Green & Deadly Things

by Jenn Lyons

For fans of S.A. Chakraborty, Robin Hobb, and Martha Wells's Witch King, a page-turning standalone fantasy of necromancy and magical mayhem from Jenn Lyons, the acclaimed author of The Ruin of Kings.

Centuries ago, necromancy almost destroyed the world. That’s how history remembers it.

History remembers it wrong.

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.

Genres: Fantasy, Adult, Fiction, High Fantasy, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Dark Fantasy

368 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 3, 2026

About the author

Jenn Lyons lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, three cats, and a lot of opinions on anything from the Sumerian creation myths to the correct way to make a martini. At various points in her life, she has wanted to be an archaeologist, anthropologist, architect, diamond cutter, fashion illustrator, graphic designer, or Batman. Turning from such obvious trades, she is now a video game producer by day, and spends her evenings writing science fiction and fantasy. When not writing, she can be founding debating the Oxford comma and Joss Whedon’s oeuvre at various local coffee shops.

Reviews

[takeeveryshot]

jenn i’m sorry i cannot follow you here but we will Always have horsegender the greatest fantasy series of the last 10 years

[Zana]

DNF @ 68%

This had such a cool intro with plant necromancers killing people and turning them into plant zombies. There was a plant zombie attack at a magical knight school. The MMC's nickname was MATH, which honestly, I couldn't get over, but whatever.

The worldbuilding was pretty cool, but it wasn't enough to get me to finish the book. The two MCs read like teens. They go on the run and pretty much all the tropes and cliches that come with two people in forced proximity with each other pop up.

Extremely predictable if you've read novels and watched movies/TV shows about a couple running from the authorities. Pretty boring. Not all that interesting.

After everything in the summary happened, the book turned out to be a lot more older YA than adult. Or I guess it's fair to say that this is the type of book like Mistborn: The Final Empire where both older teens and adults can enjoy. If you're into that type of fantasy novel, then this might be for you.

I DNF'ed The Sky on Fire too, so it might be safe to say that Jenn Lyons isn't the author for me.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for this arc.

[Jess Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc of Green & Deadly Things.

I really liked this. I thought the characters were great and I liked the chemistry between the main characters Math & Kai. I also thought some of the side characters were done really well also. I enjoyed the children and also the relationship with the "enemy" he grew up with. The magic was unique and fun. We also got to see different kinds of magic with some of the different characters and I thought that was a nice addition. For a stand alone fantasy story the plot was really flushed out and easy too follow, not complicated, but also not too simple. Overall this was a great story and can't wait to see what Jenn Lyons does next.

[Carol (bookish_notes)]

***Thanks to the publisher for the eARC on NetGalley***


I love, love, love the author’s A Chorus of Dragons series but this one’s rough. I actually like the prologue a lot, even as a prologue hater, and I was drawn into the book. I liked the eco horror of it all and the dark comedy on capitalism in a medieval type setting fantasy.

But then we take a sharp turn in chapter one where you’re dropped into another character’s third person (past tense) POV and it’s like you’re just supposed to know the world as you follow along with them. Sometimes I don’t mind this fantasy book tactic so much if idk we’re in the middle of a battle or some sort of life and death scenario, but it feels less interesting here and I don’t feel as motivated to read on. The comps with Witch King by Martha Wells seems apt, for better or worse. After the prologue, the book starts with similar vibes.

The chapters are short so that’s a plus for me personally but I would like to circle back to this on audiobook after the book comes out in March. The names and places are rough reading with no pronunciation guide in this early copy of the book.

DNF for now

[Taylor Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

EEK, this was a great story. What a journey!

The overarching plot with the conflicting magic systems felt a lot like the conflict with life vs death in Deathless by Catherynne Valente, one of my favorite books, and the prose style and humor felt very similar to T. Kingfisher’s style.

While I wish there had been a few more sentences at the beginning to outline the magic system earlier on, you do figure it out as you keep reading.

Loved how we got so much world building in a natural way, it never felt like stuff was being info dumped, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. It can be hard to nail indirect explanations, I thought it was very well done in this book.

