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katievallin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Xenophobia, War, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Genocide, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Gore, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Antisemitism, and Bullying
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Alcohol
anastasiadreaming's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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? It's complicated
2.0
I really wanted to love this one, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. I’m granting one star for the atmosphere, and another for Gáspár, but I’m stripping three for how nonsensical Évike’s decision-making was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, and Lesbophobia
fuitfortuna's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Mixed feelings on this one.
I really liked the world building, it was interesting and I could tell that the author was really knowledgeable about the folklore that inspired the world and the magic system was intriguing.
My problems lie everywhere else. While Reid certainly is talented I often found some of the writing repetitive, the author would find a phrase she liked and rinse it multiple times within 5 pages and at times i found it very difficult to power through - i actually put the book down for almost two months when i reached the halfway point because i had no motivation to continue.
And that’s not even to mention how this almost felt like a YA masquerading as an adult? Evike is supposed to be 25 but spends most of the book acting like she’s 16. I have no real basis for this but there were multiple times where the vibes were just incredibly YA.
The pacing was also a large issue for me the first half of the book almost moved too slow and the second half moved way too fast. The book really started to pick up once they reached the city and then it felt like events were flying by. This was really unfortunate as once we meet Katalin once again and have the big battle (for some reason?) it feels so unearned that I just didn’t really care.
I also have some conflicted thoughts on the romance. I’d heard it was more of an enemies-to-lovers type of deal and to not expect it to be the main focus of the story. And while they were certainly enemies at the very start by virtue of their backgrounds, the romance actually felt very insta-love to me,with little development as to why they’d grown to care for each other. Though I agree that the romance should not be the main thing you focus on, it’s difficult not to when Evike is horny for Gaspar on like every page.
The epilogue left me very unfulfilled, while I could understand how Evike longed to belong somewhere and loved Keszi despite her difficult history I do not understand why she would have chosen to go back there when like every single person there was terrible to her at best and actively abusive at worst.
Overall I was quite disappointed as I expected to like this a lot more than I actually did, perhaps I just built it up too much in my head. However I did still enjoy most of the book and would read some of the authors other works.
I really liked the world building, it was interesting and I could tell that the author was really knowledgeable about the folklore that inspired the world and the magic system was intriguing.
My problems lie everywhere else. While Reid certainly is talented I often found some of the writing repetitive, the author would find a phrase she liked and rinse it multiple times within 5 pages and at times i found it very difficult to power through - i actually put the book down for almost two months when i reached the halfway point because i had no motivation to continue.
And that’s not even to mention how this almost felt like a YA masquerading as an adult? Evike is supposed to be 25 but spends most of the book acting like she’s 16. I have no real basis for this but there were multiple times where the vibes were just incredibly YA.
The pacing was also a large issue for me the first half of the book almost moved too slow and the second half moved way too fast.
I also have some conflicted thoughts on the romance. I’d heard it was more of an enemies-to-lovers type of deal and to not expect it to be the main focus of the story. And while they were certainly enemies at the very start by virtue of their backgrounds, the romance actually felt very insta-love to me,
Overall I was quite disappointed as I expected to like this a lot more than I actually did, perhaps I just built it up too much in my head. However I did still enjoy most of the book and would read some of the authors other works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death, Self harm, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Antisemitism, War, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
bitteralbatross's review against another edition
As much as I'm on board with hating the racist religious guy, it's absolutely abhorrent to mock someone and actively try to make them uncomfortable about sex. That's not cute banter, that's gross.
Very insta-love for someone from the order that killed her mother and countless other women, and thinks she and her people don't deserve human rights. Before he has had any kind of character growth. Also thinking someone is hot is not chemistry. I did not need every sentence to mention how sexy she thinks he is. The yearning was so ham-fisted, going into way too much detail instead of being subtle and giving the reader credit for understanding the tension, which should grow over time. "My breath hitched, and not from the cold" - I know that from context, I don't need the constant over explanation that actually diminishes the tension.
The whole first part was repetitive and felt so disjointed and jarring. Travel, a bit of conversation, then a thing would just happen, and they'd go back to travel. I respect that the task that would normally take up the whole book was actually resolved/abandoned early on, but it also made it feel odd and pointless? Like the whole journey hadn't furthered the plot or their relationship and experiences, and it took like two seconds to accept that they had to change their plans completely - no tension or emotion. I thought they would have encountered things along the way that would give them greater understanding of each other and more empathy, which would build their relationship and character growth but instead it just felt like things happened to them for action (or to make her think more about how sexy he is) and then they immediately moved to the next thing.
