A review by marie_thereadingotter
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book is so damn good.

I received this book from NetGalley for review.


       It's a little slow-paced, but never boring. It just has a really good buildup to the climax of the book. There is a lot of character development in that time with the main characters. This book takes place over a relatively short amount of time, but it is packed with character development, great worldbuilding, and an interesting magic system based on physical sacrifice.

   Évike is a character who has a lot of personal inner struggles, and her path to self-acceptance was very believable. She learns about the other side of her heritage and their stories, and the stories of the people she was raised to hate and fear, and she starts to see that things aren't as simple as she first assumed.

   Gáspár is another well-rounded character. He goes through a similar path of character growth involving self-acceptance. His is just as personal, but the other side of it. Him coming to terms with his father and brother and even the religion he devoted his life to aren't as fallible as he once believed. That their way is hypocritical at best, and fundamentally flawed at worst.  And he too had to realize that things aren't as black and white.

   The magic system, in a word, gruesome. The Pagan women are born with magic that often comes with some kind of physical mutation and the magic of the Woodsmen involves the physical sacrifice of mutilation. The magic of the Yehuli wasn't as clear to me. And all the magic that can be performed by each group is different, I am unsure how to explain it. It might lean a little into spoilers.

   There is a bit of romance, in this book. It's very much a background plotline, and while it does affect character motivations, it doesn't overrule anything else in this book. I felt that this was a much better balance with the other more pressing plotlines than a lot of other fantasy books that have a romance.

   I have no idea if this is a standalone book, or if there will be more books later. Things to get wrapped up at the end. But I also want to know more about this world. 
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