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lybrarie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I don't think this is a book I would have picked up on my own, but I am so glad I received it in a subsciption book because I absolutely loved it. I adore standalones, but this is a book I wish there was more of, because I want to be able to spent more time with the characters. I though the concept was incredible, the worldbuilding was excellent and the writing was beautiful. I will definitely be picking up future books by Reid.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because it did take me a little while to get into it (although the same can be said for the vast majority of fantasy books) and that it felt a little too slow in places for my liking. But overall I absolutely loved it, and couldn't put it down.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because it did take me a little while to get into it (although the same can be said for the vast majority of fantasy books) and that it felt a little too slow in places for my liking. But overall I absolutely loved it, and couldn't put it down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Physical abuse
roxanne_can_read's review against another edition
Didn't get sucked into the story and the set up wasn't interesting me. The MC is abused and bullied by her entire village, yet she is supposed to save them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Physical abuse
howl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
i was disappointed to discover that this book is young adult in wolf’s clothing: a supposed adult fantasy novel that reads like innumerable young adult science fiction/fantasy novels i’ve encountered before, with heavy-handed first-person narration, an isolated heroine besieged by mean girls (even though they’re all supposed to be 25), and a scary magic man (who turns out to be a prince, of course) with whom she goes on an adventure while they grudgingly fall in love. once i got over my initial irritation i did start to enjoy it quite a bit, enough that i actually looked forward to reading more. the combination of first-person and present tense was still rough, and this book contains an astonishing number of similes (a near-constant distraction), but overall i enjoyed the dangerous traipse through the countryside and the snare of politics at the capital. i also didn’t really mind the romance, formulaic as it was; unrealistic romance can be fun to read, and i can definitely see why certain tropes therein are so popular. i’m often put off by m/f enemies-to-lovers if the man is too much of an asshole, but i didn’t think this was too bad compared to some other examples i’ve encountered. ultimately, however, i thought the best part of the novel may have been the heroine’s reconnection with her jewish heritage; it was so lovingly described and it imparted the most positive emotion i felt while reading. other aspects i found effective were some of the more gruesome surprises this book had in store (perhaps the only way it really asserted itself as adult besides the characters’ ages) and the integration of folktales that prefigured certain events. the latter reminded me of the bear and the nightingale, a comparison made by the publisher which otherwise fell a little short for me, besides the mystical eastern european setting and the fact that there is one character who seemed to have been very heavily inspired by bear’s konstantin: nandor, a blue-eyed, stunningly beautiful, and charismatic zealot buoyed by a larger supernatural power. overall it was a decent reading experience despite the flaws in the writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Sexual content
delz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Wolf and the Woodman is a fairytale revolving around Pagans, Patricians and Yehuli. Evike is a Wolf Girl with no powers, so she is chosen as her villiage’s sacrifice when the Woodsman comes. The Woodsmen are tasked with taking one of these girls to the king. The village doesn’t know what happens to the girls, only that the king needs their powers and that they never return. When Evike was a little girl her mother was taken and now it’s her turn. One of the Woodsmen, a one eyed Woodsmen, Gáspár is the prince and the weak link for Evike to manipulate. They travel through different lands meet many different people, until they return to the king. Where Gáspár’s illegitimate brother schemes to take the throne. There’s adventure and action and even a little romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
lakeh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was a really lovely book. Equal parts heartwarming and gruesome, which was really fun!
I liked the main character, Évike, a lot. She was tough and sarcastic and she never sacrificed that. It was different from a lot of other main characters I've read, and I LOVED her dynamic with Gáspár.
Sometimes, I think the author sped through scenes too quickly. I was reeling and felt that more time should have been spent processing some events. Some things I couldn't quite picture, and the descriptions didn't work for me. But those critiques don't take away from how colorful and imaginative the book is. It draws from so much, and you can really tell that Reid did some serious research and poured so much love into this novel.
