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A review by ngreads
Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
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.