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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
5 Stars. Easily. Possible Spoilers below (via a quote). ARC- September 20, 2024 release date.
Thank you Sheila for the eARC, I can't wait to get my hands on the physical copy!!!
I just finished this book and let me tell you what, I loved every second of it, and I already wish I could read it for the first time again. If you're looking for female rage, vengeance, some gods fighting for power... you're going to want to read this book.
This is a standalone and after reading it, I feel like I read an entire series. So much happened within the pages of this book but it was written perfectly (from my point of view). Nothing seemed rushed to me, and I learned about the characters and their own personal stories in, what I feel, is a bunch of perfect arcs. What a wonderful story, a twist on Red Riding Hood, a twist on sacrificial maidens, and some female vengeance- which I feel like I exist for these days.
"Rowan would try for Orla and Aeoife- for all the Maidens who had come before her. She would try for Sarai, who deserved to love who she loved and live a life that allowed her to be who she truly was. She would try for their small, sheltered village that needed to acknowledge the damage done, grow from their mistakes, and never forget them so that they would not be repeated. Most of all, Rowan would try for herself. She'd been alone her whole life, but she wasn't anymore, and she never would be again, because the forest had always been listening, and it knew her pain well."
Rowan has lived her life since age 5 in the Maiden Tower, learning what she needs to do to ferry the souls of the dead to the God of Death, the Wolf, in the Dark Wood. In her 15 years of learning, most of what she has done is resign herself to her fate. Throughout the story she is mainly focused on keeping Aeoife unaware of what is going on since she is the youngest Maiden in the tower (10). However, when things go south for the Red Maiden before her she's thrust into the role much sooner than anticipated. She must find a way to be the last Red Maiden and keep Aeoife safe.
Thank you Sheila for the eARC, I can't wait to get my hands on the physical copy!!!
I just finished this book and let me tell you what, I loved every second of it, and I already wish I could read it for the first time again. If you're looking for female rage, vengeance, some gods fighting for power... you're going to want to read this book.
This is a standalone and after reading it, I feel like I read an entire series. So much happened within the pages of this book but it was written perfectly (from my point of view). Nothing seemed rushed to me, and I learned about the characters and their own personal stories in, what I feel, is a bunch of perfect arcs. What a wonderful story, a twist on Red Riding Hood, a twist on sacrificial maidens, and some female vengeance- which I feel like I exist for these days.
"Rowan would try for Orla and Aeoife- for all the Maidens who had come before her. She would try for Sarai, who deserved to love who she loved and live a life that allowed her to be who she truly was. She would try for their small, sheltered village that needed to acknowledge the damage done, grow from their mistakes, and never forget them so that they would not be repeated. Most of all, Rowan would try for herself. She'd been alone her whole life, but she wasn't anymore, and she never would be again, because the forest had always been listening, and it knew her pain well."
Rowan has lived her life since age 5 in the Maiden Tower, learning what she needs to do to ferry the souls of the dead to the God of Death, the Wolf, in the Dark Wood. In her 15 years of learning, most of what she has done is resign herself to her fate. Throughout the story she is mainly focused on keeping Aeoife unaware of what is going on since she is the youngest Maiden in the tower (10). However, when things go south for the Red Maiden before her she's thrust into the role much sooner than anticipated. She must find a way to be the last Red Maiden and keep Aeoife safe.
✨Song of the Dark Wood✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was so enchanting! I was drawn into the world and the characters immediately, and pretty much never put the book down! I read it in less than 24 hours.
This is a dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and it was very intense at times! I loved the unique twist on the story, I loved the characters, hated the (true) villains, and I loved the FMCs journey to finding herself after living an extremely sheltered, isolated life. I felt all of her hopes, disappointment, heartbreak, anger, and joy. I also appreciate that her favorite tea is my favorite tea. ☕️ The side characters were some of my favorites, they were really well developed and easy to care about! I could read a whole book about Charlie.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was so enchanting! I was drawn into the world and the characters immediately, and pretty much never put the book down! I read it in less than 24 hours.
This is a dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and it was very intense at times! I loved the unique twist on the story, I loved the characters, hated the (true) villains, and I loved the FMCs journey to finding herself after living an extremely sheltered, isolated life. I felt all of her hopes, disappointment, heartbreak, anger, and joy. I also appreciate that her favorite tea is my favorite tea. ☕️ The side characters were some of my favorites, they were really well developed and easy to care about! I could read a whole book about Charlie.