Overall, a fantastic read.
I liked the main character, Évike, a lot. She was tough and sarcastic and she never sacrificed that. It was different from a lot of other main characters I've read, and I LOVED her dynamic with Gáspár.
Sometimes, I think the author sped through scenes too quickly. I was reeling and felt that more time should have been spent processing some events. Some things I couldn't quite picture, and the descriptions didn't work for me. But those critiques don't take away from how colorful and imaginative the book is. It draws from so much, and you can really tell that Reid did some serious research and poured so much love into this novel.
Overall, a fantastic read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
sabrinz's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
It's not really easy to say what I though about this book.
I loved the premise and the beginning where we meet Evike and her village, where most women and girls can perform some sort of magic (forging, healing or clairvoyance). But every few years, the Woodsmen come and take one girl with them to the capital and to the king.
This year, the king wants a seer, but the village can't spare one - so they send Evike who has no magic of her own.
As I said - the premise is amazing. Add to that old fairy tales and it should have been one of my new favourite books.
For me, unfortunately, the story did not deliver completely in that regard. Large parts of the story feel like the reader is just being dragged along from one point to the other. However, those stops along the story line do make sense at the end when everything comes full circle. Still, some of the characters are a bit flat (unfortunatley, I really wanted to love Gaspar (or his fellow Woodsmen we meet at first - until their untimely demise) or hate the king but also see that he's not just evil). While that came through in the story, it was more like an offhand remark rather than consuming me and the story.
Still, a very well-written story (I do like the style!) as a first book. It just did not grab me all the way.
I loved the premise and the beginning where we meet Evike and her village, where most women and girls can perform some sort of magic (forging, healing or clairvoyance). But every few years, the Woodsmen come and take one girl with them to the capital and to the king.
This year, the king wants a seer, but the village can't spare one - so they send Evike who has no magic of her own.
As I said - the premise is amazing. Add to that old fairy tales and it should have been one of my new favourite books.
For me, unfortunately, the story did not deliver completely in that regard. Large parts of the story feel like the reader is just being dragged along from one point to the other. However, those stops along the story line do make sense at the end when everything comes full circle. Still, some of the characters are a bit flat (unfortunatley, I really wanted to love Gaspar (or his fellow Woodsmen we meet at first - until their untimely demise) or hate the king but also see that he's not just evil). While that came through in the story, it was more like an offhand remark rather than consuming me and the story.
Still, a very well-written story (I do like the style!) as a first book. It just did not grab me all the way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Physical abuse
geekysasha's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Genocide and Death of parent
Antisemitism (a fantasy version of it) and religious bigotry are among the obstacles the characters face in this story, but the story itself is not.queenmackenzie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Wolf and the Woodsman opens in a familiar way; once a year, a girl from the village is taken by the King to maintain peace between the two groups. The story that follows, however, is anything but worn out. Instead of being the one powerful girl among her people, as many stories in this vein might go, Évike is the only one who seems to be barren, not blessed by their gods with the power to heal, or summon flame, or forge metal through song, or see visions of the future. For this, she has been mocked and despised by the other girls her entire life, and even the old seer she lives with, Virág, who took her in after her mother was taken by the Woodsmen, does not treat her kindly.
So, when Virág sees that the Woodsmen are coming for a seer, she dresses Évike up as one and sends her in place of Katalin, her main tormentor, so that the village will not remain without foresight. Before they even reach the capital, however, Évike and the Woodsmen are attacked by the monsters that roam the great forest of Ezer Szem, and only her and the Captain survive. Except, in that moment, each realises the other is not what they seem: Évike is no seer, and Gáspár is no captain, but is the true-born prince of Régország.
