(2) 4-6 Clare the fox lives, so to speak, in Deadwood Forest: “Like Clare, the forest was not quite dead but not quite alive.” He struggles with self-consciousness about his mangled ear and missing eye (the result of the accident that sent him to the forest), but for the most part follows a quiet routine as the Afterlife’s Usher of souls, tending his mushroom garden, reading books scavenged from Deadwood Dump, and making tea for himself and the wandering animal souls that knock on his cottage door. Mostly, the souls are easy to guide into one of the Afterlife’s four realms: Peace, Pleasure, Progress, or Pain. Then badger Gingersnipes, who doesn’t appear to belong to any realm, arrives just as Clare hears of an ominous premonition. Clare embarks on a quest to understand the meaning of the premonition and help Gingersnipes find her way. He engages in some surprising (to him) self-reflection and learns about love—for himself and others—as he travels through neighboring forests with his companion. Between chapters, detailed black-and-white drawings (by Marcin Minor) reminiscent of woodcuts highlight key characters and scenes to come. Though some of the book’s messages are a bit on the nose, ultimately the dry humor, an amusingly intrusive narrator, and a touch of nostalgia intertwine to create an endearingly strange snapshot of a cottage-core world caught between life, death, and the afterlife.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025