A stunning retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood that only gets better more you read!
Thank you Sheila Masterson for letting me enjoy your work early via an ARC!
If you love a gothic atmosphere and steamy romance this one is for you!
If you love a gothic atmosphere and steamy romance this one is for you!
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
This little red ridinghood retelling is everything I never knew I needed!
This story is a standalone book that follows Rowan, a Red Maiden, who is about to take on her destined duty of guiding the souls of the dead to the God of Death through the terrifying Dark Woods. She will do anything to protect the maidens who will come after her and is determined to change the way things work, little does she know she is in over her head.
I absolutely love that all power In the world comes from belief. The Gods and the Maidens have magic and get their power due to everyone's belief in them and their duty. It is so unique to see the the Maiden's magic in music, Rowan guides the souls through the forest by singing. Her magic infuses the song with life that draws the souls to follow her.
Beyond my obsession with the magic and the characters of this world, the writing was impeccable. Not once was I taken out of the world or pulled from this story. Every chapter, every sentence was compelling and pulled me in.
So greatful to have been a part of this ARC team because I had so much fun reading this.
This story is a standalone book that follows Rowan, a Red Maiden, who is about to take on her destined duty of guiding the souls of the dead to the God of Death through the terrifying Dark Woods. She will do anything to protect the maidens who will come after her and is determined to change the way things work, little does she know she is in over her head.
I absolutely love that all power In the world comes from belief. The Gods and the Maidens have magic and get their power due to everyone's belief in them and their duty. It is so unique to see the the Maiden's magic in music, Rowan guides the souls through the forest by singing. Her magic infuses the song with life that draws the souls to follow her.
Beyond my obsession with the magic and the characters of this world, the writing was impeccable. Not once was I taken out of the world or pulled from this story. Every chapter, every sentence was compelling and pulled me in.
So greatful to have been a part of this ARC team because I had so much fun reading this.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quote: “Fear is a worthless emotion because it won’t save me. Fear is poison. If you take it all at once—if you let it surprise you—you’re done for. But if you take a little bit every day, it loses its potency.”
Sheila does it again! I have yet to figure out how she so artfully breaks my heart and then puts us back together again but she does it and like a moth to a flame I keep coming back for more. I DEVOURED this book.
This Little Red Riding Hood retelling was so uniquely done. This is a story about a girl named Rowan who has never been able to decide anything for herself. When she becomes the new Maiden she’s introduced to the Wolf Conor who’s lived centuries feared as the god of death. When the balance of their world turns upside down sacrifices have to be made, but who will make them? Can they learn to trust each other and change their fate? There are so many mysteries and twists and turns in this story and I couldn’t put it down.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was less an enchanting Red Riding Hood reimagining, and more an enchantingly horrific disaster that was crushed by it's own potential.
It was a compelling concept for a story that fell utterly flat and was buried by the trampled feet of faux feminine rage. Because not one part of the "rage" felt believable when it was coming from a female main character who just got shoved this way and that by every other character, and seemed to lack any sense of agency, even when insisting she would save herself. All the while, running to any male that could help at times it was convient to her, only to be mad when they weren't there in the way she demanded they be, at precisely the moment she needed them.
Then, as if to make all the above more blatant and to showcase brilliantly how this author has radically misunderstood how to do strong female empowerment and rage in a book, we get to when Rowan finally saves herself in this grand tale. And does she do this by embracing her love for herself, or by realising she's always been strong, or by using her wits and bravery? No. She does it by a male character telling her how much he loves to her and how he lied to her about never loving her. And that gives her the strength to break the thrall she is being held under. Because of course it does, why wouldn't she need a man to prop her up in this great tale.
I didn't overly enjoy the prose in this book. It felt oddly modern at times. The dialogue was stilted and awkward. Certain phrases and wording were repeated to death. Honestly, how many times did we have to be told her lies tasted like burnt sugar. We get it. Once it's been said once, we don't need it shoved down our throat as much as it's acrid taste was being shoved down Conors. Which is to say, incessantly.