Perhaps the main characters were a LITTLE obtuse through the middle third, buuuuuuut I was still satisfied by the twists and reveals despite that.

The main characters were both so funny and prickly in the best way. It was so nice to see a male character with this kind of personality too. Honestly, all the characters were great. Even the ones you were supposed to hate, at least felt realistic and consistent within the plot.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lyons pens a stand alone fantasy about magic and necromancy, sure to delight fantasy fans! Mathaiik has been a novitiate much longer than most because he's unable to manifest his weapon. But he's also got a secret that would cause the Order alarm. But when they are attacked, he may be the only one who can help them.

This is only my second Lyons book, but I have the first of another series on my shelf. I loved the other one I read and didn't realize until then she's local! But I'm not sure about this one. It felt overly long and lacking in many side characters. I'm not sure if my problem was that I was reading this mostly just at the gym, so it was taking longer, but I didn't love this one.

[mo • lesmotsdemo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was not to my liking. The pace was really slow, I felt like it dragged on. The plot was not particularly twisty not gripping for me, I was quite disinterested throughout my reading experience. The characters were quite one-dimensional and I did not like them; the romance was too lust-forward and some moments were quite cringe for me. The atmosphere could have been more developed, and I’ve discovered the author’s writing and I’ve had issues with it as well. It sometimes felt like it was too much for the plot that the author was setting in motion. I’m still glad I read it even though I did not like it very much, and I’m sure it will find its right audience. I’m just not a part of it.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

All about necromancy, sentient evil (but not really) plant queens, we follow a hot lady wizard reawakened after being asleep for hundreds of years and a failed knight noviciate as they try to bring balance to Chaos and Order magic.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the main characters and this is a good, quick to read epic fantasy standalone.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, I really thought this book would be an easy win for me but I figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't. Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me.

Mathaiik is a trainee in the order of the Idallik Knights, caught between his duties and the strange curse that sometimes leads to him waking up covered in vines, the plants burrowing into him. When a lumber operation is massacred by magic plants reminiscent of Math's curse and their spores wreck havoc on the order, Math retreats beneath the fortress and ends up waking up a necromancer he knows only from legend.

Let me start off by saying that I actually really liked the prologue. The idea of these massive trees bleeding when the lumberjacks try to cut them down and then somehow marching around to massacre the camp is a great image. It's at once whimsical and terrifying, since trees are big and stationary enough to make the whole thing uncanny (and it reminded me of the prophecy in Macbeth, if it were taken very literally). After that though, things just fell apart. Both the pacing and the world-building in this book are...wack, honestly. The chapters are all super short and so much happens in each one that you blink and somehow a fight has started, someone has been betrayed, the characters have made some revelation, someone has died, and the fight has ended in like three pages. Honestly, I don't think a betrayal should happen 50 pages into a book, because we have no understanding or investment into the relationship to make that betrayal matter.

This is especially hard to follow since there's so much world-building that is either mentioned off-hand or feels poorly incorporated. You've only just put together that the grim lords are some ancient evil group of necromancers defeated long ago when it turns out that isn't quite true, which really takes all the steam out of the reveal. By the time you've accepted that there is this magical forbidden maze under the Knight's fortress, Math has already figured out how to get through it. This takes him maybe two days to figure out, despite this maze seemingly having existed and been unsolved for decades if not longer. Characters swear to Tri-Mother so you kind of assume that's some deity, and then Math finds some text that refers to the murderous trees as the Three Mothers and this is some kind of a revelation to them. So who did they think "Tri-Mother" referred to? Why does Math think that this idea is heretical? Mind you, this whole revelation happens over the course of like two paragraphs. We also learn what grimmocks aren't without learning what they are, so maybe they're just miscellaneous monsters?

I'm also not really a stickler for writing, but the writing felt pretty juvenile to me. I actually went and checked if this was supposed to be YA because it reads like lower YA with one-line paragraphs, constant questions in the inner monologue, and telling-not-showing, but this is supposed to be an Adult fantasy. The dialogue switches between that kind of general archaic/proper-sounding speech you often get in fantasy ("Shall I remind you..." "I would have, were it only an option." "Do not do so again.") and totally casual, modern speech ("Just looking out for you.." "I just sort of figured it out." "...sure it's not a prank?") which is just jarring.

It's possible that the story and characters might have grown on me (haha) if I had continued reading, but after the prologue the whole thing just felt poorly constructed. Being more willing to DNF is one of my resolutions this year, so unfortunately I will be putting this down.

Thank you to Jenn Lyons and Tor Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Release date March 3rd, 2026.

I've enjoyed Lyons' fantasy, particularly The Sky on Fire, so I thought I'd give her latest novel a shot. In Green & Deadly Things, Mathaiik has spent his life devoted to the Order of Idallik Knights, who disdain him due to his failure to manifest a weapon. When a new race of plant monsters threatens the Order, Math accidentally sets free an sleeping necromancer, the ancient enemy of his Order... but also perhaps the key to defeating the forest creatures.

Jenn Lyons is my John Scalzi of fantasy—it's cool that women and queer people are allowed into the narrative now, but both their books run slightly too conventional for my taste. I had the same experience with Green & Deadly Things, although I have to admit that it was well-constructed. The novel appears to be the rare fantasy standalone, jamming a full trilogy's worth of plot into a lean, mean three hundred sixty eight pages: a doomed last stand against a new threat, a train ride across the continent, a sudden betrayal. Green & Deadly Things has the sleek discipline that many fantasy authors lack (cough, Samantha Shannon).

I was also fond of the underlying premise. Math (dreadful name, although at least it doesn't have an apostrophe) has been devoted since childhood to the fading Idaliik Order, which has taken his years of training and vow of chastity and labeled it as worthless, since Math can't perform their one magic gimmick, sword summoning. Enter young and impetuous necromancer Kaiataris, who Math is accidentally bound to in a curse that reflects their emotions and wounds back at each other... It's an excellent premise, and in fact one of my particular favorites, but I was less fond of the execution. Instead of leaning into the knight and liege thing, Lyons plunges us into a juvenile But Our Doomed Love Can Never Be arc from about six hours after the two meet. Math is in his early twenties and Kai is a similar age (if you discount the millennia in the coffin), but the very youthful romance feels distinctly younger. Meanwhile, outside of the excellent worldbuilding of the Order, Math's world is mostly fantasy-generic. There's some interesting stuff about the opposing forces of Order and Chaos, embodied by trees that get you and the powers of necromancy. And also there are trains. But overall, nothing particularly out there, nor any real surprises.

A solidly written and briskly plotted classic standalone fantasy. Several shades too classic for my tastes, but you may enjoy it, particularly if you liked Lyons' other books, which are in a similar style.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of Green & Deadly Things!

Green & Deadly Things is an m/f fantasy romance with some open-door spice, featuring sentient and monstrous plants, magical bonding, ancient puzzles, and battles.

I adored the different magic systems and thought the world was really interesting. It's also clear that Jenn Lyons has a gift for writing fights and action scenes. And, I liked that there was some queer representation. The start of this book was really promising, and I was excited to see where the book would go.

However, as the book continued, I started to lose interest. I found the romance unconvincing, some of the "twists" that shocked the POV character felt obvious from a mile away, and while our main character Math is perfectly nice, I was more interested in the love interest's experiences.

For most of the book, the love interest Kaiataris is a far more complex, powerful, influential and unique character. However, we never get her POV, and she's also given some really outdated and stereotyped plotlines. She becomes the woman who begs her man not to go to war and, the first time they have sex, tells him birth control isn't an issue because she'd like to be pregnant to have something to remember him by if he dies , or she's kidnapped by the villain who wants to make her his partner in his evil plans and then the protagonist comes to the rescue. (And on that topic, for a book in which people of all genders are conscripted to be magical soldiers, why are the plot-relevant soldiers nearly all men? And the ones that are women mostly end up being relevant because they care for children or research things in the library.)

There was also potential for an interesting exploration of the negative elements of empire and military orders, but I feel that the book stopped short of really examining this. Although we saw some negative aspects, they felt like isolated issues rather than intrinsic to what an empire or a military order is.

