Welcome to Litsy!

Awful as it is to say this “grew” on me, it‘s the truth. Forgive me! 🙈

Green Man novella with a woodland cottage, gentle queer romance, fickle cat, and a peculiarly loyal dryad named Bramble. The turning point for me was the introduction of Mrs. Silver. She is Buffy (plus Giles), closer to the Old Slayers Home than to adolescence, and I am *here* for an aging, no nonsense folklorist + monster-hunter.👇🏻

Random book from our personal library.

I'm not sure how to feel about this installment. Tobias feels like a shell of himself in this one. The romance feels forced, there is simultaneously too much going on, and also too little. Silver's mother is at least very interesting.

There is a lot here that could be improved. I think if this was longer and had more time to develop it would work better. Otherwise it feels like an overflowing pot.

I really love folklore and am not super familiar with the Green Man mythology so I was very curious about this book.

I was a bit let down. The writing and atmosphere were beautiful and MC was very fascinating, but the story itself felt very surface level. I didn't care much for the romance, it did nothing for me, even if it served for a motivator, so it did have a purpose.

All things considering, it *was* a novella.

Green - Nature 💚 #PrideRec2025 @PuddleJumper
Whether it's lush descriptions of forests or travels off the beaten path, finding meaning through observing or struggling against the dangers within 🌳

While I was initially horrified to learn that Henry & Tobias had parted ways - they did need the time apart. I didn‘t have to wait too long until Henry‘s mum manages to reunite the band - and these two idiots slowly work their way back to each other (adding a new folklorist to the found family along the way! I could read stories of their future exploits forever. Poor Tobias is locked into being the [ignored] voice of reason forever).

Imagine if you will, a book that gently fills your heart with cozy fantasy and whimsy with just a dash of monstrous things in the wood and that‘s pretty much what this book delivers in perhaps too few pages…

It‘s been almost a week since I read this and I still don‘t really know what I want to say about it, one could just keyboard smash about it, but I really love what Emily Tesh did with this novella, which I listened to on a whim. I loved it.

The Wild Man of Greenhollow lives a quiet life in the woods until a researcher enters his domain and upends his life of quiet seclusion. A slow reveal of an interesting history, soft romantic tension, and a wild second act make for an excellent novella with plenty of green magic.

Atmospheric, mysterious, and full of longing - for connection, for knowledge, for preserving innocence. This short novella drops you into a slightly fantastic forest where nature grows from the pages.

Finished October 2024

Lovely atmospheric and gently creepy story with a faint, tender brush of romance.