The Butcher of the Forest; by Premee Mohamed (A Review)

When it comes to autumn reads, few books seem to beat a good novella. There’s just something cozy about a nice short read, especially one with a dark, fairytale-esque atmosphere. So, when I found Premee Mohamed’s dark fairytale novella on sale, I thought it looked right up my alley. A dark fairytale with horror elements taking place in a mysterious forest and following a middle-aged woman as the protagonist? Sign me up!

But before I get into my more detailed (but spoiler-free) thoughts on the book, let’s first talk about…

The Premise

From the back of the book:

A world-weary woman races against the clock to rescue the children of a wrathful tyrant from a dangerous, otherworldly forest.

At the northern edge of a land ruled by a monstrous, foreign tyrant lies the wild forest known as the Elmever. The villagers know better than to let their children go near—once someone goes in, they never come back out.

No one knows the strange and terrifying traps of the Elmever better than Veris Thorn, the only person to ever rescue a child from the forest many years ago. When the Tyrant’s two young children go missing, Veris is commanded to enter the forest once more and bring them home safe. If Veris fails, the Tyrant will kill her; if she remains in the forest for longer than a day, she will be trapped forevermore.

So Veris will travel deep into the Elmever to face traps, riddles, and monsters at the behest of another monster. One misstep will cost everything.

The book was published by Tor.com on February 27, 2024, and is 160 pages long in paperback.

The Butcher of the Forest is an adult dark fantasy. In terms of content, there are mentions of sexual abuse, general horror elements (creepy monsters and atmosphere, etc;), general adult themes, and some graphic descriptions of violence. If I were to give it a film-style rating, it would be a 16+.

The only point-of-view character we read from is Veris herself, which leads us to…

Characters and Creatures

The characters in this book were few, but they were very good, each one becoming characterized efficiently and clearly. Some of the characters are only in the book for a couple pages, and yet they all still had their own defined personalities.

The main character, Veris, is very much the best character in the book. I can’t go into much about her without touching on spoilers, but she has a beautiful complexity to her. It’s also really nice just being able to see a middle-aged woman on a mission as a main character. It’s a character type that doesn’t get done much in fantasy, so it’s always refreshing to see.

There also are not only human characters, but also the denizens of the Elmever, which come off as dark fairytale creatures. These creatures are both monstrous and mysterious, with a healthy dose of horror put into their designs and personalities. Between beings that are familiar and entirely alien, there’s a true sense of creativity and creepiness on display. Even familiar creatures were given a fresh coat of paint, Premee Mohamed making them unique and horrific all at once. I always love a twist on classic creatures, and she really pulled that off with her work.

Prose and Atmosphere

It was not yet dawn when they came for her.

Veris stumbled from her bed into an early-morning sea, deep blue light submerging the little house with no hint of sun; she swam, it seemed, to the lamp in the hall, an lit it with a wavery half-smothered match; she swam down the stairs.

One of the big highlights of the book for me was the prose. The writing in this novella was absolutely beautiful, with a strong sense of poetry and atmosphere. Descriptions were layered, images were vivid, and the Elmever felt like a living, terrifying place.

If extremely poetic prose, sometimes bordering on purple prose, is something you struggle with or isn’t to your taste, then you will likely not be a huge fan of the writing in this. As a fan of poetic, artsy prose myself, however, I really enjoyed the writing in this.

Plot

The plot of The Butcher of the Forest is straightforward and simple: it’s a mission to rescue children who are trapped in the Elmever. Not much can be said aside from that, as it’s a story that is more about the characters, creatures, and atmosphere than a story about the plot. Even so, the journey through the forest was interesting and intense, with a great deal of creativity and darkness on display.

Final Thoughts

The Butcher of the Forest is an excellent fall read, with beautiful prose, interesting characters, and a unique take on the creatures that can lurk in a dark forest. The plot is simple, but effective, and the prose creates a great sense of atmosphere.

The only real criticism I can give is that the ending didn’t quite hit the notes I hoped it would. However, the ending by no means ruins the experience. The rest of the novella makes up for it, and a slightly lackluster ending really isn’t that much of an issue.

If you’re looking for a somewhat creepy, autumnal novella that can be read in an evening with great atmosphere and dark fairytale vibes, I definitely recommend giving The Butcher of the Forest a try.