The actual world building felt incoherent at times and like the author had far to much to wrangle to try and make the story work. There was the two gods, the crone and her daughter, the huntsman, the maidens, the spirits and monsters in the forest and the clearly corrupt church. And that would have, and should have, been enough. But then for some reason we also got a demon, a vampire and an unnamed, mystery religion across the land. And the townsfolk turning into menaces as they were scared. And because of that, not one of those things I listed was properly explored or expanded on in any interesting way. Instead we got smatterings of information about some of these things and only brief, lackluster descriptions of others.
There was also a lot of telling not showing in this book. We are told Finn loves Rowan, nothing at all shows it. We are told Rowan cares deeply for Aoife but other than being told she reads her stories at bedtime and sometimes they go get buns together, but there's nothing REAL that shows their bond. We are told Rowan and the crones daughter are best friends, again it does not feel like it's shown in any meaningful way. Their interactions are very sparse and not what you'd expect from best friends.
The characters themselves were disappointing. Her friend, the crones daughter, is described as wild and ready to burn the world yet is barely relevant to the story and exhibits none of those traits when we do see her. We are told over and over how important Aoife is to Rowan yet she's not really relevant to the story at all so she feels like a waste of a character and a chance to show us how training for being a maiden works. Orla was barely alive long enough for her to be relevant to the story which is a shame as she seems like she would have been the most fun character to read about.
Rowan herself is just a walking contradiction. As I mentioned above, she lacks any agency at all and just throws her trust at anyone and anything she can find, seemingly at random. She goes from thinking she wants to change things, to thinking she can't change anything. She goes from wanting no ones help, to running to others to get information or to ask for assistance. And there's a really weird bit at the end of the book where she's somehow surprised Conor had killed the other red maidens, yet at the start of the book it's made clear the maidens never live out their 5 years and the wolf always seems to kill them. It's why she herself dreads the job and doesn't believe Finn should wait for her, because she won't survive her tenure.
And that's just the female characters. The males? None of them are likeable. Not a one. Which is an impressive feat and also feels mildly misogynistic. It's certainly a choice to write a tale in which every male character believes themselves to know best or is shown to be an abuser either by physically doing it or being complicit in it happening. Even the characters you would expect to be shown in a good light, like Finn, just allow this cycle of disaster to be repeated against Rowan. To the point where at one stage she is almost raped in an alley and Finns words to her straight after are "They're scared, Rowan." As if their fear makes their assault on her fine? But this is the character who claims to love her. Okay.
Then there was the romance of the book. It was utterly unbelievable and disinteresting. The constant, let me kiss her, run away and then return cause me nothing but annoyance. There was no longing, no tension. Just frustration that this insta-lust connection seemed designed just to cause whiplash to both Rowan and the reader. Something she ironically thinks to herself about 81% into this book. Another thought Rowan has at about 85% into this book is that they are mutually destructive. And boy is she not wrong. As she forgives him everything, almost instantly (despite us constantly being told how she's rage incarnate, under the skin, the entire book) and he doesn't even really blink when she tries to stab him during sex and then doesn't go through with it. And in any other romance this could be a fun dynamic to read, if it was built up to, but this story didn't build to that in any natural or good way.
The intimate scenes also were not great I will be honest. It was very, he moved his hand here, she shifted her leg there. It reads like a clinical observation of intimacy not a sex scene between two characters falling in love.
And finally, to top it all off. The ending of the book. After dragging this story out over 400 or so excruciating pages, it was finished in about 47. And wrapped up in such a poorly described way. The battle scene was so anticlimactic and poorly described I almost didn't believe the book was nearly done. Conor just vanished for half the fight for no discernable reason. The village people just accepted this new deal blindly, didn't question the death and destruction around them at all. Did she forgive Finn? Who knows, he was unconscious for the final fight and never mentioned again.
One of my most disappointing reads of the year
It was a compelling concept for a story that fell utterly flat and was buried by the trampled feet of faux feminine rage. Because not one part of the "rage" felt believable when it was coming from a female main character who just got shoved this way and that by every other character, and seemed to lack any sense of agency, even when insisting she would save herself. All the while, running to any male that could help at times it was convient to her, only to be mad when they weren't there in the way she demanded they be, at precisely the moment she needed them.
Then, as if to make all the above more blatant and to showcase brilliantly how this author has radically misunderstood how to do strong female empowerment and rage in a book, we get to when Rowan finally saves herself in this grand tale. And does she do this by embracing her love for herself, or by realising she's always been strong, or by using her wits and bravery? No. She does it by a male character telling her how much he loves to her and how he lied to her about never loving her. And that gives her the strength to break the thrall she is being held under. Because of course it does, why wouldn't she need a man to prop her up in this great tale.
