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A review by owlegory
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
4.0
4.5
Strong characters and a rich world. Love how we learn about worldbuilding through the stories and myths the characters would tell each other. However, it's very obvious the nations and their religions are stand-ins for real-world religions, mainly Judaism and Christianity. So, if the thinly-veiled judgement (as it's very clear one is good and one is bad) is not for you, stay clear.
Personally, I love a good enemies-to-lovers subplot—and there is ETL a plenty here—but it did seem to come on a little strong in the first third of the book to the point it felt out of place at times. I did enjoy the overall arc and how it wasn't just immediate love, though.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is the way our MC finds a community in multiple places. She's able to simultaneously submerge herself in new traditions, enjoy old ones, and create some new ones of her own.
Warning: this book has some intense scenes of body horror that I was not expecting, one of which is a personal trigger of mine. I would have appreciated some sort of content warning. So, in no particular order, here are some content warnings: dismemberment, amputation, whipping, self-harm, antisemitism, cultural genocide, physical abuse by parental figures, vomiting, animal death, torture, teeth extraction
Strong characters and a rich world. Love how we learn about worldbuilding through the stories and myths the characters would tell each other. However, it's very obvious the nations and their religions are stand-ins for real-world religions, mainly Judaism and Christianity. So, if the thinly-veiled judgement (as it's very clear one is good and one is bad) is not for you, stay clear.
Personally, I love a good enemies-to-lovers subplot—and there is ETL a plenty here—but it did seem to come on a little strong in the first third of the book to the point it felt out of place at times. I did enjoy the overall arc and how it wasn't just immediate love, though.
One of my favorite aspects of this book is the way our MC finds a community in multiple places. She's able to simultaneously submerge herself in new traditions, enjoy old ones, and create some new ones of her own.
Warning: this book has some intense scenes of body horror that I was not expecting, one of which is a personal trigger of mine. I would have appreciated some sort of content warning. So, in no particular order, here are some content warnings: dismemberment, amputation, whipping, self-harm, antisemitism, cultural genocide, physical abuse by parental figures, vomiting, animal death, torture, teeth extraction