We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson
Published by Rebellion Publishing Ltd
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: British Authors, Scottish Authors, Dark Forest, Futuristic Setting, Dystopian Fantasy, Magical Realism, Ghosts, Magic Users, Scientist Characters, Mental Health, Neurodivergent, Mental Health Representation, Multiracial Characters, Science Fantasy, Various Magic, Gay Characters, Witches
Series: We Are All Ghosts In The Forest #1
My Rating:
Published on: 7th November 2024
Pages: 400
Disability Representation: Autism, mutism, mental health.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones / BookBeat Audio
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When the internet collapsed, it took the world with it, leaving its digital ghosts behind – and they are hungry. Former photojournalist Katerina fled the overrun cities to the relative safety of her grandmother’s village on the edge of a forest, where she lives a solitary life of herbal medicine and beekeeping.

When a wordless boy finds her in the marketplace with nothing but her name in his pocket, her curiosity won’t allow her to turn him away. But haunting his arrival are rumours of harvest failure and a rampant digital disease stirring up the ghosts, and the mood in the village starts to sour.

Accused of witchcraft, Katerina and Stefan escape into the forest, searching for his missing father and the truth behind the disease. If there is a cure, Katerina alone might find it, but first she must find the courage to trust others – because the ghosts that follow her aren’t just digital.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson is a dystopian novel set after the fall of the Internet. It was this premise that drew me to it, and I was fascinated by the concept of digital ghosts. Running from her past, Katerina flees the cities in the aftermath of the Crash to a small village in Estonia. There she builds a home in her grandmother’s old house, keeping a farm and practising herbal medicine. Everything changes one day when she meets a silent boy at a market, a piece of paper with her name on it in his pocket. Taking the boy in triggers a series of events that will change Katerina’s life forever and make her question everything she’s ever known.

I’m not a huge fan of magical realism, and Wilson is the first author who has successfully sold me on the genre. In We Are All Ghosts in the Forest the boundary between magic and science blurs, and the ending left me with more questions than answers – in a good way. This unique story made me think about a lot of things, and it will haunt me for a long time. Littered with interesting information, I appreciated Wilson’s attention to detail and the way she engaged serious topics such as prejudice, ableism and capitalism.

About Lorraine Wilson

A conservation scientist and third culture Scot, I live by the sea writing stories influenced by folklore and the wilderness. My books have won two SCKA awards and been finalists for British Fantasy Awards, the Kavya Prize and the Saltire Book Award, and longlisted for the British Science Fiction Awards. I have also won a British Fantasy Award for short fiction.

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