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Book: “Green and Deadly Things” by Jenn Lyons
Publishing Info: Tor, March 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Mathaiik has trained all his life to join the sacred order of the Idallik Knights, charged with defending their world from the forces of necromancy. Only vestiges of that cursed magic remain, nothing like the fabled days of the Grim Lords, the undead wizards who once nearly destroyed the world.
But when an even stranger kind of monster begins to wake, the Knights quickly prove powerless to stop them. Whole forests are coming alive and devouring anyone so foolish as to trespass, as if the land itself has turned upon humanity.
It’s a good thing, then, that the Grim Lords were never truly destroyed. One of their number sleeps below the Knights’ very fortress. And when an army of twisted tree monsters attacks the young initiates in his charge, Math decides to do the unthinkable: he wakes her up.
This is only the beginning of his problems. Because said necromancer, Kaiataris, knows something history has forgotten. The threat of this wild magic is part of a cycle that has repeated countless times–life after death, chaos after order. And if she and Math can’t find a new way to balance the scales, this won’t just be the end of the world as they know it, but the end of all life, everywhere.
Review:I feel like deadly, horrific plants have been having a bit of a moment in horror and fantasy recently. I can think of a number of titles that have played around with this concept, all horrifying in their own ways. And this book starts off with more of the same! A walking, murderous forest, and not in the “Cool! Look at the Ents!” kind of way.
From there, the world-building just expands, and I loved learning more about this world. Math is a great entry point, having grown up in an order of Knights meant to fight evil necromancers, but with his feet on both sides of the magical divide, with his own secret plant magic. And even here, with the good guy of the book, the ways in which his plant magic is described… yeah, pretty gross. But also very cool, especially as the lore of this world explodes outward once he raises one of the long-thought-defeated necromancers of old and realizes there is much more to this world than he thought.
This reveal was one of the coolest factors of the book, and it immediately shifted not only the stakes of the conflict but also revealed some truths about Math and everything he thought he knew. Kai was also a fantastic character, bringing in a wealth of knowledge. She and Math had great chemistry, and I enjoyed the push-and-pull nature of their growing trust. It was very much a “two steps forward, one step backward” affair with these two.
Some of the late reveals I felt were a bit more predictable. And there definitely came a point when I wanted to smack Math upside the head to get with the real program going on here. But, even with that being the case, his perspectives and priorities made sense for him as a character, so I wasn’t overly frustrated by it.
The one drawback was the pacing. The story starts off incredibly quickly and does a neat job of setting up the primary players and the situation ahead. But then, toward the middle, the story started to drag. Math and Kai spend a lot of time traveling, always interrupted by the fairly predictable return of some bad guys to get in their way. While I was interested in the greater evil that was building in the background, some of these more minor action scenes began to feel repetitive. At the same time, Math and Kai’s relationship also stuttered a bit in the middle, so it was a bit of a struggle to retain interest during this portion.
However, things picked up again, and by the end, I was once again invested in what was taking place. It’s also refreshing to read a stand-alone fantasy novel with a story that feels contained and complete. Readers who are looking for a unique action fantasy story should definitely give this one a go!
Rating 8: While the middle portion lagged a bit, the creepy plant magic and endearing characters kept me invested throughout!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Green and Deadly Things” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Can’t Wait Books of 2026 and Horror to Look Forward to in 2026.
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