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illusie's review against another edition
2.0
A long winded story with no chemistry between the characters. This book was disappointing for me.
tuttidolci's review against another edition
2.0
This one had so much potential for greatness, but it dragged on for what seemed like FOREVER, going from one conflict to another and another. And in the end, the main/original conflict was resolved almost too easily. Presented like a gift with a nice little bow, which (after the long, drawn out story) felt unrealistic and hastily put together, merely because the story had to end. The way I see it, the story was unnecessarily lengthy and a lot of the word count could've been better used to create a more reasonable, natural, organic ending.
I also want to mention that the fade-to-black love scenes were snooze-worthy. There was one particular instance where I wasn't even sure that the H/h had even had sex! Reminded me a lot of the eyeroll-worthy fade-to-black love scene in that popular book where the dawn would be breaking. So, if you like a little more steam factor in your romance reads, you will be a bit disappointed with this one.
I also want to mention that the fade-to-black love scenes were snooze-worthy. There was one particular instance where I wasn't even sure that the H/h had even had sex! Reminded me a lot of the eyeroll-worthy fade-to-black love scene in that popular book where the dawn would be breaking. So, if you like a little more steam factor in your romance reads, you will be a bit disappointed with this one.
sunshinebooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
badseedgirl's review against another edition
3.0
A short plot summery of The Wolf and the Dove:
Battle
Slaughter
Rape (or was it)
Humiliation
Rape
More Rape
Whipping
Rape
Travel
Court
Rape
Marrying your rapist
Kidnapping
Swordfight
Death
Happily Ever After
And yet sometimes I want to read stuff like this anyway.
Battle
Slaughter
Rape (or was it)
Humiliation
Rape
More Rape
Whipping
Rape
Travel
Court
Rape
Marrying your rapist
Kidnapping
Swordfight
Death
Happily Ever After
And yet sometimes I want to read stuff like this anyway.
ngreads's review against another edition
3.0
Actually read this awhile back, on the recommendation of a coworker when I was looking to explore outside of my regular genre (adult high fantasy) last year. Picked it up on ebook, read it in a couple days, and it took me this long to review it because I wasn't quite sure how to put my thoughts together.
So...hm...
I have mixed feelings.
The good:
- I found the story and setup interesting. I wasn't looking for anything outstanding and I wasn't looking for historical accuracy or anything, so it worked just fine for me.
- There were some scenes with decent sexual tension and chemistry between the leads.
- The sex scenes, when you don't stop to think about the MAJOR ISSUES OF CONSENT (we'll get to that) were enjoyable enough.
- There's a few legitimately funny scenes in here that still crack me up with I think about them. (Hello, drunk Wulfgar)
The bad:
- So...the consent issue...yeah...every sex scene in this book, until the characters get married, is technically rape, since Aislinn made it clear that she would not give herself over to Wulfgar until he stopped treating her as his whore. I know that this was written in the 70's, so I do give it some leeway since standards in romance novels back then were a lot different than nowadays, but still...I found it a bit off putting, especially the longer I thought of it.
- Wulfgar's one of the stupidest men I've ever read. As in, Aislinn spells out for him: "Marry me, and I'll throw myself at you and love you, but until then I will resist you because I don't want to be treated like a prostitute."
Cue half of his perspective being him, confused about why she isn't throwing herself at him. Bruh. Think with the head on your neck, not the one in your pants, please.
- I know the language was designed to feel old-timey, romantic, and classical, but it just kept throwing me out of the story. As an example: the word 'Nay' appears in this book - I kid you not - 154 TIMES. Every time it appeared it jarred me out of the story a bit. I'm sure it works to enhance the romanticism for some people with the book, but this kind of language just didn't work for me.
- The end of this book tied up too neatly for me. Sometimes, questions are best left unanswered, and in answering one question in particular, I actually found that it completely undermined one of the best character moments and arcs in the entire book. (That being Wulfgar's) I won't go into details, but the fact that the ending was so neatly wrapped up left me with a bit of a sour taste after finishing the book. I get why she did it, I just wish she didn't.
- This is probably entirely a 'me' issue, but as a woman with long red hair (as in, it nearly reached my waist at the time of me reading this book last year), I always find it noticeable when a redhead (especially one with long hair) is being described just a little too sexually, and it got a bit uncomfortable for me at some points. The words 'fiery' and 'vixen' get very tiring after awhile. I know it's a very common trope (I could write essays on the hypersexualization of redheads in media, but you get the point.) Again, probably just a 'me' issue, but still.