I also found mysef put off by the prose. I don't need a book's prose to be incredible, but in this case, I found it distractingly overworked and clichéd. At times, I felt like I was reading Instagram captions instead of a novel, and I'd find myself taking a mental red pen to the text.

There were still things I enjoyed about the book, but I'm afraid that it's one of those novels where I enjoyed the world and the characters more than the actual story or writing.

[Sophia Dyer • bookishly.vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars rounded up.

This book has great vibes, I love the nature-based magic and the knights that are operating under the wrong assumptions. But there are a lot of groups in this book, and fun fantasy names that were a bit too much to keep straight at times. This is a chunky book too, so it really takes a lot of focus to understand everything that's happening.

The story is very slow to get to the point too. Like I said, there are a lot of groups involved - so we have to learn about all of them and what their stake in the game is. The characters travel quite a bit and find more about these groups, and their own, and come to new assumptions that contradict the thousands of years of history that came before them. I love when someone pokes holes in an order and sees all the corruption or how it should have operated in the first place!

There is some romance in here too, and I did like seeing the relationship develop between characters. I was definitely expecting a pregnancy in an epilogue based off a single line in the book, but there wasn't an epilogue to be had for this one. In fact, then ending felt a bit abrupt - everyone got what was coming to them, but then the story just ended. There was not much expansion on how the world changed or where the characters are now.

Overall, I did feel like I struggled to get through this one, and I know it is one I will forget a lot of details from. But, it is a standalone and wraps up well. At a certain point I was here for the nature-based magical vibes and the knight dismantling his whole order, I kind of lost track of everything else. There are pockets of the story I found myself really invested, but the story also felt dense and convoluted, and lost me at other parts. Love the cover though!
Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
Content warnings: loss of a loved one, murder, death, violence, war themes, gaslighting, sexual content

[Hope (bookedwithhope) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Spice Rating: 🌶️.5
🕯️ atmosphere • 🌏 world-building • 📈 plot

•••••••••••••••

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙛…
‣ Fantasy thriller / horror
‣ Standalones
‣ Necromancy + plant magic
‣ Order of magical knights
‣ Untold histories
‣ General mayhem
‣ Sarcasm + wit
‣ Forced proximity
‣ Enemies to lovers
‣ Tree monsters + plant zombies

•••••••••••••••

𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨…
When I heard that 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 & 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 was a standalone fantasy horror novel full of sentient tree monsters, sarcasm, and wizards on the run, I couldn't request an advanced copy fast enough!

When Mathaiik (Math) first joined the order of the Idallik Knights, he never thought he'd eventually be turned into their villain. The Queens--sentient tree monsters--have started attacking, and since Math's magic is different from the rest of the knights and more similar to the Queens', he is given all the blame. Now, he's accidentally awoken a wizard who's been asleep for thousands of years, and somehow she has connected them to the point where they can feel each other's emotions and pain. As the pair reluctantly works together, they have to find out how to save the world from the Queens and their chaotic magic before it's too late.

The plot and world-building are definitely the stars of the show. Lyons has created a unique world with a complex, but understandable, magic system that are both beautifully contained in a single novel, which in a world where series are often extended far past their expiration date, is quite refreshing. The one thing I wasn't the biggest fan of was the pacing. Sometimes it felt as though we were moving at light speed, but others, it seemed to drag.

𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 & 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 is for readers who love standalone fantasy novels with fantastic world-building, different versions of history the characters have to parse through, and terrifying tree and plant monsters. I definitely recommend this novel for readers who love T. Kingfisher's brand of fantasy horror!

[Fallon Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75⭐️. This was my first read by this author and unfortunately, after a promising start, it wasn’t for me.

The book opens with a local lumber camp being attacked by ‘plant grimmocks’ when they try to fell three trees that the local loggers refer to as the “Three Queens”. The incident is referred to the Idallik Knights, where our 22-year old protagonist, Math, is a novitiate. Math has a Wood resonance but hasn’t yet manifested his resonant weapon (something unique to each individual), thus preventing him from graduating to a knight. The knights use their magic to protect the realm by slaying grimmocks (creatures made by grim magic, aka necromancy). However, when the magic of the woods proves beyond the knights’ abilities, Math finds himself waking one of the original Grim Lords and, together, they find themselves on a journey to uncover the histories of their world and balance the scales of magic.

I really liked the opening to this book - it’s fast paced and you’re immediately thrown into the action. The writing also has moments of humour that feel more reminiscent of a cosy fantasy which, at the start, reminded me of books such as Voyage of the Damned (a book I really enjoyed). However, as the book progressed, I felt very disconnected from the characters. We follow Math on this journey and we’re told little tidbits about him but we never really get to know him. The same applies to Kai. The romantic relationship, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the book. And my overwhelming feeling was that the author was trying to do far too much in what is a relatively short, standalone novel. It led to lots of action that had little impact (because there was no attachment to any of the characters) and lots of info dumping without any substantive world building. I think the premise had so much promise but, after a strong prologue, the story just didn’t really deliver.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.

[Dharshani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character Mathaiik is still a novitiate in the Order since he's unable to summon a weapon using his magic that would make him an Idallik knight. world it is now knows there are witches and lords who perform dark magic causing trouble to people and it is the duty of the Order to fight them. Mathaiik fights alongside the knights and his secret helps him save lives but also makes him question everything he's known so far.

The storyline is great with necromancers, undead things and has saving the world from doom as the ultimatum. Having said that the main problem is not introducing the world and magic system properly. The reader is just thrown in with big words, big magic and big problems and is expected to learn gradually. Of course, having to learn stuff alongside the main character is a style of writing but he's a grown up and his knowledge so far is still a mystery to the reader. That's where the real problem lies. Not everybody will be patient enough to read with so many unknowns and only understand what they are reading later. At around 65% all the details are revealed to the reader including who is who, what is what and what has to be done. So, I think if this book is best read knowing that because I believe the readers will either will push through and like this book or give up and DNF it.

I loved the last 35% of the book where everything is turned up several notches and the ending was just perfect. My suggestion to anybody who picks this would be to be patient enough to get into the heart of the problem and then slowly understand the world building, hierarchy of life, good and evil.

Something else to note is that there's a romance angle in the story with even an explicit intimate scene.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one!

Green & Deadly Things is a standalone fantasy from Jenn Lyons (yes, a standalone, and I loved that) that follows Mathaiik, a novitiate of the Idallik Knights who has yet to manifest his magical blade and so, still cannot become a knight. Because of this, he’s viewed as something of a failure, until strange, dangerous tree monsters awaken, and Math makes a desperate choice that changes everything. In a last-ditch effort to survive, he awakens one of the feared Grim Lords.

That Grim Lord is Kaiataris, a necromancer, and her awakening brings about some big questions regarding this world’s magic: the cycle of chaos and order, the corresponding magical balance, and the growing threat of wild magic. On top of that, there are political tensions brewing, and both Math and Kai quickly find themselves hunted.

I had a great time with this book. The magic system and worldbuilding felt well thought out and nicely fleshed out without being overwhelming, especially impressive for a standalone. There were some slight pacing issues in the middle, particularly while Math and Kai are on the run, but that section also gave us a chance to see more of the land and its people, which I appreciated.

I liked the characters overall, and the chemistry between our two main leads worked well for me. There’s also a bit of romance woven in, and the story wraps up with a satisfying ending.

Overall, this was a fun, engaging standalone fantasy with strong worldbuilding, interesting magic, and likable characters.

4 stars. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re in the mood for an immersive fantasy without committing to a long series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is my second Jenn Lyons book, after The Sky on Fire. I thought that one was AWESOME, with unique world building, a great ensemble cast, and a fun take on dragons and their hoards, so I was very interested to see what Lyons would do in this book, with both necromancy AND plant magic.

The answer is, not much. The story is fine but that's pretty much all I can say for it; it felt very standard, not really doing anything new or interesting. The worldbuilding felt VERY surface level, the plot is nothing to really get excited over, and the romance that's supposed to prop the whole thing up (this is NOT a romantasy) wasn't strong enough to makeup for any of the other shortcomings. Playing up some elements of this more could have really helped--there's almost a horror feel to the beginning that could have distinguished it, and necromancy is always ripe for that--but that quickly went away in favor of Generic Fantasy Plotline with the characters running hither and yon but actually not doing that much. Kaiataris was a much more interesting character than Math was, and I was sad we were stuck in his perspective the whole time and got relatively little about her; adding her story to this could have given it a lot more dimension. I liked the book, but The Sky on Fire has stayed with me, and this one definitely won't. It is a book that will quickly melt back into the oodles of other generic fantasy novels that come out ever year.

