Silver in the Wood (The Greenhollow Duology, #1)

There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.

When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.

I honestly had absolutely no idea what to expect from this going in, because no one could really tell me except that I had to read it. I’m here to tell you all today … read it. It’s fabulous, even though I sometimes struggle to say exactly why. It’s just … everything.

Silver in the Wood is a light, atmospheric, slow burn romance between a cursed man and the younger man who teaches him that life can be more.

It’s actually really hard to distill this novella down to just one sentence, because even though it’s short, it does a lot, and it’s not really about one thing. It feels very much like a character study of Silver and Tobias, but in this gorgeously described world that feels almost like a Grimm’s fairy tale.

Silver in the Wood is written with an atmospheric, almost old fairy tale feel, where the forest practically comes to life right off the page.

Tesh has such a beautiful way of writing that really invoked a feeling of a Grimm fairy tale to me—beautiful, almost ethereal, but with a dark underbelly. It immediately dragged me in and had me wanting to know more about the world and the wood.

Make no mistake, though, there’s dark forces afoot. The forest is such a serene, idyllic setting that it makes for the perfect juxtaposition midway through the book when it unravels little by little and the reader gets to see the true nature of the forest and, particularly, Tobias’s relationship with it.

The romance in this is slow burn and so sweet and unexpected, but between two men that I just can’t help but love, which made it all the better.

I felt Tobias in my soul: the old caretaker of the wood (though, it’s more than that, really) who’s a bit too jaded, a bit too cynical. Pair that with the young, effortlessly charming Silver, who so easily wormed his way into mine (and Tobias’s) heart. There was really so much to love about this.

I particularly enjoyed the almost naive, shy, childlike way Tobias approaches the relationship, especially paired with the earnest, confident advances Silver makes, which flips the dynamic in an interesting way. But also, these men are just so freaking cute, in entirely different ways, and I just love how they worm themselves into each other’s hearts almost by accident. Also, the banter is adorable, especially from Tobias’s slightly jaded world view.

The bond Tobias has with his wood is both beautiful and tragic in the way it’s described.

This forest feels real, like it could be set anywhere really, seamlessly blending the real with the fantastical. It’s basically a character unto itself in the way responds to Tobias and interacts with him, and he feels a part of it. I love the way that, at first, this feels sweet, like a woodsman who loves his home, but morphs into something darker and less benign.

There are so many things to love about the forest, though. Bramble, for one, who is a bit of a unique dryad with a very distinct personality of her own. She’s really one of the only … beings? … that Tobias interacts with regularly, and she’s absolutely delightful and adds so much to the story.

This is such a short read, which can be both a positive and a negative, because while it’s packed full of all kinds of goodness, I felt the plot suffered a little due to the length.

The story felt a little disjointed to me, like little personal vignettes of their time together that didn’t quite connect into a full, comprehensive story. It felt like the timeline was a little jumpy and brief, rather than one full, solid thing. Granted, I have this complaint a lot with novellas, so it may just be me, but I wish the plot had been explored a little further. As much as I loved the characters and spending time getting to know them, I wanted something more from the plot.

Drowned Country (The Greenhollow Duology, #2)

Drowned Country is the the stunning sequel to Silver in the Wood, Emily Tesh's lush, folkloric debut. This second volume of the Greenhollow duology once again invites readers to lose themselves in the story of Henry and Tobias, and the magic of a myth they’ve always known.

Even the Wild Man of Greenhollow can’t ignore a summons from his mother, when that mother is the indomitable Adela Silver, practical folklorist. Henry Silver does not relish what he’ll find in the grimy seaside town of Rothport, where once the ancient wood extended before it was drowned beneath the sea―a missing girl, a monster on the loose, or, worst of all, Tobias Finch, who loves him.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor.com for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

I actually read this right after I finished Silver in the Wood, and they’re both short enough that I highly recommend it, because going from one to the next is just *chef’s kiss*.

Drowned Country focuses on the delightfully dramatic Silver as he grows into himself, while still expanding this dark and fabulous world that immediately sucked me in.

I had a few complaints about the first book that I didn’t feel in this one. It was a roller coaster ride from beginning to end that had me falling even more in love with old characters (a feat I wasn’t aware was possible, but there you have it) and had me eager to see more of this dark yet beautiful world that Tesh has crafted.

This review will contain spoilers for Silver in the Wood.

Where Silver in the Wood focuses on Tobias, Drowned Country is a book about Silver, who is so dreadfully dramatic that just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love him more, I did. Every time.

It’s clear, from the very first page, that this is Silver’s novella, and that he is a wholly different character from Tobias, who had so much chill it’s a wonder the forest could even grow in the first place. Silver has absolutely no chill. He’s the exact opposite. He’s all drama and sarcasm and fits of passion and restless monologuing, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

Where, in the first novella, Tobias seemed self-assured and comfortable with who he was, Silver is none of that. He’s reeling from the fallout of the first novella and coming to grips with his new identity while still not quite sure what that means for him. Having this novella from his point of view was a fantastic choice, in my opinion, because his character had so much growing to do and I enjoyed taking the journey with him.

Mrs Silver plays a much bigger role in this novella, and she’s such a welcome addition to the cast.

She’s a grounding force for her son, as only a mother can be, even if it’s an unwelcome one, seeing as how Silver would much rather wallow than do anything productive. She ends up being, time and time again, exactly what he needs, though, as she knows her son well enough to provide just the right nudges and motivations. I loved her sly, subtle manipulation in motivating Silver to do something more than just lay around and rot.

There were absolutely times when I had to stop and be like, daaaang, lady, how are you gonna say that to your son?! But then I’d remember Silver’s penchant for melancholy and drama and see how he responds to all the comments, and I’d realize, dang, that’s exactly what he needed. You go, Mrs Silver.

Silver’s character arc in this is absolutely extraordinary, and probably one of my favorites of all time, because this is really a coming of age story for him. Who says you’re too old to discover who you are?

Silver is all of, what, 25 during this book. Technically an adult, but not quite grown into himself. That’s more than clear over the course of this novella, as he sulks and pouts and has fits and focuses on himself, refusing to see anyone else’s perspective. It’s something he has to work on through the novella, and something he eventually learns, but the journey there is glorious. Because 25 isn’t that old, and finding yourself is freaking hard. Sometimes it requires losing yourself first.

This plot felt much more fleshed out than the first novella to me, and I enjoyed how much more it opened the fantastical parts of the world and gave us a peek behind the curtain.

Much like the first novella, the world is as grim as it is beautiful. There are stunning descriptions that take my breath away every bit as often as there are dark, harrowing passages that remind the reader that magic is neither sunshine nor roses. The woods comes to life a little more as this dark, primal force, along with the realization that there are other dark, primal forces at work in the world that we may not even realize.

There are vampires and fairies. Yeah, I said it. There’s a (albeit brief) hunt for a missing person and so much ramping up of the paranormal and fantastical aspects of this series. Some of the plot conflicts were solved a little easily, but where I felt the novella truly shined was with the personal conflicts, which are much harder (and sometimes uglier) to solve.