OVERALL
Mixed feelings, hence the 3-star. Again, I'm no expert. I mostly read books that have romance as a subplot at best, and I tend to like it that way. This was an exercise of me trying new things, and I'm glad that I read it. Always nice to expand the reading horizons.
So...hm...
I have mixed feelings.
The good:
- I found the story and setup interesting. I wasn't looking for anything outstanding and I wasn't looking for historical accuracy or anything, so it worked just fine for me.
- There were some scenes with decent sexual tension and chemistry between the leads.
- The sex scenes, when you don't stop to think about the MAJOR ISSUES OF CONSENT (we'll get to that) were enjoyable enough.
- There's a few legitimately funny scenes in here that still crack me up with I think about them. (Hello, drunk Wulfgar)
The bad:
- So...the consent issue...yeah...every sex scene in this book, until the characters get married, is technically rape, since Aislinn made it clear that she would not give herself over to Wulfgar until he stopped treating her as his whore. I know that this was written in the 70's, so I do give it some leeway since standards in romance novels back then were a lot different than nowadays, but still...I found it a bit off putting, especially the longer I thought of it.
- Wulfgar's one of the stupidest men I've ever read. As in, Aislinn spells out for him: "Marry me, and I'll throw myself at you and love you, but until then I will resist you because I don't want to be treated like a prostitute."
Cue half of his perspective being him, confused about why she isn't throwing herself at him. Bruh. Think with the head on your neck, not the one in your pants, please.
- I know the language was designed to feel old-timey, romantic, and classical, but it just kept throwing me out of the story. As an example: the word 'Nay' appears in this book - I kid you not - 154 TIMES. Every time it appeared it jarred me out of the story a bit. I'm sure it works to enhance the romanticism for some people with the book, but this kind of language just didn't work for me.
- The end of this book tied up too neatly for me. Sometimes, questions are best left unanswered, and in answering one question in particular, I actually found that it completely undermined one of the best character moments and arcs in the entire book. (That being Wulfgar's) I won't go into details, but the fact that the ending was so neatly wrapped up left me with a bit of a sour taste after finishing the book. I get why she did it, I just wish she didn't.
- This is probably entirely a 'me' issue, but as a woman with long red hair (as in, it nearly reached my waist at the time of me reading this book last year), I always find it noticeable when a redhead (especially one with long hair) is being described just a little too sexually, and it got a bit uncomfortable for me at some points. The words 'fiery' and 'vixen' get very tiring after awhile. I know it's a very common trope (I could write essays on the hypersexualization of redheads in media, but you get the point.) Again, probably just a 'me' issue, but still.
OVERALL
Mixed feelings, hence the 3-star. Again, I'm no expert. I mostly read books that have romance as a subplot at best, and I tend to like it that way. This was an exercise of me trying new things, and I'm glad that I read it. Always nice to expand the reading horizons.
gajeelsiron's review against another edition
was this supposed to be a romance??? 🤨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Physical abuse
sandygx260's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhere in cyberspace my insane Legolas/Aragorn homage/parody to this book drifts around. Hoo-hah!
nomiareads's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
One of the OG bodice rippers. Read it and enjoyed parts, and also despised parts. But overall it was an interesting read and worth the time if you are interested in early romance novels from a learning/history point of view.
smithrachaelynn's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Things I liked:
- Somehow even with the things I didn’t like about this book, I was giddy with excitement about what came next. It was so compelling despite things that I didn’t love.
- Aislinn’s character, I liked that she had pride and a temper but was also loving and kind to people. She was a wonderful mixture of characteristics that were believable.
Things I didn’t like:
- Wolfgar was a huge asshole. He had his moments but he wasn’t pretty consistently an ass until the end 😂
- Graphic, there’s a lot in here was was intense from the very beginning like
rape scenes, abuse, verbal abuse, some torture, and war scenes. Most of them weren’t necessary to that extreme of a degree. - Pace & length, this book went on FOREVER. As much as I enjoyed it there was so much about things I didn’t care about and I really wish we got more of the ending instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Slavery, Death, Bullying, Rape, Gore, Blood, Classism, Sexual content, Violence, War, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty