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wolfinthestars's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Genocide, Bullying, Colonisation, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
instalovewithbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.25
I really want to hug Evike and Gaspar and just love them like they deserve. My precious cinnamon rolls.
The subplot of romance was really good and it was slow burn, and I loved it, but the fact that they don't actually end up together ruined me, I totally get it but 🥲🥲
The subplot of romance was really good and it was slow burn, and I loved it, but the fact that they don't actually end up together ruined me, I totally get it but 🥲🥲
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Colonisation, and Gore
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
lele_funland's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Violence
cemeterygay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I am so immensely happy I read this as my first fantasy of the year. If you're looking for a phenomenal fantasy steeped in aspects of Jewish and Hungarian folklore with a heavy dose of gore and beautiful prose, I could not recommend this book enough. This book is just a spectacular debut for Ava Reid.
The beautiful lyrical writing style works so brilliantly with both the quick pacing of the story and the horror elements so beautifully to create an almost gruesome fairytale-esque vibe. While some of the gore and horror elements can be quite intense the writing style almost happens to spin it into a softer vibe along the lines of darker fairytales and folk stories like Cinderella or Beowulf. The choice of POV worked wonderfully in tandem with both the writing style and pacing. As the pacing of the book is just so quick limiting the book to a first-person POV helps immensely as you are often learning aspects of the world as Evike learns them or are having them gradually recounted by her which helps make the quick pacing feasible. It also helps to establish a lot more about Evike as a person and to better illustrate the many internal conflicts she was dealing with which allowed the lyrical writing style to not only just be pleasing to read but to give it purpose by helping the reader to better understand Evike and how she thinks.
That brings me to Evike as a character. She is such a brilliant protagonist who is given both great space to grow and falter and really delve into her internal struggles of cultural identity, grief, and morality while confronting the horrors of religious persecution and colonization that she faces. Evike's deep empathy and sense of internal morality colliding with both external concepts of morality and her own grief and suffering is so interesting to read as it handled with such grace and sensitivity. Watching Evike grapple and find peace with her struggles of religious and ethnic identity is so deeply interesting and satisfying. The ultimate trajectory of her story is intensely satisfying and works so beautifully with the themes of the story.
The relationship between Evike and Gaspar is so well-handled as is Gaspar as a character. I'm not a big enemies to lovers person but this, this is the blueprint for how to effectively write an enemies to lovers story. Watching both Evike and Gaspar consistently challenge each other's views on the world, the future of the country, and religion was so deeply fascinating and greatly helps the exploration of religious persecution, specifically both towards Jewish folk and as a result of Christianity, as well as the many contradictions and complexities of Christian imperialism. I was so deeply invested in watching these characters grow from enemies to reluctant allies into more and to watch them individually grow.
I also need to highlight to how much Evike's relationship with the Yehuli including her father really adds to the story. Watching Evike explore what is essentially her Jewish identity and reconnect with her family is not only incredibly heartwarming but is such a nice aspect of the story that really helps portray an amazing example of resistance against oppression. It's such a nice contrast from earlier parts of the book in both tone and character development. It really helps provide a lot of resolution to prior conflicts and questions raised in the story specifically with Evike and really gives a broader look at discussions of religion and survival in the face of Christian imperialism.
The last relationship I need to highlight is between Evike and her village. This is where a lot of the conversations of trauma and grief really shine. Watching how Evike changes her relationships and views about other people from her village is just very compelling and really goes hand in hand with how her views on her own identity, religion, and the past trauma she's suffered change. Watching her heal from past trauma while also participating in community healing as well is such a nice departure from other books. Also just seeing how much those relationships affect her other relationships with other people, her own religious identity, as well as her own sense morality is such a needed addition to the book.
The exploration of both Nandor and the magic system is just absolutely phenomenal. Nandor as a character is so deeply entwined with the magic system and the exploration of it. The way Nandor represents Christian hypocrisy and imperialism is so interesting to watch play out. He does an amazing job at really becoming an imposing unlikeable character with a very real and consistent, but not true, view on the world and religion. Nandor is so heavily used as an exploration of how different groups gain access to magic and thus gain political power and also just the way people practice religion. Watching Nandor, the Woodsmen, and even Evike sacrifice to gain power so clearly parallels a lot of the conversations in the book about each religious system and the contradictions within each's religious beliefs and practice. In general, seeing this concept used to discuss how Christianity adopted Pagan practices while also decrying them to gain support is fascinating and so well-executed. Even the discussions of how each in-text religious group view each other parallels real life experiences so brilliantly.
I just want to thank my friend Bri for getting me this book, as I think this is a book that will really stick with me for a long time.
