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bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
2.5
One of the quote endorsement things on my library’s copy of this book said it was great for “fans of Uprooted,” and I am definitely a fan of Uprooted. And I was liking the twisted fairy tale vibes I was getting from the back cover.
As hard as everything from the cover to the protagonist’s name tries to give a Red Riding Hood vibe, For the Wolf is reimagining of Beauty and the Beast if anything. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’ve watched the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, you’ll be able to predict the basic shape of a lot of future events.
In this word, the gods are gone, and the Wolf in the Wilderwood has them trapped. Per tradition that’s practically taken the role of prophecy, the oldest princess becomes queen, and the second princess gets sacrificed to the Wolf in hopes that an acceptable sacrifice will convince him to release the gods. Naturally, queens try to only have one daughter, but Red has the unfortunate honor of being a twin. So on her twentieth birthday, she got to be sacrificed to the Wolf.
The main story is Red, meeting the Wolf (which is actually a title, not a species indicator), exploring what in the heck is going on in the Wilderwood, and dealing with magic. But there are also some parts from the perspective of Neve, Red’s sister, back at home and desperate to get her sister back.
At first, I loved the story. It definitely had Uprooted vibes, I was curious about the Wilderwood and what was behind all the weird stuff going on, and I was actually a little interested in the relationship between Red and the Wolf.
And then it started to drag. Red is stubborn and powerful and has an attitude of “I’m here now so I’m going to help,” but the Wolf absolutely refuses to tell her anything about what’s going on, claiming he’s trying to protect her even when knowing would help her protect herself. I was expecting him to eventually give in and tell her and then the story could start, but he never did. Red doesn’t find out certain Very Essential Information until right before the climax. It only took a few chapters for this deliberate and repeated refusal to let Red join the plot to go from slowing down the story to outright frustrating.
The big driving force of this story is how much Red is loved, but I think I have a different understanding of love than than what’s in this book. There are no less than two (and arguably three) characters who show their love for Red by being willing to die in the process of undoing Red’s choice rather than accept that she made a choice they didn’t like. They all said they loved her – and maybe they thought they did – but actual love has to also involve respecting the other person’s autonomy. If they aren’t willing to respect her choices about her own life and instead do everything in their power to force her to do what they want, that shows more that they feel like they own her or are entitled to make decisions for her rather than loving her.
I wish I could have liked this book more than I did. The world was fantastic, even the small bits of politics that I got from Neve’s sections were interesting, a unique religion is a driving force in the story, the Wolf’s story was revealed in tantalizing layers, I actually enjoyed the slow-burn relationship between Red and the Wolf, and the Wilderwood was a great setting with a lot of potential. But even though the story hinged around Red’s choices, every single character in the book was dead set against letting her make those choices – or if she managed to anyway, doing everything up to and including dying to undo them. It’s like the entire story was telling Red, “Yeah, we know you’re the main character, but we don’t want you to be part of it so it sit down and shut up.”
I did finish it. I suppose it’s because I wanted to see if anyone ever let Red make a choice (spoiler: no, the only “character” who respects Red’s choices is not even human) and because there were other good things in the book (the Wilderwood, mainly) whose stories I wanted to see play out. I was so excited to find something similar to Uprooted that I hoped to love, and then it rapidly decided that it hated its protagonist and drove me into frustration. I wish I could have liked this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Murder and Sexual content
books_before_bed_'s review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It's very rare that I realize how much a book is going to grab me soul before I finish it, but this one did. I am absolutely astounded at this beautiful story, and cannot wait for the sequel
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
dannythestreet's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Stalking
oceanw1's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement and Sexual content
historic_wince's review
2.0
This book wasn't for me. I found the story really difficult to get into, even when there were elements I really liked and found interesting. In particular, I did not care for the writing style, especially the repetition. I felt the author told me a lot of things, rather than showing them. And sometimes this was so excessive, I felt a bit insulted as the reader. While I didn't find fault with the events that happened, most of the events of the main plot seemed to take place in a timescale that I was not convinced by.
Nearly DNFed, only finished because I had a long car ride and it filled the time nicely.
Nearly DNFed, only finished because I had a long car ride and it filled the time nicely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, and Body horror
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
FOR THE WOLF is a slow burn fantasy story full of magic and longing, built on wound care and vibing. Probably not a retelling in traditional sense, it has the bones of Beauty and the Beast, the flesh and sinew of something all its own, twisted and bloody but still whole.
The plot is there, technically, but most of the action is them running around bleeding or not bleeding or asking the other one to bleed or not bleed on something so it can do or not do a magic thing. Also there's only one bed, and some gestures at a love triangle that resolves itself with very little fanfare. If you don't like wound care and longing then read something else, as that's (gloriously, intimately) the bulk of the text. There's a larger arc involving Red's twin sister which is set to continue in the next book, and it has a lot of promise. I like this one, it hits a niche I didn't realize I was missing.
