(post may contain affiliate links)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Silver in the Wood is the first fantasy novella with light romance elements in the Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh. Her publishing debut, the ebook version is 112 pages. The second novella in the duology is Drowned Country, which is 176 pages. I listened to the audiobook bundle of both books, which clocks in at a little under six hours and is narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies.
Tobias Finch, a 400+ year old Green Man, is tethered to the forest of Greenhollow where he lives in a cottage with his cat, Pearl, and his dryads. But then a new owner comes to Greenhollow Hall in the form of the handsome and curious Henry Silver. Tobias must deal with troubles in the wood along with dark things stirred up from his past as the “bloody handed Toby” from song.
In the second novella, Henry is now the face of the Wild Man of Greenhollow. His mother, a practical folklorist, needs some help finding a missing girl who may have been taken by a vampire. Henry and Tobias are no longer together romantically, but must work together to help solve the mystery. There are several flashbacks that detail what happened to push them apart.
I quite enjoyed both novellas, and highly recommend them to fans of folklore, especially if you like fairies, dryads, satyrs, and the Green Man. Tesh’s writing is quite lyrical and it was beautiful to listen to. Both of these books contain closed-door romance.
Tropes in this book include: folklore (Green Man), queer love
CW: violence, guns, death
View all my reviews
ruse reviews 