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A review by nickoliver
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this story. I found it weirdly confusing at first, with the history of the world being a bit too convoluted for me. If you asked me to summarise how the politics looked like, I wouldn't have a clue. It might be just a me-problem, since a lot was actually described quite in depth - maybe I'm just too stupid -, but I could never remember who had a problem with whom and especially why they had a problem with each other.
The pace was rather slow for the first 100 pages, and I always had an easy time to put the book down. It wasn't that it was boring at all - I did quite enjoy myself every time I did pick the novel up -, but I never found it so thrilling and absorbing that I desperately needed to know what happened next. Though I do have to say that the plot kept me on my toes a lot - there were a lot of plot lines I didn't see coming.
The characters were certainly interesting. Again, I was a bit confused at times because a lot of characters were mentioned by name but never really showed up themselves - like, for example, all the warlords in Jin-Sayeng. Talyien, the main character, was both really strong and quick on her feet but also too trustful sometimes. The way she kept wanting to save her husband despite learning some really despicable thing about him - and already knowing quite a few bad things about him - made me frustrated a lot. I often wanted her to put certain men in their places and she never did - which, to be fair, did make sense sometimes, but it didn't make it any less infuriating to see her be treated the way she was. In any way, her character didn't always make it easy to want to keep reading.
The rest of the cast was interesting. Some characters, like Loh Bahn, ended up acting differently than expected. Villoso didn't just paint characters as one-dimensional and then kept them like that, some of them did keep you guessing. Even some of the ones who weren't even portrayed as bad were hard to trust, since there a sense of betrayal was weaving its way throughout the entire story. My favourite one was Khine; he added a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking.
To my surprise, the story was a lot darker than I expected. To be fair, I did for some reason think this was a YA novel and not about a 26-year-old woman, so maybe that had to do with it. But there was a lot of violence, and also sexual assault (though "just" threatened and not actually on page), that I didn't know was in there. That certainly made me agitated a lot, because I wasn't quite sure how far Villoso would take it.
The ending was a bit frustrating to read, and there were still some plot points I didn't quite understand. But I will continue with the series at some point!
The pace was rather slow for the first 100 pages, and I always had an easy time to put the book down. It wasn't that it was boring at all - I did quite enjoy myself every time I did pick the novel up -, but I never found it so thrilling and absorbing that I desperately needed to know what happened next. Though I do have to say that the plot kept me on my toes a lot - there were a lot of plot lines I didn't see coming.
The characters were certainly interesting. Again, I was a bit confused at times because a lot of characters were mentioned by name but never really showed up themselves - like, for example, all the warlords in Jin-Sayeng. Talyien, the main character, was both really strong and quick on her feet but also too trustful sometimes. The way she kept wanting to save her husband despite learning some really despicable thing about him - and already knowing quite a few bad things about him - made me frustrated a lot. I often wanted her to put certain men in their places and she never did - which, to be fair, did make sense sometimes, but it didn't make it any less infuriating to see her be treated the way she was. In any way, her character didn't always make it easy to want to keep reading.
The rest of the cast was interesting. Some characters, like Loh Bahn, ended up acting differently than expected. Villoso didn't just paint characters as one-dimensional and then kept them like that, some of them did keep you guessing. Even some of the ones who weren't even portrayed as bad were hard to trust, since there a sense of betrayal was weaving its way throughout the entire story. My favourite one was Khine; he added a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking.
To my surprise, the story was a lot darker than I expected. To be fair, I did for some reason think this was a YA novel and not about a 26-year-old woman, so maybe that had to do with it. But there was a lot of violence, and also sexual assault (though "just" threatened and not actually on page), that I didn't know was in there. That certainly made me agitated a lot, because I wasn't quite sure how far Villoso would take it.
The ending was a bit frustrating to read, and there were still some plot points I didn't quite understand. But I will continue with the series at some point!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Animal death, Stalking, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content