"A Forest, Darkly" by A.G. Slatter

This newest book from Angela Slatter features everything one should expect from a Sourdough book. It’s got a strong female lead (in this case Mehrab, a witch living alone in the forest until a young witch fleeing the godhounds is left in her care). A plot driven in large part by her flaws and baggage (she’s been hurt before, in multiple ways, as well as having made her own mistakes and had a long time to dwell on them). Creepy things happening (something stalking her through the forest, children disappearing). Gothic vibes.

What I’m struggling with here, as a reviewer, is a question of comparisons. This is pretty objectively a great book. The characters are compelling, the plot really drew me in, and the vibes are immaculate. If I were reading this book as my first experience of a new author I would be eager to get more.

But Angela Slatter is one of my favorite authors writing today, and so I wasn’t comparing it to the masses. I was comparing it to Angela Slatter, and this is my least favorite Angela Slatter. So it was disappointing to me.

My biggest specific complaint about the book is the godhounds. Without getting into spoilers, it was 100% necessary for them to be in the book, due to the young witch mentioned above. Their actual appearance, though, felt like an afterthought. Like Slatter went “oh right! I need to deal with the godhounds!” and shoved them into, and back out of, the story as quickly as possible.

But I want to emphasize that this is, by any objective measure, an excellent book. Harsh judgements for minor flaws are the price of being one of the best in the game, and I’ve seen plenty of others whose opinions I respect say this was their favorite Sourdough.

(obviously Path of Thorns is the best)

(come @ me)