The beginning of this book is sad. Somewhere in the middle I was confused about where it was going and felt, not surprisingly, lost in the woods. The final 3rd is pacy, gripping, and beautifully told. My heart ached for the boy who is the main focus of this tale. I don't agree with the comparison to The Road but adored the fusion of winter forest, historical truth, folk and fairy tale. Possibly one of my new favourite writers

Loved it!!! One of the most unique and whimsical books I've ever read. Beautifully crafted, gripping and pulling at your heart strings, definitely unforgettable. It's one of those books you never forget and find yourself thinking about it all the time as you're reading it. This one will stay with me for long and I'm planning to get my own copy. Here the dark folk tales interwoven with history, magic with realism, life with death, innocence with a darker side of human nature, coziness and warmth with harsh survival. There is also a beautiful setting for the novel :wild woods on the border of Belarus and Poland - As a Polish person, I felt linked with this book on many levels - culturally, linguistically, geographically, historically. The description of winter in Belarus is so literally chilling. You have got to read this book :)

fabulous book! It was a bit spookier than I thought it was going to be. It was enchanting.

This is the first book of Robert Dinsdale’s that I’ve read and picked up this copy from a wonderful Oxfam charity shop near Tottenham Court Road in London where the synopsis immediately intrigued me and begged to be bought and devoured. I love fairy tales, fairy tale re-imaginings, alternative fairy tales… you name it. Just the mere mention of the word fairy tale will ensure it gets put in my basket and after reading lots of positive reviews of this novel on Good Reads, I was eager to get stuck in and form my own opinion. Gingerbread is like nothing I’ve ever read before and although fairy tales play a huge part in this novel, it’s not your average “happily ever after” read. If I had to compare it to something, I would probably choose Roald Dahl’s version of Cinderella from his Revolting Rhymes book (not entirely sure why!) except that the story is incredibly unsettling and plays on your mind long after the book has been closed.

Our narrator for Gingerbread is a young boy (unnamed at least in the beginning) who has moved in with his grandfather (known as Papa) in Belarus with his mother who is herself dying of cancer. Before she passes away, the boy’s mother manages to extract two promises from her son. One, that he will scatter her ashes in the forest by the cottage where she used to live in her childhood and two, most importantly, that he will look after his grandfather, no matter what. Unfortunately, the boy is about to discover how hard it is going to be to keep these promises to his mother. Papa is hugely reluctant to go into the forest but after a lot of pestering the boy manages to persuade him to go there so that he can fulfil part one of his mother’s wishes.

The problem is, now that Papa has arrived in the forest at his old cottage, he becomes increasingly loath to leave it again which is okay at the start as the two ensconce themselves safely within the house. The boy has always enjoyed the magical stories his papa tells him and indeed he seems to have a gift for luring the listener deep within a time where a Winter King wars against enemies of the West. It is not long however before everything slowly begins unravelling leading to the cottage being abandoned, the two living in make-shift shelters in the woods and practically starving and the stories that Papa tells becoming more frightening erring on the monstrous. The boy stops going to school and is filthy, thin and very concerned about the transformation he sees day by day in his grandfather’s character. The lines between fiction and reality become blurred and when a family with a girl called Elenya moves into the cottage it could be a desperately needed lifeline to bring the boy and his grandfather back to civilisation. Or, it could be very dangerous for them all.

This was such an intriguing novel and definitely not what I expected when I first picked it up. I loved the way in which the author used historical fiction blended in with fantasy and even at some points horror, to create a mish-mash of genres that fit so perfectly in this unique story. It’s a fairy tale yes, but a very different one and I really enjoyed the pockets of darkness that Robert Dinsdale placed within the narrative to illustrate a descent in mental health that takes the characters back to their very basic selves. I think the phrase “survival of the fittest,” definitely applies to this story and there are certain depths you think as an individual you would never stoop to but perhaps when your life is on the line, this attitude no longer holds weight and you have to fight to stay alive.

For some parts of the novel, you have to suspend your disbelief which wasn’t a problem for me personally but I can understand why some people may find it difficult or too unbelievable. In this way I thought Papa was a fantastic character and loved exploring his murky depths but my heart also bled for the boy who at the end of the day is just trying to keep his beloved mother’s last wishes and look after his grandfather. The addition of Elenya was also a nice choice, bringing new life to the story and it was interesting to follow her growing relationship with the “wild boy.” This book probably isn’t for you if you like your endings all wrapped up with a little bow and everyone living in harmony together – it’s incredibly dark and twisty and will play with your mind for days after finishing it. However if you’re a big fan of the darkness and subtle horror like me, read this book immediately (and maybe don’t go into the woods on your own).

Please see my full review on my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com

“It must have been very frightening, to live so wild,” whispers the boy. “Oh,” says Grandfather, “it was frightening, but it wasn’t because of the wild out there. It was the wild…in here.” He folds his wizened hands around the boy’s and presses the bundle of fingers to the boy’s breast, above his heart beating like an injured bird. “Is it true?” asks the boy. “Oh,” says Grandfather, with the deepest exhalation. “I know it is true, for one was there who told me of it.”

“Folk tales are just another way of telling history. They come from before the time when there was writing and books. Just families, in houses like this, staring into that outer dark and telling tales about what happened out there.” “But there were still forests,” whispers the boy. “And always will be,” he replies.”

“…for the forest stretches until the very end of the earth and, if you follow its paths, you can never come back home… The woods are wide and the woods are wild, and the woods are the world forever and ever.”

• Starve Acre, by Andrew Michael Hurley
• In the House in the Dark of the Woods, by Laird Hunt
• A Wild Winter Swan, by Gregory Maguire
• Krampus: The Yule Lord, by BROM
• The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper

3.5
god this story messed me up
in terms of writing it was extremely good - i would describe it as quiet horror in the middle of winter with a pinch of magical realism, BUT im giving it a 3.5 for personal reasons. It just made me feel sad and hollow inside and i dont like feeling sad and hollow inside