A tenuous alliance ensues, as Gáspár does not have the skills to survive alone in the wild, and Évike does not want to risk another being taken from her village if she were to run away. Together, the two of them journey to the North, in search of a creature that may grant the king power to see the future, allowing him to win the war that is ravaging the country, and appeasing the masses who have begun to turn to Nándor, Gáspár’s half-brother, who is plotting to seize the throne. Through this and other ventures, the wolf-girl and the Woodsman realise that, perhaps, there is not so great a difference between them as they first thought.
‘I remember how the fire roared to life in front of the captain, so sudden and sure. Any wolf-girl would have marvelled at such a fire, easily as impressive as the work of out best fire-makers. We would have called it power, magic. They called it piety. But what is the difference, if both fires burn just as bright?’
This story certainly does not pull its punches. It is exquisitely written, each sentence crafted perfectly, suffused with myth and story, yet so much of this world is pain and violence. This certainly reflects Évike’s experience; her life has been full of pain and neglect. She is the only daughter of the village without power, and she is the only one who’s father was not a village man, but a Yehuli tax collector. And though she did not always love the stories told to her by Virág because she feels they do not belong to her, she uses them during her long journey with Gáspár, telling him of her gods and heroes, and using those stories to give herself strength.
I really loved reading all the short tales embedded within the book, and I loved the way they all come from different cultural points but still have many overlapping elements. Gáspár’s faith, for example, is the Patrifaith which worships one God and is the enforced religion of the kingdom, but its founder was a pagan-born man. Évike’s people are pagans, and they pray to multiple gods. The Yehuli are also considered pagan by the Patricians, but they also worship one God, and they are the ethnoreligious group based on the Jewish people. From what I understand, a lot of the elements of the story also draw on Hungarian history and mythology, and though I am not familiar with it, it was still a joy to discover. What I also enjoyed was the way each of these faiths is given credit – there is not one that is disproven, but each group who believes in the blessing of their deity is rewarded with power.
There was a part of the story that lost me for a while, because in the middle of it it didn’t feel as if there was much of a plot, and what there was didn’t seem to me to have any possible resolution that could be at all satisfying. Without spoilers, I will say that I was pleasantly wrong. The ending is not perfectly happy, but I think it was perfectly fitting to Évike’s story, and I really enjoy the way we get a glimpse of the future of the characters while still being able to imagine the rest.
Overall this was an evocative read, full of darkness and full of hope. Tender despite the cruelty of the world, and just as the characters learn to find tenderness in unlikely places, after a life of shame and neglect, this book brings forth little pieces of light in the obscurity of the haunted woods, and takes you on an adventure through myth and history along the way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
nightwing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
"The Wolf and the Woodsman" follows Évike's treacherous journey with Gáspár, a Woodsman sent to capture her and bring her to the king she's never seen and in the process, we see their ideologies and ways of life clash with one another.
I really liked the first half of the story when it was just Évike & Gáspár but once they got to the city it got a bit dull. It's also a bit difficult to describe the book...dark fantasy/romance, I guess? It's not a typical book, to say the least.
The two major antagonists felt really flat and annoyed the heck out of me, the only thing missing from them was an evil mustache to twirl. I was also a bit uncomfortable with how the villagers constantly referred to Évike as "barren" for not having magic which just felt...weird.
Évike was a very entertaining protagonist, she's one you root for but you also want to yell at her for being ridiculous, ha.
Overall, a decent read, but it's not going to be for everyone. As many have said, it's similar to Naomi Novik's "Uprooted" and I also include the recent release "Serpent & Dove" by Shelby Mahuri as a similar read. Basically, dark fantasy, dark romance, dark everything! Not that it's bad, but if you're looking for a Hallmark romance, this ain't it.
"The Wolf and the Woodsman" follows Évike's treacherous journey with Gáspár, a Woodsman sent to capture her and bring her to the king she's never seen and in the process, we see their ideologies and ways of life clash with one another.
I really liked the first half of the story when it was just Évike & Gáspár but once they got to the city it got a bit dull. It's also a bit difficult to describe the book...dark fantasy/romance, I guess? It's not a typical book, to say the least.
