The Otherwoods takes the reader on a mystical journey through a magical land that is at once ominously dangerous and darkly beautiful. River, who has to brave this otherworldly place to rescue a friend, is a mostly-ordinary middle school student. Or that’s what they wish they were, anyway. Instead, they’re cursed with the ability to see monsters and spirits that wander from The Otherwoods to the ordinary world from time to time. As if that wasn’t reason enough to feel like they don’t belong, River’s nonbinary gender identity sets them apart from other students and occassionally puts them at odds with teachers who do not understand them. Throughout the story, River struggles with their “otherness” in both of these regards, as they make their way through an unfamiliar environment, meeting new friends and overcoming challenges along the way.

The world of The Otherwoods is deeply detailed, and the journey is filled with unique locations, characters who are charming and entertaining, and interesting events that make the journey toward the end goal feel lively. The dialogue, both the actual spoken dialogue and River’s internal dialogue, which ranges from bleakly hopeless to sarcastic to heroically brave, is witty throughout the book. Young middle school students will discover much to like about River and their friends.

This book focuses heavily on River’s identity, in terms of emotions, gender identity, and finding their place in the world. It is easy for readers to find sympathy with River’s questing to discover who they are and to find their strength and courage. Importantly, this story gives young readers who have a feeling of loneliness and of being “other”, in particular young queer readers, a protagonist with whom they can identify.

Because this is meant to be a children’s book, one grammatical difficulty with the book bears mentioning. Since the main character of the novel is nonbinary and uses the they/them pronouns, this book may be somewhat difficult to read, particularly for younger audiences who are not strong in their reading skills yet. Even experienced readers may have to read certain sentences a couple of times to verify the meaning and decide whether a “they” or a “their” is meant to refer to River or to a plural group of characters. As the story progresses, it becomes easier to swiftly make this distinction, but at first it may be confusing. This book might be better slotted at the younger end of the young adult demographic.

All in all, The Otherwoods presents an engaging dark fantasy that borders on horror…or perhaps a horror story with elements of dark fantasy. It should appeal to fans of both genres. If you like a good story, The Otherwoods beckon.

Review of an Advance Reading Copy from the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations

Violence/Gore: A few fights with monsters with minor injury; a few verbal threats; report of a death in a traffic accident; a few scenes in which scary, sometimes bloody, monsters are described; a few scenes in which monsters undergo gory transformations such as splitting their skin to reveal something beneath it or losing appendages and features in a bloody fashion; a tense scene where monsters threaten a child; an attack breaks a child’s bone; a few fights in which monsters are badly wounded or killed; a fight with major injury; flesh is preserved in a jar; a message is written in blood.

Sex/Nudity: A middle school student’s crush on another student is a main plot point; a character mentions the term “pansexual”; characters hold hands or hug a few times; characters flirt verbally; two women hug and kiss; report of a teen boy accidentally kissing another boy; characters discuss their crushes a few times.

Mature Subject Matter:

The protagonist is a nonbinary middle school student, and gender identity is a major theme; an important plot point hinges on the practice of deadnaming; a character mentions the term “pansexual”; a character is a lesbian; loss of a significant other; death of a sibling; discrimination based on gender identity; a philosophical discussion about what happens after death may disturb some young readers.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

None