‘Something happened to Hans and me when we were children.’

Indeed. When they were children, Greta and Hans were led into the forest and abandoned by their father. There they encountered gingerbread, an oven and a cage. You might think you know their story but you don’t know what happened next.

Fast forward fifteen years, Greta Rosenthal is a 22 year old with no dowry, so obviously no man will ever want her. It’s not exactly helping her cause that people think she’s a witch.

It’s a good thing that Greta knows how to bake because Hans is doing his best to gamble away any money her gingerbread sales generate.

“Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon.
Flour.
It was clear what must be done. What Greta had always done to solve a problem.
Bake.”

We catch up with the siblings in 1650, a time of superstition and suspicion. The people of the Black Forest have been impacted greatly by the war. They’re not averse to accusing their neighbours of witchcraft.

This could be a problem for Greta because remember the gingerbread everyone loves so much? Her recipe may sorta kinda involve a dash or two of witchiness.

I really felt for Greta. Here she was doing her best to survive the trauma of abandonment and captivity with a brother who’s not helping her cause at all and a town full of people just itching for another witch trial.

“Alone in the forest there is real fear. Once felt, it is never forgotten.”

My favourite character was the book, because of course it was. But when you meet them you’ll understand why.

“I shall take care of you and you shall take care of me.”

I really enjoyed learning how magic works in Greta’s world and seeing how the different types were used throughout the book.

I used to actively avoid retellings. I wrongly assumed that I knew the stories well enough already and that nothing could (or maybe even should) be added to them. Then I fell in love with a few books that I didn’t realise were retellings when I started reading them and I finally got it. Retellings don’t diminish the original stories. They add to them: new perspectives, character depth, what happened after The End.

Greta’s story didn’t end when she and Hans survived the gingerbread house in the forest. It was only just beginning.

“You learn to be careful when you have been lost.”

Magic gingerbread to the rescue!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperVoyager, an imprint of HarperCollins, for the opportunity to read this book.