Customer Reviews

The Woodcutter

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kate Danley's The Woodcutter is a creative and unique take on the world of fairy tales. You will recognize most of the characters in this book but perhaps not quite in the settings or situations you might expect. I found the story to be captivating and the imagery to be quite powerful. An enjoyable read from a new writing talent.

Unpredictable tale with familiar stories and characters. A Dark twist to the original Grimm Fairy Tales. I loved it! My only complaint is there is no sequel or no other books by this author yet! I really enjoyed her writing and felt like a little girl again entering into the fantasy world of my favorite characters.

I really enjoyed this twist on some of the fable characters that we all know, courtesy of the Grimms, which plays out like a noir crime/detective novel. It's not cheeky or campy, like Jasper Fford, but a very well paced whodunnit that just happens to involve characters from the common cannon of folklore.

The pacing was fantastic and it kept me awake late at night wanting to read more and more ("just one more chapter!").

This book broke my heart and put it back together at the same time. I loved it. I was hooked from the first page.

I think the last book I read that affected me this powerfully was the third volume of Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry, which I had been waiting to read for some years after finishing the first two, read in a public library with the tears pouring down my face. I still remember the feeling and it's been at least 20 years now.

I found this to be absolutely wonderful. I grew up reading and loving fairy tales, especially Lang's "color" fairy tale books. The story contains elements that many of us know to be "true"...even if we stopped really believing a long time ago. The effect of cold iron, the power of a name, the magic of 3 days passing, a quest, the power of truth and honesty, and of course, true love.

Somehow Danley manages to weave all this together and make it absorbing, not childish and not a "snip and stitch" patchwork quilt of images from other stories. I'm over 40 and was absolutely enchanted (in the sense of feeling as if I were under a spell)...and at least for the duration of the book, I believed. I believed with all my heart.

The writing is...I can't describe the writing. To me, it's beautiful. It's lyrical and sparse and somehow conveys so much of emotion, seemingly effortlessly. I don't even want to analyze it more closely because I don't want to dissect it. How can I put it...when I read this, the perception of individual words and any thought of an author vanished. I wasn't reading "writing." I was reading the story.

The words twisted around my heart and I was taken deep into the story. When I read "Have you ever heard the sound of a pixie touching the ground?" I didn't *need* a description. I didn't *need* more information. That was all I needed because I *knew*, viscerally, deep inside, that the sound was terrible.

Does the plot hold up to critical analysis? Honestly, I don't know. I didn't completely understand the land's framework - but I didn't care at the time and I don't now. It didn't matter. It's a fairy tale and the suspension of disbelief, with this book, was effortless and complete for me.

Maybe you, too, can believe in the magic again.

I won a signed copy of this book in a silent auction and after reading it I have decided without a doubt it was money well spent. The Woodcutter took me into a wonderful world of fantasy. It's filled with all of the fairy tale characters I grew up reading about but I felt like I was learning about them for the first time. I usually read at night but with this book I had to read it during the day because I was literally getting no sleep. I couldn't put it down! I won my copy so I came on Amazon to see if I could order it for my friends. I can't wait to see what Kate Danley writes next!

The Woodcutter is a unique story blending the world of fairy tales with the world of mortals. The Woodcutter himself is the man who is supposed to oversee everything and keep it all in balance. It is difficult to go into the plot at all without giving stuff away so I will just avoid it altogether. I will say that the world that this fantastic story takes place in borrows from all of the fairy tales that you are probably familiar with and puts them into a whole new light.

The fairy tale retellings in this book are of a darker nature so it is much more appropriate for highschool age and up I would say. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and will keep an eye out for any further offering from this author.

Ok, I am one of those people who never sits down to read a book anymore. Last book I read was the last Harry Potter. But I got this book and read it on the airplane and didn't stop til I finished the book! I have to say I really enjoyed it!!! I would describe it as a dark story with a silver lining. I never gave up hope, and I just loved how this story unfolded. It was really fun and creative how she wove the Grimm tales in. I hope they make a movie outta this!!! Well I dunno, they usually screw up book movies, but you get such vivid picture in your head with all the details. It is a real easy read but I would brush up on some of your tales, just so you really grasp all the amazingness of the details. Like I said, if you are looking for an easy read and has an ending that may make you a little emotional I would say this is the book for you!!!!

I really enjoyed this tale. I was fortunate enough to have just re-educated myself on all the traditional fairy tales (new nieces!), so I was delighted to catch all the references (they are legion) and enjoy the new angles on them. Ms. Danley has a very strong and sure voice, deceptively simple, which lends itself beautifully to this re-invisioning of folklore - from a unique angle. Well done, Ms. Danley. I'm looking forward to the next one!

This book is the perfect blend of light and dark. There is hope amidst darkness and so many familiar stories with an interesting and compelling twist. I could not put it down and this new talent rivals that of Gregory Maguire, Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis.

I could not put this book down. It was so fun and a great mystery. I love that it's great for adults and young adults. It was fun to discover which fairy tale characters would appear next. I even learned of a few new ones!