Book one of my Summer Reading List is Sarah Nicole Lemon’s A Dark and Wild Wood, kindly gifted by NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager. A Dark and Wild Wood is due for publication on May 26, 2026.
Bluebeard meets the Brothers Grimm in this dark fantasy. I love the protagonist Salome’s personality: she’s strong-minded, strong-willed, and refuses to be a victim of her circumstances. Her dark secret causes her to live in fear and struggle to hide who she really is—Salome lives in a land that burns witches, and her abilities would send her to the stake.
The character of Lord Death is not as well-written, and the transition from “Death” to his apparently true identity has me a bit confused as there are supernatural elements attached to him. He refers to himself as a magician, so I think readers are supposed to understand that he is a sorcerer that the locals believe is Death?
My favorite elements of this book are the wise woman that Salome apprentices to and the Wood itself. It is dark, sinister, possessing its own magic, and it does not take kindly to fools.
The story moved along quickly and caught me from the beginning. The end, unfortunately, felt scattered and not as cohesive as the rest of the story. It has a satisfying conclusion, it just feels a little slapdash. Still, a great gothic fantasy.
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