It’s a short book that combines fantasy with horror, has an Alice in Wonderland vibe with a lot of potential but also a lot of flaws.

There is a forest that is so dark and full of mysteries that no one comes out alive after wandering inside, clearly those mysteries are not the fun kind. There are things living in there, in the Elmever, that have their own rules and can bend reality into tricking you into never leaving the woods again.

The main character is not that well defined. I feel it can be anyone, she doesn’t have an aura around her.

Why is she the one that did what no one else could and got out of the woods bringing someone back?

I expected there to be a twist about her, an ability to see in the future in short bursts, to travel space and time under certain conditions, a sense of premonition when something big is about to happen, to have a 3rd eye that can see when you’re lying, something! She isn’t even good at magic, as she says.

I mean okay, we can sum it up that she was able to do that because it was her child and mother’s love can move mountains. But we already assumed from the start that it was her child she went after the first time in the forest to bring back. At least I did.

But now, going the second time, it’s not the same because she’s being forced to retrieve someone.

Who is the butcher of the forest? It’s her because she killed that guardian? It’s the Elmever lord?

I liked the strict rules about trades and deals that can be made in the Elmever. Even here, the main character fails to follow them properly.

One of the deals that was interesting asked for her saddest/worst memory. Usually, you don’t want someone to steal your dearest memories, but making you relive the worst one can be more painful.