow a now adult Greta as she and her brother, Hans, live their lives in a small town in the Black Forest, staying in a small cottage just outside of the small town of Lindenfeld. Whilst Greta is happy to live away from everyone else, gathering food in the forest, baking her special gingerbread, and keeping a low profile, her brother is not. Hans spends most of his time in the local tavern, drinking and gambling, borrowing and losing money as he does so, all in an attempt to drown out the trauma of what he and his sister went through years before.
When Greta finds out that her brother owes too much money, and that the two of them will be losing their home come the end of the month, she does what she can to earn enough to stay, preparing as much gingerbread from the stolen spell book in her care to sell during the Walpurgis celebrations. However, when a mysterious man arrives in the woods and snags her attention, along with a childhood friend returning home from war, and a mysterious band of mercenaries all coming to town at the same time, things begin to spin out of control and Greta will have to face some of the magic and darkness.
One of the most impressive things about After the Forest is that this is a debut novel. The way that Kell Woods writes her prose is nothing short of extraordinary. It has a lyrical, almost magical flow to it that slowly draws you into this world that feels like the work of someone who has honed their craft over many years, with many other titles under their belt. But now, this is a first book; and what a book to begin a career with.
After the Forest doesn't just feel like a simple narrative, as Woods fills this world with multiple characters that all have unique flavours to them, and a setting that draws upon some historical inspiration and her own creations to make a very realised and lived in setting. It takes a decent while into the book for things to really start happening, and the first several chapters are spent getting to know the characters and their lives; but it's done so in a way that feels very natural, and you almost forget that you're here for the story of Hansel and Gretel, and instead just slip into the day to day of these peoples lives.
That being said, this is a big book, at almost five hundred pages, and that might prove to be something of a test for some readers. There were times where I felt more engrossed in the book than others, times where I didn't want to put it down, and a few where I had to push myself to keep going. It has ups and downs, and that is perhaps the downside of creating such and in-depth world, that not everything is always to going to appeal to every reader. If you like long, winding narratives that don't rush towards the end then this is a book that will absolutely appeal to you, and you can really get lost within its pages; but on the flip side, if you like a faster flowing narrative you may struggle to get to the point where the main crux of the story really reveals itself.
Another slight criticism of the book that I have is that it contains a scene of explicit animal cruelty towards the end (Chapter 25: Baiting), in which the graphic depiction of bear hunting and violence towards animals is included. The book contained no trigger warning for this, and it's a shame as it's something that did upset the flow for me somewhat, as I am not a fan of animal cruelty at all. It took me out of the book, and I ended up having to skip ahead of some parts as I was unable to read them. A note at the start of the book about this could have helped to avoid this moment. This is also something I've seen brought up in other reviews, and so I hope that future publications will try to address this.
The hardcover version of the book is also very lovely to look at. I know you're not supposed to judge a book on appearance, but I couldn't help but do that with After the Forest. The cover art is gorgeous, and the bright, shining bronze stands out beautifully on the dark, deep greens chosen for the cover. The book looks like it belongs in the autumnal season, and the remote woodland setting really helped with this too. It's the perfect kind of book to sit in front of a fire reading, and it feels great in your hands. If you are going to pick up a copy and were holding out for a paperback release, do yourself a favour and at least check out the hardcover, as I think it's likely the best version of the book you could get.
Overall, I had a great experience reading After the Forest. It's a fantastic debut novel, one that shows off the skills of a new but very talented author, one who is likely going to go on to craft some truly memorable stories.
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