That said, I have heard very good things about Lyons' Chorus of Dragons series and am still keen to read that.

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whacky, wild, witty, woody.🌱🌳

I have a few authors whom I always keep an eye out for as they blow me away with innovative world-building and distant characters despite their backlog of writing. 

Mathaiik, a novice knight, tries to save his world from mutated, carnivorous forests and awakened, ancient monsters.
He is helped by a sleeping girl in a tomb he woke. No, not a princess, but a reawakened, legendary necromancer.

I love it when the characters are strong and smart and sharp, but I still want to give them a hug.

“One should not show kindness or sympathy only when it is convenient.” Math spoke before the argument could deepen. “It’s about being willing to make sacrifices.”

The world-building is unique - filled with sentient plants, necromancy, a magical order of knights, and crazy creatures. Just like I have come to expect from Jenn Lyons. If you love RJ Barker, you need to try Lyons out.

I have no idea how she does it, but this is an entirely satisfying standalone that gives you a full story whilst making you want more. In this sense, it reminded me of The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow.

I did find that pacing odd at times. Similarly, the romance felt undeveloped and cheesy, but considering the amount packed into the book, I can’t complain too much.

Physical arc gifted by Tor.

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[Casey Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good standalone fantasy; sometimes you just don't want to commit to an entire series but still want that same fantasy feel. This book delivers that. The Idallik Knights are an order of magical knights (both male and female) who have these unique abilities and manifest their unique-to-them weapons when they are ready. It's really cool stuff. Mathaiik is not a full knight yet, despite being incredibly devoted to the Order, and they give him a hard time because he has not manifested his weapon yet. When ancient sentient tree creatures stir and threaten the Knights and the people, Math accidentally frees a sleeping necromancer. Necromancers are the enemies of the Knights, the bad guys, but this necromancer may also be their only salvation from this new (yet old) threat in the forest. And by being the one to free her, Math is bound to her in a curse. I really enjoyed this story and world! It's a lot packed into less than 400 pages, but that's what you get in standalone fantasies that are of an epic nature. It makes for quicker pacing, always keeping it interesting. The worldbuilding is, in my opinion, excellent. I also love weird sentient plants, I am coming to discover. The more books I encounter with sentient flora, the more I realize that that is a thing I am drawn to. The romance portion feels maybe a bit YA, which doesn't bother me at all, but may be worth noting since it is an adult fantasy. Overall, I enjoyed this one! It was what I needed when I picked it up. Love the world and lore. 

Huge thank you to Tor Books for the physical ARC! Book releases 3/3/26.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC.

I went into Green and Deadly Things fully expecting to love it, but unfortunately this ended up being a DNF for me at 12%.
The premise immediately grabbed me. Murderous trees, a knight trainee cursed with vines growing through his body, and a dark, eerie fantasy world? That all sounded exactly like my kind of story. I genuinely enjoyed the prologue and thought the imagery was creative and unsettling in the best way.

Once the main story began, though, I struggled to stay invested. The pacing felt rushed, with very short chapters that jumped rapidly from action to revelation to betrayal without giving any moment enough time to land. Big plot developments happened so quickly that they never carried much emotional weight.

The world-building also felt scattered and hard to follow. Important lore was introduced and then contradicted almost immediately, and mysteries that should have felt ancient and complex were solved with surprising ease. Instead of drawing me deeper into the world, it left me more confused than intrigued.

I also had trouble connecting with the writing style and dialogue, which often felt uneven in tone and younger than expected for an adult fantasy. There are clearly interesting ideas here. I can see other readers enjoying this far more than I did, but it just was not the right fit for me.
I appreciate the opportunity to try it, even if I ultimately had to set it aside.

