Whichwood Was a Distinctly Magical Village

~Whichwood~
Furthermore
Book 2
By Tahereh Mafi
Amazon ~ Powell's

Laylee can barely remember the happier times before her beloved mother died. Before her father, driven by grief, lost his wits (and his way). Before she was left as the sole remaining mordeshoor in the village of Whichwood, destined to spend her days washing the bodies of the dead and preparing their souls for the afterlife. It’s become easy to forget and easier still to ignore the way her hands are stiffening and turning silver, just like her hair, and her own ever-increasing loneliness and fear.

But soon, a pair of familiar strangers appears, and Laylee’s world is turned upside down as she rediscovers color, magic, and the healing power of friendship.


This book is REALLY dark. Like, darker than even I (at 30) was comfortable with at times.

Here's what you should know going in: The main character deals with death, acting as a supernatural mortician for everyone in her city/township. She is 13 years old. Her mother's ghost haunts her relentlessly, her father went insane after her mother's death and left. The process she goes through to care for the recently deceased involves a ton of physical and emotional effort, requiring scrubbing corpses of ALL grime, some sort of embalming process, removing the dead's finger- and toenails, sealing their coffin with those nails, and burying them, all the while the ghosts complain about one thing or another. She has done this by herself for the last 2 years. She has to do this because she's the only one who can, as the magical ability is granted through the bloodline. The townspeople have made her a pariah, rarely paying her and ostracizing her for her grim work. Oh, and she's rapidly dying.

Anyone up for a bedtime story?

There were also a lot of bugs, but that was tame compared to all the death and misery.

But, yeah, a lot of heavy emotional hangups with this one. Don't get me wrong, Furthermore (which is referenced a lot in this) had a few heavy events, what with Alice losing her arm at one point, and running for their lives, etc. But there is hardly any hint at happiness until nearly 70% of the book is done.

I did enjoy this book. I thought the narration was very fairytale-esque, as with the last book, and the narrator, whomever they may be, is quite humorous (and British in my mind).

As with the last book's surprising message of inclusion, or at least not holding prejudices against people who look different, this book had a few surprising passages about the underestimated strength of women and youth. It wasn't unwelcome nor thrown in without context, but considering how long it takes between writing and publishing, it definitely fits in with today's conversations.

As an aside, there was quite a lot of fantastical/non-english clothing, titles, and even phrases that I can't help but wonder - considering the picture of the protagonist on the cover - if they might originate in Arab or middle-eastern cultures. Another tick for inclusiveness if so. A tick for fantasy if not.

Overall I'd still recommend this book for kids, but I'd strongly suggest parents pre-read or read along with their kids, so as to help them through the very dark and depressing subjects.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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