The Woodcutter is a fairytale focusing on, you guessed it, the woodcutter of a magical forest that links 12 kingdoms together. The Woodcutter is a part of the forest itself but when he discovers a young girl with glass slippers dead, he knows all is not right in his world. As he goes to investigate, he ends up having to use his particular brand of magic to save himself, and others, on countless occasions.

This was a surprising but enjoyable read, and I was able to fly through it in one sitting.At first, the style of writing was a bit odd - it’s slightly whimsical and fairytale-like as can be expected, and I didn’t always know exactly what was going on but I really enjoyed how all the fairytales we know were brought into this story in such a unique way. I loved that the forest itself was more or less a creature on its own, and had its own special magic that also flowed through the Woodcutter. It reminded me a little bit of the forest in Uprooted by Naomi Novik, combined with the fairytale characters from Once Upon A Time.

I really enjoyed seeing how Snow White, Rapunzel and Jack were all brought into the story but we also had mentions of high fae like Oberon and Titania, as well as some Norse gods. I really loved the rules around the pixies and how they couldn’t touch the ground.

I really enjoyed this, though it wasn’t my favourite fairytale book ever. I would recommend it for people looking for something whimsical to read with fairytale connections.