I was surprised to learn their ages given how childish and over the top the adult women mean girls at the beginning were. There's such thing as subtlety - she can feel like an outsider without having been literally abused by her entire village her whole life. And if she wanted to go that route, she could have written an interesting character affected by the trauma she experienced - she did a much better job of that in Juniper & Thorn but didn't even seem to attempt it here.
Very insta-love for someone from the order that killed her mother and countless other women, and thinks she and her people don't deserve human rights. Before he has had any kind of character growth. Also thinking someone is hot is not chemistry. I did not need every sentence to mention how sexy she thinks he is. The yearning was so ham-fisted, going into way too much detail instead of being subtle and giving the reader credit for understanding the tension, which should grow over time. "My breath hitched, and not from the cold" - I know that from context, I don't need the constant over explanation that actually diminishes the tension.
The whole first part was repetitive and felt so disjointed and jarring. Travel, a bit of conversation, then a thing would just happen, and they'd go back to travel.
I was surprised to learn their ages given how childish and over the top the adult women mean girls at the beginning were. There's such thing as subtlety - she can feel like an outsider without having been literally abused by her entire village her whole life. And if she wanted to go that route, she could have written an interesting character affected by the trauma she experienced - she did a much better job of that in Juniper & Thorn but didn't even seem to attempt it here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child death
simone_elizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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
4.0
The thing I enjoyed most about this book was how it challenged our cultures view of historical eastern Europe and put marginalized cultures in the spotlight. I loved reading about Reid’s perspective on fiction as an academic and a Jewish person. The writing had some confusing imagery and the characters often repeated themselves, but those are minor gripes, especially for a debut. Also the gore in this book is hard core! (Which honestly… slay)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, Blood, Xenophobia, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Racism, War, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content
ash_valkyreader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Body horror, Bullying, and Violence
char42's review against another edition
Evike was a frustrating mc with a juvenile pov. The romance was predictable, uncomfortable, and shallow. The folk lore elements were fascinating but often felt very poorly incorporated into the plot. I might give finishing it another try someday.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Body horror, and Slavery
gemmie_gee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, War, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
adonis_march's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
The Wolf and the Woodsman is a debut novel. It’s got the clunk of one. But by god, is it a good debut novel. For all my issues with some of the tropes in this book, and it’s pacing, and occasionally meandering plot, the latter half of this novel had my heart pounding, my stomach doing turns.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Blood, Murder, Gore, and Hate crime
Moderate: Classism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Bullying, Self harm, Body horror, War, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Kidnapping
This is a book very much about the horrific history and acts of Christian zealotry that caused both pagan and Jewish communities to be wiped out, and echoes the centuries of fear and grief that the Jewish community has had to endure since.anna_feather's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.5
where to start? with the fact that i’m glad it the book i start 2023 with probably.
i cannot not recommend this book. it’s great, beautifully written and at the end you just want more of it.
i could have read thousand of pages of Evike and Gáspár doing nothing, with the author’s prose i would have love it just as much.
don’t get me wrong the plot is great too and i have things to say about it but the characters are the most important for me in a story. they kinda had a Nina/Matthias dynamic while being different and having a different character’s development.
the plot is a good one. it’s not my blowing but every story has already been told and it’s retold in a good way here.
the other thing Ava Reid nailed was the whole religious, myths and unfortunately the hatred that comes with it. this part of her world building felt so tangible, i believe in it immediately.
another tiny thing is the names. i loved how they sounded it.
i cannot not recommend this book. it’s great, beautifully written and at the end you just want more of it.
i could have read thousand of pages of Evike and Gáspár doing nothing, with the author’s prose i would have love it just as much.
don’t get me wrong the plot is great too and i have things to say about it but the characters are the most important for me in a story. they kinda had a Nina/Matthias dynamic while being different and having a different character’s development.
the plot is a good one. it’s not my blowing but every story has already been told and it’s retold in a good way here.
the other thing Ava Reid nailed was the whole religious, myths and unfortunately the hatred that comes with it. this part of her world building felt so tangible, i believe in it immediately.
another tiny thing is the names. i loved how they sounded it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore