Reviews

I loved loved loved this book. I ended up savouring it, this extraordinary magical realism novel, which I found out to be an enchanting adult fairy tale. Just get past the grief infused beginning, the sudden catastrophic deaths of two much loved people, and then see the journey. This fairy tale even has its own wicked wolf.

I found myself unexpectedly tearing up ten pages towards the end. Magical!

Content Warnings

marlo_c's review against another edition

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5.0

I began this book just a couple of days after the loss of a dear friend, not knowing that this was a book that began with devastating loss. Yet, I was already sad, so why not? The first few chapters were difficult to wade through. However….

It was magical. And whimsical. And when I finished reading, I ended the book with a big smile on my face. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that left me grinning.

I’m short, I loved it.

*for those who may be bothered, there is a fair amount of strong language interspersed throughout the book

rglossner's review against another edition

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4.0

When Harry Crane's wife dies suddenly and tragically, he is unable to cope. Harry works for the Forest Service in Philadelphia, but he never gets anywhere near a forest. much to his chagrin. Prompted by a startling win in a wrongful death lawsuit, Harry escapes to the Endless Mountains of Northcentral Pennsylvania. There he meets Amanda and her daughter Oriana who have also recently suffered a great loss. Harry moves into their treehouse, and Oriana convinces him that his future happiness is dependent on following the example in a mysterious fairytale called Grum's Ledger, given to her by Olive, the town iibrarian. This is a heartwarming story about love and grief and friendship, which will leave you smiling.

courtneyer's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm finding this book a bit hard to describe. The two main characters are each dealing with a major loss--Harry, a middle aged bureaucrat who has lost his wife, and Oriana, a young girl who's lost her father. There are a lot of other characters, and in the beginning I was a tad annoyed with the many different story lines, but they all come together beautifully and convincingly.

This is a book about grief, and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. It's a book about healing, too, and how stories can give us a path forward. There is a somewhat magical book within the book that intersects with multiple character's lives. I LOVED how each person received something different from the book and saw themselves in it in different ways.

I imagine every reader will leave with something different from Harry's Trees as well. There's much to be mined from this clever, unique tale.

And shout out to the author for setting a great scene--this book made me want to pick up a tree field guide and become a tree person myself!

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