A dark, folksy, historical fantasy with a touch of murder mystery set in late 18th century Cornwall. I loved this from the very beginning. It's quite slow and descriptive, so maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I absolutely loved all of the descriptions of the landscape and the environment, the little folk and the villagers. This is described as Poldark meets the Bear and the Nightingale. The Poldark comparison is mostly just the time period and the location - although this is moody moors rather than coast and mines. The Bear and the Nightingale comparison is much closer in terms of themes - there's conflict between the local church and the old ways and a there's a young woman who can see the folk and tries to help them survive when others are losing faith in them. It's quite a dark story, laced with grief and superstition. The folk aren't all friendly and there's a real primal wildness and edge of danger to encounters with them. I loved the complex relationship between Pel, the Keeper of the Moor, and his sort-of adopted daughter Nancy. I also enjoyed the reflection of their relationship with that of the rector Cleaver and his son - the difficulty of their relationship and the twisting effect of grief. Thoroughly enjoyed this moody, atmospheric folklore fantasy and I can't wait for the sequel!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gorse, it gripped me and just continued to give me an amazing story.

A dark and gripping historical fantasy that mixes small town politics, folk horror, Little People creating a very entertaining and compelling story. The author is a talented storyteller and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Have fun, read it Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Gorse is so atmospheric that I found myself immediately waist-deep in the bogs of the moorland. With an unsettling and wonderfully du Maurier-esque Cornish landscape — and I don’t say that lightly or blithely — to the imaginative world-bulging layers of fantasy, this is an immensely entertaining, gripping and compulsive read. The characters — and the monsters, and the piskies and brownies (particularly the Brownies) — are brilliantly colourful and fantastically well fleshed, it’s hard to help but love them, or fear them. Diving down into the deepest depths of folktales and lore, this has all the authenticity to stand up convincingly alongside them, and with more layers to it than a peatland bog. I could have put this all so much more simply: This is a fantastic book. Read it: you can’t be disappointed.

I'm just going to dive right in and tell you this is a 5 star read. If that's all you need to know, go forth, buy the book, read it, love it! For those of you that need a little more I am going to keep this spoiler free and somewhat brief because honestly, Gorse is a tale that you should just allow yourself to feel. Let it draw you in like the mire and the mud, let it soak through to your bones like the rain, envelope you like the mist, and let it remind you of what came before, of the knowledge that most have lost along the way. Pitched as Poldark meets The Bear and The Nightingale (a series I have watched more than once or twice and one of my all time favourite trilogies) I was immediately drawn in. That being said, I was not prepared for the attachments I would form to the characters of Nancy and Pel, to Pat (the best boy), to Madge, and to Selkie, and I was wholly unprepared for the moors to become a part of me as I read. The folklore and the historical research that has gone into making this story so very vivid is truly a marvel, and its so, so, beautifully written. It has wonderful pace, bursts of action and movement, revelations and confrontation, balanced with periods of stillness, of human-ness. I loved the journeys, the character arcs were subtle, and I adored all the little folk. Based on the ending there could absolutely be more to come and I hope to see more of Knot. Gorse is atmospheric, full of fear and love, of magic and faith. It is a book that makes you feel, and that for me, as a reader, is more important than anything else, it's what I'll remember long after the details fade. With thanks to the author, publisher, and netgalley for the ARC