The two major antagonists felt really flat and annoyed the heck out of me, the only thing missing from them was an evil mustache to twirl. I was also a bit uncomfortable with how the villagers constantly referred to Évike as "barren" for not having magic which just felt...weird.
Évike was a very entertaining protagonist, she's one you root for but you also want to yell at her for being ridiculous, ha.
Overall, a decent read, but it's not going to be for everyone. As many have said, it's similar to Naomi Novik's "Uprooted" and I also include the recent release "Serpent & Dove" by Shelby Mahuri as a similar read. Basically, dark fantasy, dark romance, dark everything! Not that it's bad, but if you're looking for a Hallmark romance, this ain't it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Murder
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN is an enemies-to-lovers tale filled with bickering and tender moments of wound-care. It luxuriates in tense conversation, short back-and-forth dialogues punctuated by stony silence and snow. The MC’s narrative ruminations on her traveling companion deftly show what she thinks of him while leaving room for something more in his body language that an interested reader might puzzle out. They fill the silence in a way that ensures the reader is never left alone, even while the MC is trapped in her head, relentlessly pondering the meaning of every word, silence, and gesture from the Woodsman. They are drawn together by a strangely aligned goals that have, at minimum, a destination in common for both of them. Once at this destination, the narrative opens somewhat while still keeping focus on the weight of words and the way they can twist in an instant from toying to cruel, from mild interest to genuine warmth. Its slowly widening scope introduces the political tightrope the MC must traverse. Here it becomes apparent that amid all that travel, banter, and attempts to not fall in love was a lot of very important information about the power structure and current state of the kingdom and its leader. I really like political structures in fantasy, and therefore was very interested in this one, but it isn’t a politically dense book. It conveyed really well essential social information in a seemingly inconsequential manner before the MC arrived in locations where she needed to use that knowledge, and I appreciate how well it was worked in.
One of the strengths of this as an enemies-to-lovers story was that the MC and the eventual love interest had pretty good reasons to dislike each other as kinds of people, but not to already hate each other specifically, which made the transformation from ire to romance feel believable but not rushed. A lot of really excellent emotional groundwork and world-building was laid in the first half of the book, which meant that the second half could carefully subvert some (but not all) of those expectations and play with their implications in some really great ways. I feel a little as though that’s just how good books work, but the first and second half feel so distinct to me. Each had their own unique flavor which made the whole book sing. The world building is really good. I like the way that there were canonically several paths to magic, all of which are different in their particulars but involve some combination of access, mastery, and sacrifice. The MC begins the book thinking that she is unable to use the path that everyone has been expecting her to have. she finds her way into the path that’s good for her; not wholly new ground, something recognizable to those around her even if her specific blend is a bit strange.
One of the strengths of this as an enemies-to-lovers story was that the MC and the eventual love interest had pretty good reasons to dislike each other as kinds of people, but not to already hate each other specifically, which made the transformation from ire to romance feel believable but not rushed. A lot of really excellent emotional groundwork and world-building was laid in the first half of the book, which meant that the second half could carefully subvert some (but not all) of those expectations and play with their implications in some really great ways. I feel a little as though that’s just how good books work, but the first and second half feel so distinct to me. Each had their own unique flavor which made the whole book sing. The world building is really good. I like the way that there were canonically several paths to magic, all of which are different in their particulars but involve some combination of access, mastery, and sacrifice. The MC begins the book thinking that she is unable to use the path that everyone has been expecting her to have. she finds her way into the path that’s good for her; not wholly new ground, something recognizable to those around her even if her specific blend is a bit strange.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Cannibalism
CW for ableism (minor), bullying, kidnapping, homophobia (minor), racism, antisemitism, religious bigotry, blood, gore, vomit, sexual content, physical abuse, domestic abuse (backstory), emotional abuse, self harm, murder, torture, cannibalism (not depicted), animal death, parental death, child death, death (graphic).
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