A Forest, Darkly

Description

There is so much to love about A Forest, Darkly. The protagonist is gold. Mehrab the witch lives deep in the forest. As a young woman arrives at her door, dark powers rise in the woods, and children from the village begin to disappear. Set in the Sourdough universe, S.A. Slatter weaves a rich, atmospheric world, thick with folklore and thoroughly immersive.
<brYet this story also falls short on plot and genre. Is it a fairytale? A mystery? A fantasy? What does the protagonist want? To be left alone? To have company? To survive the hot flashes? Yes. Too many of the protagonist’s pivotal choices are rooted in a backstory that remains too far off-page to provide necessary emotional weight or clarity.
While her immediate concerns (like surviving menopause and avoiding old gods) make for tactile scenes, they often feel disconnected from the larger mythological stakes, leaving the reader with a protagonist who is more a passenger of the plot than its driver.

Ultimately, while Slatter writes with immense confidence and gorgeous prose, the book’s internal logic feels misaligned—like a masterfully tailored garment worn inside out, where visible plot seams hide the heart of the story.