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A review by bayleyreadsbooks
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid follows Evike, a pagan girl from a small village protected and threatened by an enchanted woods. Every few years, the Woodsmen come through the woods and take a girl to the King, and this time they want a seer. Every woman and girl in the village has magic except Evike. Due to her position as an outcast, she is passed off as a seer and sent with the woodsman. Her journey to the capital is treacherous, with three Woodsmen who all hate her, but once she arrives at the city at the brink of a power transition, her position is more dangerous than ever.
I adored this book. I am so excited to reread it. I love Naomi Novik's fairytale-esque books, and the comp to Spinning Silver (and honestly Uprooted also works) is very well deserved. This book is inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology. It hits on themes of belonging, the importance of stories in personal and national identity (I love any book about stories in any form), and the ethics of different kinds of power. It is also full of magic, religion, and has an enemies to lovers romance that is very well done. These are all things I adore. Also, the book has a very helpful pronunciation guide.
Evike is a great lead character. She has a very well paces emotional arc; she evolves the way she thinks slowly over the course of the book, she is angry and holds grudges, and is almost always compelled to action. I really loved her as a character at every stage of this book. I especially liked watching how she changes and the ways she fought between protecting herself and forming new relationships with others.
It is sometimes hard to review books you love because it is a one-note wall of text that all boils down to 'I really liked it, and I think you should read it too.' Which is sort of what is happening here. But I would absolutely recommend this book to fantasy lovers; it is an adult book, but I also think this book would work fairly well for folks who are new to adult fantasy but come from reading YA fantasy; I genuinely think this would be a good place to start for those folks.
My Blog Post - Goodreads
I adored this book. I am so excited to reread it. I love Naomi Novik's fairytale-esque books, and the comp to Spinning Silver (and honestly Uprooted also works) is very well deserved. This book is inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology. It hits on themes of belonging, the importance of stories in personal and national identity (I love any book about stories in any form), and the ethics of different kinds of power. It is also full of magic, religion, and has an enemies to lovers romance that is very well done. These are all things I adore. Also, the book has a very helpful pronunciation guide.
Evike is a great lead character. She has a very well paces emotional arc; she evolves the way she thinks slowly over the course of the book, she is angry and holds grudges, and is almost always compelled to action. I really loved her as a character at every stage of this book. I especially liked watching how she changes and the ways she fought between protecting herself and forming new relationships with others.
It is sometimes hard to review books you love because it is a one-note wall of text that all boils down to 'I really liked it, and I think you should read it too.' Which is sort of what is happening here. But I would absolutely recommend this book to fantasy lovers; it is an adult book, but I also think this book would work fairly well for folks who are new to adult fantasy but come from reading YA fantasy; I genuinely think this would be a good place to start for those folks.
My Blog Post - Goodreads