A review by lindseymeown
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Redarys, the Second Daughter of Valleyda, has always known she’d end up in the Wilderwood, the mysterious forest at the edge of her kingdom and home of all manner of monsters, including the Wolf. Born shortly after her sister, Neverah, Red’s birth order alone ensures she’ll be sent to the forest when she comes of age, a faithful sacrifice and small price to pay for the Wolf and the magic of the Wilderwood to hold the shadows at bay and return the five Kings, Valleyda’s true gods. 

Neve isn’t going to let her sister go without a fight, but sometimes it’s hard to know what’s fact and what’s fiction, who’s friend and who’s foe, and which way the story should end. 

It’s my own fault that I wasn’t a fan— pulled in yet again by a beautiful cover on a thick fantasy tome and not reading into the details and reviews enough to know that what I’d really be getting was a tortured romance with a twilight, twisted forest as a fantasy backdrop. The characters’ constant bloodletting felt repetitive, Red’s (and Neve’s) characters felt rash and foolish, and overall I just didn’t feel like there was much to the plot that could really resonate— just a bunch of tropes thrown together in the woods. 

I can see it working for die-hard fairy tale & romance enthusiasts— the sensitive, brooding, misunderstood, and cursed Wolf, (who smells like libraries, by the way), the determined heroine
who will sacrifice her freedom to save him & ultimately her continent, though she was
quite literally “thrown to the wolves” in a sacrificial scarlet cloak by her own family and the people of said continent— it just wasn’t enough of what I come to a fantasy looking for. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 
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