[Michelle (Bamamele.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

This is definitely above a 4 star read...is it 4.5 stars? Maybe?

I really enjoyed Green & Deadly Things. The prologue immediately grabs you, and you think this will be a clear eco-fantasy and the trees are obviously correct. Then we quickly pivot to Math's POV and are thrown into the deep end, and have to figure things out as he does throughout the book. If you want really clear digestible world-building, this book might be a struggle for you. I decided to go with the flow and had fun with it.

I never entirely trusted the Idallik Knights, not least for how they treated Math. Something always seemed a little off to me, but I couldn't figure it out until much later. I loved Kai from almost the moment we meet her. Math and Kai's very reluctant allies to friends to more was such a great journey. Nothing in their world was as it seemed or as they had been taught. I liked the constant danger, action, magic, and thinking on the fly.

I thought the climax and ending were just perfect. It was really the best part of the book and really elevated my opinion of the whole. I wish we had gotten even one or two more pages at the end! We wrap up so quickly and I wanted a few more minutes with the characters.

Definitely recommend for a complex standalone fantasy!

[Janette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good standalone fantasy novels aren’t that common so I was excited to read Green and Deadly Things. The book opened dramatically with an action-packed prologue that was almost in horror story territory as people were torn to pieces by giant trees and the first few chapters were promising.
The story took off quickly and I loved the idea that the feared Grim Lord turned out to be something quite different. The magic system and its use of order and chaos was interesting too. However, the problems of a standalone novel were present in the book with limited character development and not a lot of background to the current situation.
I really enjoyed the beginning and the final few chapters but the middle of the book didn’t hold my interest that well and quite a lot of it felt quite predictable. I was also never really invested in any of the characters apart from a couple that we didn’t meet until the very end of the book.
I feel that the book almost had too much in it which meant that some things weren’t given enough for depth for me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Pan MacMillan for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Elodia]

DNF

The description was intriguing and the prologue really hooked me. Unfortunately things went downhill after that. We are dropped into this world as if we are supposed to know what is going on. We get some exposition about two conflicting cultures, given the names of people and places, and get references to a magic system, but again, this felt like a summary of something we are already supposed to know. I am sure things would have been explained as the book goes on, but it didn’t hold my interest to try and find out.

This book is fast-paced, so much so that I found myself going back and rereading passages multiple times as I missed what had happened. There were too many characters introduced within the first few chapters. It got hard to keep track of everyone. The writing and dialogue felt clunky, which only added to my confusion.

I don’t think this is a bad book, and I am sure the fast-paced-ness, characters, and magic system will be exactly why others love it, but it was just not for me.

[Emilie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book.

I was very interested to read this book, but I just could not get into it. The story started off incredibly intriguing, but soon fell off when the world-building missed the mark. Often authors spend too much time in exposition, and the story gets lost in boring details. But in this case the exact opposite happened. People, places, and things were just mentioned in an off-hand, name-dropping kind of manner, and I truly felt like I was missing something. Was I supposed to know who these people were, and what was being referenced? I checked multiple times to make sure I wasn't reading a second or third in a series, but every place I looked said "stand alone." So I trudged along, even though I really felt like I had no idea--or no context!--for what was going on. After several chapters I realized that not only did I feel lost, I wasn't engaged enough with the story to find out more about what was going on. So I had to DNF.

[Karyn Silverman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this was very good. Great world building, interesting characters, unexpected plotting. It does have a pretty central romance and a bit more open door at one point than I think was necessary but probably that just gives it better crossover from fantasy to romantasy readers, so. I’d love to see more in this world, but there’s not necessarily anything more to tell here.

[Alleyymarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have stayed in YA territory and been a higher rated review, it felt like a fun YA book for most of this (besides one, what I felt was, unnecessary scene that seems thrown in there just so it could be labeled as adult? idk). Good overall, some great humor and tons of action. Enjoyed the magic system and the sentient plants were great.

[Melissa]

DNF @ 23%
Math wants to join the Knights to fight against necromancy. There is something strange going on though with the forest/plants, they seem to be.... alive. The concept sounds amazing but it just did not wow me so I am going to call it here. I think people that like younger high fantasy books might enjoy this.