The plot is there, technically, but most of the action is them running around bleeding or not bleeding or asking the other one to bleed or not bleed on something so it can do or not do a magic thing. Also there's only one bed, and some gestures at a love triangle that resolves itself with very little fanfare. If you don't like wound care and longing then read something else, as that's (gloriously, intimately) the bulk of the text. There's a larger arc involving Red's twin sister which is set to continue in the next book, and it has a lot of promise. I like this one, it hits a niche I didn't realize I was missing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Body horror, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual content, Confinement, Gore, Murder, and Death of parent
fieldsofcow's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, and Body horror
meggers's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Self harm
reeseq10's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, and Murder
graculus's review
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Another entry for the 'thank heavens I got this from the library and didn't spend cash money on it' category of reviews, I'm afraid. Which is a shame, since this was a book I was very much looking forward to and hoped would give me more than it managed to do. Meanwhile, I know there's also a bit of an issue at the moment where some people automatically go 'female authored fantasy book = YA' - this book is categorically not being sold as that but that's not helped when the writing overall (and particularly the relationship out of nowhere) feels just so teenage at times.
Okay, on with the book itself, which is the first of a trilogy. It's set in a world where there's an ongoing deal between the rulers of a particular kingdom and the wild forest on their borders that if there are two daughters born into the royal house, the first will be the heir (since it's a matrilineal crown, apparently) and the second will be sacrificed to the forest. The job of this particular country, which apparently survives in significant part because of it and the tithes it receives as a result, is to hold back the encroaching forest which would otherwise cover everything. There's also a slightly confusing piece of world-building going on about five kings who we discover partway through the book were not the Good People they were supposed to be.
Anyway, our protagonist (Red) is the eponymous Second Daughter and has been brought up for her entire life on this basis. She and her older sister also had an odd encounter a few years earlier when they got drunk and tried to burn the nearest part of the forest, only for the forest's magic to manifest through her and kill some local bandits in various gruesome ways. On reaching the right age, Red goes into the forest despite all of this and meets the Wolf, who conveniently turns out to be an attractive emo boy with floppy hair and a tendency to try to take responsibility for everything on himself called Eamonn.
Without spoiling the entire story, there's a lot of blood magic going on (mostly involving people who are not just restricted to Red and Eamonn cutting themselves) and also lots of the forest going a bit crazy for various reasons, both positive and negative. Red's sister is dragged into a conspiracy involving the religious practitioners of her country, supposedly in order to get Red back from the forest, but really for ulterior motives of their own.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did but found myself skimming chunks of it as the same things happened over and over again - character A is told not to do something but does it anyway, character B feels guilty about it even though it's clearly character A's fault for being a stubborn dumbass. Rinse and repeat. This is also one of those books where the world-building has been a bit over-egged and at times became semi-coherent as a result and that always has an impact on my ability to give a crap about what happens to the characters. I'm sure there will be people who'll absolutely adore this book but I'm not one of them. I might pick the next one up from the library if they get it but there's plenty of other stuff I'd prioritise reading first over that...
Okay, on with the book itself, which is the first of a trilogy. It's set in a world where there's an ongoing deal between the rulers of a particular kingdom and the wild forest on their borders that if there are two daughters born into the royal house, the first will be the heir (since it's a matrilineal crown, apparently) and the second will be sacrificed to the forest. The job of this particular country, which apparently survives in significant part because of it and the tithes it receives as a result, is to hold back the encroaching forest which would otherwise cover everything. There's also a slightly confusing piece of world-building going on about five kings who we discover partway through the book were not the Good People they were supposed to be.
Anyway, our protagonist (Red) is the eponymous Second Daughter and has been brought up for her entire life on this basis. She and her older sister also had an odd encounter a few years earlier when they got drunk and tried to burn the nearest part of the forest, only for the forest's magic to manifest through her and kill some local bandits in various gruesome ways. On reaching the right age, Red goes into the forest despite all of this and meets the Wolf, who conveniently turns out to be an attractive emo boy with floppy hair and a tendency to try to take responsibility for everything on himself called Eamonn.
Without spoiling the entire story, there's a lot of blood magic going on (mostly involving people who are not just restricted to Red and Eamonn cutting themselves) and also lots of the forest going a bit crazy for various reasons, both positive and negative. Red's sister is dragged into a conspiracy involving the religious practitioners of her country, supposedly in order to get Red back from the forest, but really for ulterior motives of their own.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did but found myself skimming chunks of it as the same things happened over and over again - character A is told not to do something but does it anyway, character B feels guilty about it even though it's clearly character A's fault for being a stubborn dumbass. Rinse and repeat. This is also one of those books where the world-building has been a bit over-egged and at times became semi-coherent as a result and that always has an impact on my ability to give a crap about what happens to the characters. I'm sure there will be people who'll absolutely adore this book but I'm not one of them. I might pick the next one up from the library if they get it but there's plenty of other stuff I'd prioritise reading first over that...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Blood
Minor: Body horror