Reviews with content warning for Blood - For the Wolf

This retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with touches of Beauty & The Beast was imaginative, dark, and romantic with some major flaws. The magic system was nuanced and inventive, but was hard to follow. The world building was extensive and captivating. The main character did not have much agency over the plot which was frustrating. I struggled to really understand the main character’s personality or values. Supporting characters were loveable and light. The pace of the book was slow to begin and a very fast-paced falling action leading to the second book.

Content Warnings

tifftastic87's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

First off, this book needs content warnings (I know they're below but they need to be here too).
⚠️ Self-harm (cutting)

When presented with her destiny as a human sacrifice, Redarys appears to take it on the chin. Really she's hiding from magic that wants to consume her. Eammon, the Wolf, is Warden of the Wilderwood where Red is destined for. But the Wilderwood is dying and Eammon is determined to save and Red and he is not accepting applications for assistants.

Supposedly, this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I fail to see it. The only similarities is a curse that makes the town think a man is a monster and love breaking that curse. The two main characters are both stubborn martyrs and that is where most of the conflict comes from. If they could be honest and communicate from the beginning things would have been better. But the main story is politics and religion.

The actual plot of the story, which is shadowed a bit by the romance plot, is one of religious fanaticism that is actually really well done. There's a dark versus light magic trope used where the religious use the dark magic and are out for power. The damn athiests only wantinf peace, love, and healthy trees.

That being said, the magic system was a little confusing. Its clear that is blood magic but it reacts different in different settings and different people. It isnt predictable unless it is. I would have liked to have seen this worked out a bit better.

Oh ya and the age gap, centuries to 20 years....

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anniereads221's review against another edition

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slow-paced

5.0

Eammon and Red own my whole heart, but not only that i love Lyra and Fife as well, Neve and Raffe were also good but these characters i am so excited to see how they will be in For The Throne.

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kelsenator's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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bizupto's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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marisabenn's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-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

3.75

This was good, but... confusing? I really had to push myself through this one. The last half-ish of the book was amazing. I HATED the interludes with Neve. I did not care one bit about her.

Also, it felt like the author didn't know if this was going to be YA or not.

I would have loved more romance and bonding with Red and Eammon. All in all, I did enjoy this and look forward to the second book.

But man did I have to push myself through it.

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hbae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

cutiemuffin23's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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