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kimberlyoliveira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
saeliphil's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Self harm
archaicgambit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Self harm, Animal cruelty, War, Animal death, Gore, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief and Emotional abuse
crownedaimee's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
The Wolf and the Woodsman follows Evike who is an outcast in her village due to her lack of magic. When the Holy Order of the Woodsman comes to take pagan girl as a sacrifice, her village is quick to betray her and volunteer her to be taken. But on the journey to the palace, the Woodsman and Evike are attacked, only leaving her and the captain alive. But he isn't who she originally thought he was. The two are forced to rely on each other to survive and soon realise they have something in common as they journey together.
I was really hoping to like this book because of all the hype but I just kinda got annoyed with it? I felt like parts were so choppy. Without going into too much detail and spoilers, there was a part towards the end where Evike and the Woodsman was doing something and in the next moment, there was a bunch of people with no explanation on how they got there? I don't know if it was just me and my mind completely skipped a whole scene because let's me honest, it happened a lot in this book or whether it actually happened like this. And don't get me started on how much stories was in this book. I swear it was like every chapter, I was so done with it.
The start of this book almost had me dnfing it straight away. It felt like such an information dump with all these names and places that I couldn't read because my head couldn't wrap around the names. Can we make it a rule where the pronunciation guide is at the start to avoid these confusions? It did hook me in at the start once I got over this but it got lengthy and I was struggling to push through it.
I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style and the pacing was off. I couldn't really connect to it. or once, I couldn't really find a likeable character. They didn't have much personality and it pained me. Plus we're supposed to fall in love with them as Evike constantly makes fun of the Woodsman and makes terrible decisions?
If you do plan to read this book then please check the trigger warnings, some include: magic requiring self harm, torture, animal death, antisemitism, child abuse and more.
Would I read anymore books by Ava Reid? Possibly. This is the debut novel afterall and I do like to give other books by authors another chance but if it's anything like this then perhaps not.
“Stories are supposed to live longer than people.”
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Antisemitism
mjwhitlock18's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent
ridesthesun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.5
I'm not sure why, perhaps it was just bad timing, but the book overall failed to really grab me. I *wanted* to enjoy it, but I found myself checking "how much longer is this audiobook" too many times. Idk if it was the pacing or what, but it felt a lot like nothing was happening while simultaneously lots of things were happening? Not sure how. Like it felt like it was dragging while simultaneously feeling under-developed.
Anyways, I would say definitely give this one a try; the concept was brilliant, the weaving of mythology was really cool, Evike and Gaspar were lovely. Also recommend the audiobook, getting the pronunciations for everything was a huge bonus.
*does deal a *lot* with anti-Semitism, and is strongly reminiscent of pogroms and pre-WWII eastern europe. The Jewish community is written beautifully and with great care, but if that's a sensitive topic for you I would avoid this one.
Graphic: Death, Confinement, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Antisemitism, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Bullying
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Genocide, Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Murder, Body horror, Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent
msradiosilence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.75
Read my full review here: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/the-wolf-and-the-woodsman.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, War, Hate crime, Classism, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Violence, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, and Torture
bandysbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
rosietoast's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, War, Animal death, and Physical abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Bullying
spellboundchapters's review against another edition
- 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
Even though this book takes its sweet time, it manages to never be boring; and I feel like the sudden change in the pacing made the action scenes even more intense and unexpected whenever they happened.
My favourite thing in this book was probably the addition of all the myths and legends of all the different faiths. This added so much dimension to the story. And I appreciate how they permitted to discuss religions (both as faiths and institutions), and more precisely the similarities between different religions, without it feeling forced.
The entire worldbuilding was fascinating — a whole magic system based on body horror was not something I ever thought I would want more of in my fantasy stories, but I weirdly enjoyed it. It was so different from what I’m used to reading!
The romance was a delight to read. Finally, an enemies-to-lovers where they’re actually enemies at the start! 😂 The tension and pining between Évike and Gáspár… *chef’s kiss* is all I have to say; if you love Six of Crows’s Helnik you will probably love these two as well. 🥺
Took a star off because some of the writing was sometimes a bit repetitive, and because I didn’t feel like Évike was behaving like someone who has been bullied and abused during the majority of her life. And it featured one of my least favourite trope ever: the abused sacrificing themselves for their abusers and thinking things like "but I know they still loved me even if they never told me or showed me in any way" nope nope nopeee.
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Self harm, Antisemitism, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death