Reviews with content warning for Blood - For the Wolf

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.

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bodiesinbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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tiitu's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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holthmsn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

4.5

For The Wolf is a creative story which is loosely based on the story of Little Red Riding Wolf, following our main character called Red who is destined for the Wolf. While the novel gets into the rhythm of the story and becomes enjoyable, the first 100 pages of the book have a lot of world building. For The Wolf also centres around a unique magic system and once developed into the main plot, is an enjoyable read!

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olivialandryxo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

This was already on my TBR, but I moved it much further up after one of my favorite bookish content creators read and loved it. I’m so glad I did, because it’s a hidden gem in the adult fantasy genre.

As soon as I started reading it, I was enthralled. Whitten’s writing is beautiful, the world and lore she created intriguing and easy to become immersed in. Although the slower pace is consistent throughout nearly the entire novel, my interest never wavered because I always wanted to know what happened next.

The best part of the story was undeniably the characters. Red and Eammon are two people both cursed to bear something started by prior generations, and even though her brazenness is quite a contrast to his quieter nature, they shared the same determination to uphold their bargains. From that, a tentative friendship blossomed, and then came a tender, heartwarming slow-burn romance. GOOD GOD I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! ❤️❤️❤️

You know that moment in books when a character addresses the protagonist one way, and then the love interest is like “that’s my spouse”? This book has that and it is so amazing, so satisfying. I didn’t know I needed that specific trope in my life until this moment.

‘I love you. I’m for the Wolf.’

‘I’m for you.’

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO JUST DEAL WITH THAT? MY HEART’S GONNA COMBUST. 🥺🥺🥺

The ending went in a couple of different unexpected directions, and the pace definitely picked up in those final chapters. I can’t say much without spoiling, but it was a mix of entertaining and nerve-wracking, and I would just like to thank Hannah Whitten for not breaking me with the cliffhanger I fully expected we’d get. So thank you, Ms. Whitten. You’ll never see this, but thank you nonetheless. :)

I knew something was up with Kiri almost instantly. I had a feeling she poisoned the queen, and it didn’t surprise me to find out she’d also poisoned the High Priestess. She’s messed up, in more ways than one, and I have a bad feeling about her. The fact that she’s not dead…. she won’t accept defeat that easily. I have a feeling she’ll be back.

And also, maybe this is bad of me, but I don’t really care that Neve is trapped in the Shadowlands. I lost interest in her chapters after a couple of them, as they took me away from Red and Eammon and that was the story I wanted to read. Like, I’m glad she’s not dead, she doesn’t deserve that, but god, she was manipulated so easily. And it’s honestly her own fault that she’s in the situation she’s in. So. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So yeah, Red and Eammon and Lyra and Fife have stolen my heart—although it was mostly the first two—and this is now one of my favorite adult fantasies. I want my own copy, and I want everyone to read this. Also, the sequel comes out two days after my birthday, so that’ll be a brilliant present to myself. Love that for me!!

Representation

side characters of color

Content Warnings

thebookishworm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I had high hopes for this book, and I wanted to like this book more than I did, which is why the reality of this book is so disappointing.

I think the two major things working against this book were the world-building and the pacing. I would have appreciated more information on how the magic worked, why they even want the Kings to return, how the monsters got there, etc. Literally the only thing that was thoroughly explained was that the trees need blood to stay strong and will do anything to have it.

l think the thing that worked against this book was the pacing. Over halfway through the book, I was still confused about what was happening, and why I should care. It felt like until almost the 70% mark the entire book was just Eammon being like "sorry, I have to bleed all over these trees," and Red being like "I have this freaky power and I miss my sister." And then, in the final 30%, all of the pieces slot together and is sorta-kinda-not-at-all resolved. There needed to be more action and plot beyond just bleeding over different trees for 280 pages of the story. I think the interludes with Neve and what was happening back in Valleyda was what kept the plot moving along, and because of that, I think this book would have benefitted from being told from primarily from Neve's perspective, with the interludes coming from Red. I get why the author chose to tell this first story from Red's perspective, in order to set up the world and show how the myths were wrong and warped, but, if that was the case, there should have been more going on during Red's chapters.

Also, every character in this book was so hellbent on either being a martyr or saving somebody who didn't want/need saving, and that got annoying quickly, especially at the end.

Eammon and Red's eventual romance and get-together was done way too quickly. We see them reluctantly become friends but no tension is built between them to explain how we got from that to this all-sacrificing love. And (this is a minor, petty gripe) their hookup is way too tame - if you're going to make me sit through hundreds of pages of nothing happening, at least give me more than just a fade-to-black sex scene that leaves it murky on if they even had sex.

It became pretty clear early on that this book was just a setup to a sequel following Neve's story, but I think in order for that method to be successful, you need to make this first book compelling enough to make me want to read the next book in the series, and, for now, I don't think that was accomplished for me. If the purpose of this book was just to set up the series, it could have been a novella and not over 400 pages, of which only the last ~100 really did or revealed anything. If you're committed to plowing through this one to get the backstory built up and then moving on to the sequel once it is published, I think you'll enjoy this book, but otherwise, I would save your time and read/watch a spoiler-y review of this book and then just read the second book when it comes out.

I will say, for all its flaws, the writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. There are some really amazing lines in here and Whitten does a great job building a rich atmosphere.

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