I didn't overly enjoy the prose in this book. It felt oddly modern at times. The dialogue was stilted and awkward. Certain phrases and wording were repeated to death. Honestly, how many times did we have to be told her lies tasted like burnt sugar. We get it. Once it's been said once, we don't need it shoved down our throat as much as it's acrid taste was being shoved down Conors. Which is to say, incessantly.
The actual world building felt incoherent at times and like the author had far to much to wrangle to try and make the story work. There was the two gods, the crone and her daughter, the huntsman, the maidens, the spirits and monsters in the forest and the clearly corrupt church. And that would have, and should have, been enough. But then for some reason we also got a demon, a vampire and an unnamed, mystery religion across the land. And the townsfolk turning into menaces as they were scared. And because of that, not one of those things I listed was properly explored or expanded on in any interesting way. Instead we got smatterings of information about some of these things and only brief, lackluster descriptions of others.
There was also a lot of telling not showing in this book. We are told Finn loves Rowan, nothing at all shows it. We are told Rowan cares deeply for Aoife but other than being told she reads her stories at bedtime and sometimes they go get buns together, but there's nothing REAL that shows their bond. We are told Rowan and the crones daughter are best friends, again it does not feel like it's shown in any meaningful way. Their interactions are very sparse and not what you'd expect from best friends.
The characters themselves were disappointing. Her friend, the crones daughter, is described as wild and ready to burn the world yet is barely relevant to the story and exhibits none of those traits when we do see her. We are told over and over how important Aoife is to Rowan yet she's not really relevant to the story at all so she feels like a waste of a character and a chance to show us how training for being a maiden works. Orla was barely alive long enough for her to be relevant to the story which is a shame as she seems like she would have been the most fun character to read about.
Rowan herself is just a walking contradiction. As I mentioned above, she lacks any agency at all and just throws her trust at anyone and anything she can find, seemingly at random. She goes from thinking she wants to change things, to thinking she can't change anything. She goes from wanting no ones help, to running to others to get information or to ask for assistance. And there's a really weird bit at the end of the book where she's somehow surprised Conor had killed the other red maidens, yet at the start of the book it's made clear the maidens never live out their 5 years and the wolf always seems to kill them. It's why she herself dreads the job and doesn't believe Finn should wait for her, because she won't survive her tenure.
And that's just the female characters. The males? None of them are likeable. Not a one. Which is an impressive feat and also feels mildly misogynistic. It's certainly a choice to write a tale in which every male character believes themselves to know best or is shown to be an abuser either by physically doing it or being complicit in it happening. Even the characters you would expect to be shown in a good light, like Finn, just allow this cycle of disaster to be repeated against Rowan. To the point where at one stage she is almost raped in an alley and Finns words to her straight after are "They're scared, Rowan." As if their fear makes their assault on her fine? But this is the character who claims to love her. Okay.
Then there was the romance of the book. It was utterly unbelievable and disinteresting. The constant, let me kiss her, run away and then return cause me nothing but annoyance. There was no longing, no tension. Just frustration that this insta-lust connection seemed designed just to cause whiplash to both Rowan and the reader. Something she ironically thinks to herself about 81% into this book. Another thought Rowan has at about 85% into this book is that they are mutually destructive. And boy is she not wrong. As she forgives him everything, almost instantly (despite us constantly being told how she's rage incarnate, under the skin, the entire book) and he doesn't even really blink when she tries to stab him during sex and then doesn't go through with it. And in any other romance this could be a fun dynamic to read, if it was built up to, but this story didn't build to that in any natural or good way.
The intimate scenes also were not great I will be honest. It was very, he moved his hand here, she shifted her leg there. It reads like a clinical observation of intimacy not a sex scene between two characters falling in love.
And finally, to top it all off. The ending of the book. After dragging this story out over 400 or so excruciating pages, it was finished in about 47. And wrapped up in such a poorly described way. The battle scene was so anticlimactic and poorly described I almost didn't believe the book was nearly done. Conor just vanished for half the fight for no discernable reason. The village people just accepted this new deal blindly, didn't question the death and destruction around them at all. Did she forgive Finn? Who knows, he was unconscious for the final fight and never mentioned again.
One of my most disappointing reads of the year