The beautiful lyrical writing style works so brilliantly with both the quick pacing of the story and the horror elements so beautifully to create an almost gruesome fairytale-esque vibe. While some of the gore and horror elements can be quite intense the writing style almost happens to spin it into a softer vibe along the lines of darker fairytales and folk stories like Cinderella or Beowulf. The choice of POV worked wonderfully in tandem with both the writing style and pacing. As the pacing of the book is just so quick limiting the book to a first-person POV helps immensely as you are often learning aspects of the world as Evike learns them or are having them gradually recounted by her which helps make the quick pacing feasible. It also helps to establish a lot more about Evike as a person and to better illustrate the many internal conflicts she was dealing with which allowed the lyrical writing style to not only just be pleasing to read but to give it purpose by helping the reader to better understand Evike and how she thinks.
That brings me to Evike as a character. She is such a brilliant protagonist who is given both great space to grow and falter and really delve into her internal struggles of cultural identity, grief, and morality while confronting the horrors of religious persecution and colonization that she faces. Evike's deep empathy and sense of internal morality colliding with both external concepts of morality and her own grief and suffering is so interesting to read as it handled with such grace and sensitivity. Watching Evike grapple and find peace with her struggles of religious and ethnic identity is so deeply interesting and satisfying. The ultimate trajectory of her story is intensely satisfying and works so beautifully with the themes of the story.
The relationship between Evike and Gaspar is so well-handled as is Gaspar as a character.
I also need to highlight to how much Evike's relationship with the Yehuli including her father really adds to the story. Watching Evike explore what is essentially her Jewish identity and reconnect with her family is not only incredibly heartwarming but is such a nice aspect of the story that really helps portray an amazing example of resistance against oppression. It's such a nice contrast from earlier parts of the book in both tone and character development. It really helps provide a lot of resolution to prior conflicts and questions raised in the story specifically with Evike and really gives a broader look at discussions of religion and survival in the face of Christian imperialism.
The last relationship I need to highlight is between Evike and her village. This is where a lot of the conversations of trauma and grief really shine. Watching how Evike changes her relationships and views about other people from her village is just very compelling and really goes hand in hand with how her views on her own identity, religion, and the past trauma she's suffered change. Watching her heal from past trauma while also participating in community healing as well is such a nice departure from other books. Also just seeing how much those relationships affect her other relationships with other people, her own religious identity, as well as her own sense morality is such a needed addition to the book.
The exploration of both Nandor and the magic system is just absolutely phenomenal. Nandor as a character is so deeply entwined with the magic system and the exploration of it. The way Nandor represents Christian hypocrisy and imperialism is so interesting to watch play out. He does an amazing job at really becoming an imposing unlikeable character with a very real and consistent, but not true, view on the world and religion. Nandor is so heavily used as an exploration of how different groups gain access to magic and thus gain political power and also just the way people practice religion. Watching Nandor, the Woodsmen, and even Evike sacrifice to gain power so clearly parallels a lot of the conversations in the book about each religious system and the contradictions within each's religious beliefs and practice. In general, seeing this concept used to discuss how Christianity adopted Pagan practices while also decrying them to gain support is fascinating and so well-executed. Even the discussions of how each in-text religious group view each other parallels real life experiences so brilliantly.
I just want to thank my friend Bri for getting me this book, as I think this is a book that will really stick with me for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Vomit, Violence, War, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Grief and Child abuse
Additional CW: Colorism (moderate), hunting, frequent discussions of genocide (not actually acted upon), Neglect (moderate), Disowning (graphic), Imprisonment (fantasy), revolutionmaxgdy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
internationalreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, and War
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
After receiving the wolf in the woodsman in my illumicrate books I could not wait to read it. That edition is ✨STUNNING✨ But the normal book is gorgeous as well! The story of this book really met all my expectations! So what are the reasons I fell in love with this book:
Characters
Characters are really important to me, I can read a book with a weak plot as long as I love the characters but a book with sloppy characters is something I cannot stand…
These characters were well done, they had multiple layers to them. Faults, good traits, dreams and anxieties. They felt very real, did I like all of them? No, of course not but where they well rounded characters? Hell yess!!!
Worldbuilding
I am a sucker for rich world with a fairytale base especially if the fairytale’s are from Russian mythology. The world was really magical but with a lot of ruff edges. It’s very well done.
Plotbuilding
This is the category where the book lacks a little bit. I felt like Ava Reid wanted to bring to much to the table but it wasn’t possible to fit everything in the books 400 pages. I feel like it could have been better if some of the side plots would have been removed. One of my biggest critics is the lovestory. I shipped the couple but I would have loved more time with them. It feels like we do not get to see the love develop because Ava Reid doesn’t take the time she needs to conclude that part of the story. I would love to have seen more of the relations developments. But keep in mind that this is the only criticism I can deliver for this book.
