2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed.

Pages: 160 pages

Length: 1 month (August)

Participants: M, SarahKat

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I plan on cracking into this one come the weekend :)
Thank you for joining me!

I will try to start then too! I might be slow as I have a billion books planned this month and I'm traveling next week

I laugh at my past self for thinking I had planned out my reads this months so effortlessly. Pfft :)
I totally got wrapped up in another read and didn't even turn the first page on this one hehe.
buuutt I gotta return it in 6 days now so jumping in now.
Hope your travels/vacation has been awesome!

Yeah I feel like I was way over-zealous about how much I'll actually read this month considering I'm traveling and I never read as much as I think I will on vacation.

I have started this! Only 20 pages in. Hoping to get more read tonight and I'll update.

I finished in the car last night! I usually get really nauseous when I read in the car but I bought some of those motion-sickness glasses and they actually worked!

Anyway, it took a little while for me to get into the story probably because of all the vacation distractions but once I actually got into the flow I really enjoyed it.

(view spoiler)[It reminded me a lot of Uprooted, which was better but also longer so there's a lot more to it. Mostly I just thought the woods were interesting. All the creatures populating it and trying to trick or delay them getting out of the woods.
The ending was sad. The boy had to stay in the woods and the little girl came back and wanted to go in for him. It ends on sort of a cliffhanger. I wonder if she'll get him back. It sounded like that's impossible after 48 hours... (hide spoiler)]

Oh I didn't know they made glasses like that! Very cool :)

I just finished this myself but was overall disappointed (my own high expectations ruined it, haha).
This reminded me of T.Kingfisher (whom I love) and now that you mention it, Uprooted too (also agree was better).

(view spoiler)[I wanted more of the creepy woods and the creatures within it! I love a dark fairy tale and I think this had a lot of potential with it's creatures,
I wanted more from Veris though. At times I forgot she was a grown woman of 40 because her decision making felt naïve to me. The "twist" of her childhood trauma and the death of her child just didn't hit me the way I think the author wanted it too.
Was it the woods that killed her child 2 years later? Had she left her in the woods would she have lived? I don't understand, haha. (hide spoiler)]

I made just one highlight:
"the creatures here loved only the stars; they did not trust the moon, which was too bright for them, and for the same reason they had even less regard for the sun. So the light here was thin and uncertain, and as she walked she cast no shadow."


Overall I'm glad I took the time to read it even if it wasn't the grand 5 star read I'm always hoping for. I'd still probably pick up the second installment if it's in novella form.

Thank you for reading this with me! :)

M wrote: "Oh I didn't know they made glasses like that! Very cool :)

I just finished this myself but was overall disappointed (my own high expectations ruined it, haha).
This reminded me of T.Kingfisher (wh..."

I think I highlighted that same quote!
The writing was good and I'd give this author a try again. But I agree there was more page-time given to stuff we weren't really reading the story for. Which might have been fine if it was longer and we got more creepy-wood on top of it.

(view spoiler)[I don't know either. She made it sound like even if you get out of the wood you aren't "safe" but was that just a comment on no one is safe anywhere? Or what? (hide spoiler)]