Read courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, Titan. It’s out in February 2026.

The short version is that I like everything Slatter writes, and this was no exception. If you’re interested in reading complex characters, fascinating worldbuilding and plots that feel familiar and then go in entirely unexpected directions, with a “this feels like a fairytale but WOAH” vibe, then she is definitely one for you to look out for.

This is very loosely a version of Red Riding Hood, but I promise you have absolutely no idea what’s going on with any of the characters from my having said that. The central figure is a witch – I could say she’s a good witch, but that’s way too patronising and shallow and, well, inaccurate. She’s trying, ok? She’s not a witch who’s looking to eat children. There are, though, a significant number of children in the book, to whom some unpleasant things do happen. There’s also a blacksmith, and some non-humans, and a forest.

Mehrab, the witch, has been getting on well enough in her little cottage in the forest, far away from any signifiant towns. The nearest village is also far enough away that getting there requires a conscious choice, and anyone coming to her is doing so deliberately. One day, Fenna – the woman who brought Mehrab herself to this cottage, and who has brought other girls to stay there over the years – brings Rhea to her: the girl is a witch, and is on the run. Part of the novel is about Mehrab and Rhea figuring out how to be around each other.

A mother and father arrive at the cottage soon after Rhea; their little girl went missing a few days ago, and they ask for Mehrab’s help to find her – but she has no luck. And then the girl arrives home some weeks later… but seems to be different. Part of the novel is about figuring out what’s going on with Ari, and other children too.

Mehrab’s past is very mysterious; she gives little away to Rhea, or the reader. The gradual revelation of why she was herself on the run when Fenna brought her to this forest, and why she makes the particular choices she does, is a thread running through the entire novel.

I loved everything about this novel.

The novel is within Slatter’s Sourdough universe, but there is absolutely no need to have read anything that comes before; there’s reference to a couple of characters from other novels but they’re very much just as background, in the way that a complex world will always have background. However, if you’re already a fan, REJOICE! It’s always good when there’s a new one.