Recommendations
Like a lot of others I saw the same vibe in this book as in the books of Katharine Arden and in Spinning Silver/ Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It has the same feeling but it doesn’t have the proza/writing flow as those other books. I missed that a little bit in the wolf and the woodsmen. But still I feel like this book could really be something for you if you liked uprooted, spinning silver and the Bear and the nightingale.
Characters
Characters are really important to me, I can read a book with a weak plot as long as I love the characters but a book with sloppy characters is something I cannot stand…
These characters were well done, they had multiple layers to them. Faults, good traits, dreams and anxieties. They felt very real, did I like all of them? No, of course not but where they well rounded characters? Hell yess!!!
Worldbuilding
I am a sucker for rich world with a fairytale base especially if the fairytale’s are from Russian mythology. The world was really magical but with a lot of ruff edges. It’s very well done.
Plotbuilding
This is the category where the book lacks a little bit. I felt like Ava Reid wanted to bring to much to the table but it wasn’t possible to fit everything in the books 400 pages. I feel like it could have been better if some of the side plots would have been removed. One of my biggest critics is the lovestory. I shipped the couple but I would have loved more time with them. It feels like we do not get to see the love develop because Ava Reid doesn’t take the time she needs to conclude that part of the story. I would love to have seen more of the relations developments. But keep in mind that this is the only criticism I can deliver for this book.
Recommendations
Like a lot of others I saw the same vibe in this book as in the books of Katharine Arden and in Spinning Silver/ Uprooted by Naomi Novik. It has the same feeling but it doesn’t have the proza/writing flow as those other books. I missed that a little bit in the wolf and the woodsmen. But still I feel like this book could really be something for you if you liked uprooted, spinning silver and the Bear and the nightingale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Racism, and Bullying
gcjay1994's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
beforeviolets's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As someone who is both Hungarian and Jewish, I was already brimming with anticipation for this book. But I would never have imagined the execution to be as flawless and riveting and gorgeously Jewish as it was. It is jam-packed with descriptive prose and constant excitement and amazing character development and pacing. The height of every plot point and every piece of character development felt earned without ever slowing down the pacing.
This book is a loose retelling of the story of Esther, which is often told around the Jewish holiday of Purim. Please look it up if you have the time, but the story is essentially about identity, about self-worth, and about human rights, all of which were themes that directly correlated with the plot of The Wolf and the Woodsman.
Firstly, the journey (physical and metaphorical) that we embarked on with the characters was so well-written. The physical journey was riddled with episodic folklore/fairytale elements, filling the travel scenes - that would normally drag in terms of pacing and development - with excitement and tension. Though a small aspect of the story as a whole, this really helped keep me engaged through a part of the story that would have otherwise potentially lost my attention and in my opinion, helped build the atmosphere of the story more than anything else.
The metaphorical journey on the other hand is one I can only begin to compliment. The conversation around religious oppression, religious divide, and anti-semitism was so purposefully and intricately woven into the framework of the character’s conversations and growth, and with such obvious care and nuance. Even the parts of the story that didn’t include the Jewish characters still felt like they included Jewish conversation at its core. I found myself screaming with excitement to see my experiences as a Jewish person in a Christian society so accurately reflected in the world of these characters. I would invite every Christian person to read this book and reflect on the oppressions their religion has placed on the world around them, in ways both large and small. (Also reminder that this is a fantasy book so this is done mostly through metaphor.)
But as much as I loved the journey and the atmosphere, the magic systems were maybe my favorite part of the entire work. They were utilized as such a strong vessel to hold conversations about power and religion and they all felt so purposefully crafted to further the themes of the story I mentioned earlier. I will say, my favorite magic system was that of the Yehuli. I could feel my Jewish ancestors smiling down at the idea of Hebrew being used as magic in and of itself. It added a whole other layer to the idea that words have meaning, and that they quite literally hold power. It made me feel empowered and it made me never want to read a non-Jewish fantasy book ever again. (It also made me want to get back to my Hebrew studies.)
I also LOVED the romance in this book. I love a good enemies to lovers slow-burn romance and Évike and Gáspár certainly delivered. However, the thing I actually loved most about this romance in particular was the fact that the romance plot line didn’t feel separate from the rest of the world or even the rest of the plot. It wasn't thrown in as a second thought or used as a little treat to toss in for the readers as a reward for getting through the dense gore and fantasy. It instead was used as a tool to continue the discussion of religious divides and power and morality and it ended up being the keystone to some of the most important themes in this story and helped the characters to grow and become better and more complex individuals, as the best romances should.
Overall, there’s not much more I can say other than I loved it. It’s a brand new favorite of mine and I can’t wait to recommend this to everyone I know.
(Also just a side note: it disgusts me to see people reviewing this book complaining that it was too Jewish or that the names in this book were "weird" and "hard to pronounce". There are cultures other than your own.)
This book is a loose retelling of the story of Esther, which is often told around the Jewish holiday of Purim. Please look it up if you have the time, but the story is essentially about identity, about self-worth, and about human rights, all of which were themes that directly correlated with the plot of The Wolf and the Woodsman.
Firstly, the journey (physical and metaphorical) that we embarked on with the characters was so well-written. The physical journey was riddled with episodic folklore/fairytale elements, filling the travel scenes - that would normally drag in terms of pacing and development - with excitement and tension. Though a small aspect of the story as a whole, this really helped keep me engaged through a part of the story that would have otherwise potentially lost my attention and in my opinion, helped build the atmosphere of the story more than anything else.
The metaphorical journey on the other hand is one I can only begin to compliment. The conversation around religious oppression, religious divide, and anti-semitism was so purposefully and intricately woven into the framework of the character’s conversations and growth, and with such obvious care and nuance. Even the parts of the story that didn’t include the Jewish characters still felt like they included Jewish conversation at its core. I found myself screaming with excitement to see my experiences as a Jewish person in a Christian society so accurately reflected in the world of these characters. I would invite every Christian person to read this book and reflect on the oppressions their religion has placed on the world around them, in ways both large and small. (Also reminder that this is a fantasy book so this is done mostly through metaphor.)
But as much as I loved the journey and the atmosphere, the magic systems were maybe my favorite part of the entire work. They were utilized as such a strong vessel to hold conversations about power and religion and they all felt so purposefully crafted to further the themes of the story I mentioned earlier. I will say, my favorite magic system was that of the Yehuli. I could feel my Jewish ancestors smiling down at the idea of Hebrew being used as magic in and of itself. It added a whole other layer to the idea that words have meaning, and that they quite literally hold power. It made me feel empowered and it made me never want to read a non-Jewish fantasy book ever again. (It also made me want to get back to my Hebrew studies.)
I also LOVED the romance in this book. I love a good enemies to lovers slow-burn romance and Évike and Gáspár certainly delivered. However, the thing I actually loved most about this romance in particular was the fact that the romance plot line didn’t feel separate from the rest of the world or even the rest of the plot. It wasn't thrown in as a second thought or used as a little treat to toss in for the readers as a reward for getting through the dense gore and fantasy. It instead was used as a tool to continue the discussion of religious divides and power and morality and it ended up being the keystone to some of the most important themes in this story and helped the characters to grow and become better and more complex individuals, as the best romances should.
Overall, there’s not much more I can say other than I loved it. It’s a brand new favorite of mine and I can’t wait to recommend this to everyone I know.
(Also just a side note: it disgusts me to see people reviewing this book complaining that it was too Jewish or that the names in this book were "weird" and "hard to pronounce". There are cultures other than your own.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Vomit, Violence, and War
Moderate: Grief
forthesanityof1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I don't know what it is about this book, but I was not able to get into it at all. I was so excited to read it and hears a lot of praising words about it (nothing in detail) for a debut so I picked it up ASAP and started it.
I honestly think it might be me with this one, but I could not bond with the characters at all. That's not usually an issue, but I was so apathetic and downright irritated at some points that it took me well over a month to finish this. The MC was...complicated, the pacing was strange to me, the love interest was not interesting outside of the religious/moral division (which was one part of the book extremely well-done), the plot was not what I expected and at times did not make any sense, and the antagonist needed some developing to really fulfill how terrifying he could have been. There were some plot points that went over my head and sometimes the MC brought up issues at very odd times, especially with Katalin (spelling??). I would like to think this was all intentional, but some of it I think was more a by-product of poor writing and editing. I'll be checking out her other works, but I would not recommend this unless religious divide being central to the story is your thing.
One major positive: the author has a beautiful way with prose! A little too much sometimes (trying to draw a scene into a specific emotion when the actual content doesn't reflect it) but nice nonetheless!
I honestly think it might be me with this one, but I could not bond with the characters at all. That's not usually an issue, but I was so apathetic and downright irritated at some points that it took me well over a month to finish this. The MC was...complicated, the pacing was strange to me, the love interest was not interesting outside of the religious/moral division (which was one part of the book extremely well-done), the plot was not what I expected and at times did not make any sense, and the antagonist needed some developing to really fulfill how terrifying he could have been. There were some plot points that went over my head and sometimes the MC brought up issues at very odd times, especially with Katalin (spelling??). I would like to think this was all intentional, but some of it I think was more a by-product of poor writing and editing. I'll be checking out her other works, but I would not recommend this unless religious divide being central to the story is your thing.
One major positive: the author has a beautiful way with prose! A little too much sometimes (trying to draw a scene into a specific emotion when the actual content doesn't reflect it) but nice nonetheless!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Violence