Veris is wearing her pyjamas when she’s given a quest by the conqueror of her land. She needs to find his children. Or else.
“If you do not recover my children your village will be razed to the ground and burnt, and we will roast your people alive upon it and eat them.”
So, no pressure. I suppose they don’t call him the Tyrant for nothing.
It’s not like the north woods are dangerous or anything…
“They told us no one ever gets out.”
I appreciated that Veris isn’t a spring chicken when we meet her, not that pushing 40 is old by any stretch of the imagination. She’s already done the impossible so she’s bringing knowledge hard won by experience. She’s also bringing traumatic memories she didn’t have the last time she stepped into the woods.
I’m a huge fan of body horror so that sat well with me. I encountered a number of oddities in the north woods, my favourite of which were the guardians.
I enjoyed this read but I’m left wanting more. Details about Elmever: its history, its inhabitants, why it is the way it is. The full story of Veris’ first time there. The backstory of the Tyrant, because you know he has to have a backstory to become … that. I also wanted to get to know Eleonor and Aram better.
I’m sure I’ll get some of this in the sequel. There’s absolutely going to be a sequel. It’s been set up so there’s really no other option.
I’m keen to read it but part of me is frustrated too. I wish this had been a novel instead, one that fleshed this story out some more and provided a conclusion. My need to know is trumping my frustration, though, so I’ll definitely be there for the sequel.
“I’m ready to go back to … to the woods.”
Content warnings include mention of sexual assault.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this novella.
Once Upon a Blurb
At the northern edge of a valley ruled by a ruthless foreign tyrant lies a wild forest, home to otherworldly creatures and dangerous magic. The local people know never to enter — for no one who strays into the north woods is ever seen again. No one, that is, except Veris Thorn.
When the children of the Tyrant vanish into the wood, Veris is summoned to rescue them. She has only one day before the creatures of the forest claim the children for their own. If she fails, her punishment will be swift and merciless.
To stand a chance of surviving the wood, Veris must evade traps and trickery, ancient monsters and false friends, and the haunting memory of her last journey into the forest.
Time is running short. One misstep will cost everything.
Schizanthus Nerd 