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A review by haletostilinski1
Hunt the Wood by Anna Fury, Amy Pennza
4.0
I enjoyed this darker MM retelling of Red Riding Hood.
Ryder is the son of a powerful witch line. Except in this world witch powers are passed down through the female line, and so sons tend to get very little or no magical powers if they're born into a witch line.
Ryder doesn't have many powers, although he is a "Cassandra" meaning he can see into people's futures.
It is seemingly the only reason his grandmother has kept him alive all these years since his parents' death. That he's somewhat useful.
Wotan is a supernatural creature that came through 'The Veil' when it collapsed almost 2 centuries ago, during an apparent nuclear war between humans.
The creatures beyond the veil, could apparently slip into the human world before it collapsed, but with the collapse they were able to take over the human world. And apparently save it, as the veil collapsing would have been the end of all humans.
Now, there are several "syndicates" ruled by very powerful beings. Not gods, but kind of? Wotan is very powerful, but he's not a "god" necessarily. But there are 4 syndicates, each representing Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
Wotan is the leader of the Earth Syndicate and the Wild Hunt. Ryder's grandmother lives in 'the Wood' which resides in Wotan's territory.
And all this resides in what used to be New York City, which is now just called the 'Hallows' and Ryder himself lives in the "Free Zone" which is the only place humans can reside and not be under any of the Syndicate's rule.
But when Ryder is summoned by his grandmother, who is very powerful and dangerous and not someone you deny, Ryder risks it all by going to Wotan to try and ask for permission to go through his territory to where his grandmother resides.
Of course it doesn't go well, but Ryder is determined, and he tries to go anyway. When Wotan of course captures him, the sizzling connection between them blossoms into more.
I liked their connection a lot, and the sex was sizzling hot. So good. The story kept me invested and it was such an interesting retelling.
Wotan is obviously meant to be the wolf. Except in this Red Riding Hood falls for the wolf and the grandmother is plain evil. And also the wolf has a softer side that comes out only around Red Riding Hood, of course.
I enjoyed all of that so much.
I do think more could have been done to get these two to the "I love you" stage, especially with Wotan. He was getting there, but I didn't feel he'd gotten soft enough, let his walls down enough with Ryder to get to the "I love you" place. Then a little too quickly he was already there and didn't feel quite earned. Hence my star off.
But otherwise, I very much enjoyed this. I LOVED the steam, the possessiveness, the size difference - Ryder isn't even a small person, Wotan is just HUGE - and the romance. While it moved too fast to the "I love you" stage, I did enjoy a lot of the build up and once they were there, I enjoyed that too.
Definitely worth a read, I think. I will be reading more of this series, for sure. The next one looks promising with Tower, the vampire almost as powerful, if not as powerful, as Wotan. Definitely one for me to pick up.
Onto the next!
Ryder is the son of a powerful witch line. Except in this world witch powers are passed down through the female line, and so sons tend to get very little or no magical powers if they're born into a witch line.
Ryder doesn't have many powers, although he is a "Cassandra" meaning he can see into people's futures.
It is seemingly the only reason his grandmother has kept him alive all these years since his parents' death. That he's somewhat useful.
Wotan is a supernatural creature that came through 'The Veil' when it collapsed almost 2 centuries ago, during an apparent nuclear war between humans.
The creatures beyond the veil, could apparently slip into the human world before it collapsed, but with the collapse they were able to take over the human world. And apparently save it, as the veil collapsing would have been the end of all humans.
Now, there are several "syndicates" ruled by very powerful beings. Not gods, but kind of? Wotan is very powerful, but he's not a "god" necessarily. But there are 4 syndicates, each representing Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
Wotan is the leader of the Earth Syndicate and the Wild Hunt. Ryder's grandmother lives in 'the Wood' which resides in Wotan's territory.
And all this resides in what used to be New York City, which is now just called the 'Hallows' and Ryder himself lives in the "Free Zone" which is the only place humans can reside and not be under any of the Syndicate's rule.
But when Ryder is summoned by his grandmother, who is very powerful and dangerous and not someone you deny, Ryder risks it all by going to Wotan to try and ask for permission to go through his territory to where his grandmother resides.
Of course it doesn't go well, but Ryder is determined, and he tries to go anyway. When Wotan of course captures him, the sizzling connection between them blossoms into more.
I liked their connection a lot, and the sex was sizzling hot. So good. The story kept me invested and it was such an interesting retelling.
Wotan is obviously meant to be the wolf. Except in this Red Riding Hood falls for the wolf and the grandmother is plain evil. And also the wolf has a softer side that comes out only around Red Riding Hood, of course.
I enjoyed all of that so much.
I do think more could have been done to get these two to the "I love you" stage, especially with Wotan. He was getting there, but I didn't feel he'd gotten soft enough, let his walls down enough with Ryder to get to the "I love you" place. Then a little too quickly he was already there and didn't feel quite earned. Hence my star off.
But otherwise, I very much enjoyed this. I LOVED the steam, the possessiveness, the size difference - Ryder isn't even a small person, Wotan is just HUGE - and the romance. While it moved too fast to the "I love you" stage, I did enjoy a lot of the build up and once they were there, I enjoyed that too.
Definitely worth a read, I think. I will be reading more of this series, for sure. The next one looks promising with Tower, the vampire almost as powerful, if not as powerful, as Wotan. Definitely one for me to pick up.
Onto the next!