Reviews

Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent

smilesgiggle's review against another edition

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3.0

Adele and her mother visit her grandmother every month on the night of the full moon. Her grandmother lives in the dark woods - travel requires quick steps, bright lanterns and a sense of urgency.
Her mother is too busy with Adele's best friend's engagement party baking order - Adele braves the woods on her own for the first time. The woods have called to Adele since she was a young girl. This night just amplifies the voice - Adele ascends to her destiny as a Guardian.
And soon meets her betrothed.
Adele and Grainger have been in love since childhood, making plans with their friends for a cottage near each other, raising families. But Grainger is a member of the Watch - those who maintain the dark woods border, keep the lanterns lit - the Guardians natural enemy.
Will Adele forsake her betrothal? Or will Maxime prove himself worthy?
The ending was pretty abrupt, tying everything so nicely together. I'm guessing there will be another book - it just felt very quick and tidy.

dinoreader84's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.0

This is not high brow lit but I had a perfectly good time reading this.

2mina7's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

larism27's review

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3.0

I didn't love it but I couldn't put it down either. And now that it's finished I still want to know more. I didn't identify with the main character and the world was dark. Not a book I'd recommend for children, but maybe older teens. The morality is complex and I'm not sure I agree with it.

audreylovesreading's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sofiaaeelizabeth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

bethandthebooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Red Wolf plunges you into a dark, thrilling and emotional story as sixteen-year-old Adele’s life is completely turned upside down when she discovers that she is a Guardian: part woman, part wolf, she is tasked with protecting her village from monsters that live in the surrounding woods. I was completely gripped by this high-stakes story.

Up until her sixteenth birthday, Adele had her life completely mapped out. She was going to marry Grainger Colbert, who helps protect the village from the monsters in the woods, and live next door to her best friend. However, after her first transformation, she soon learns that she is betrothed to a boy called Max, who is a carpenter and lives in another village. The difference between Grainger and Max is that Max already knows Adele’s secret and is prepared to prove himself worthy of calling Adele his wife. Grainger, on the other hand, is completely in the dark about the Guardians and if he, along with the other villages of Oakdale, ever found out about Adele’s secret, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Rather naively, Adele is determined to prove to her mother that Grainger is just as worthy as Max and that he will understand about her being a Guardian. While this is a love triangle, it wasn’t a massive part of the story so it didn’t bother me at all.

Despite Adele’s naivety when it comes to her future, she is an incredibly likeable character and I really was rooting for her to have a happy ending. She’s faced with some difficult choices throughout as she slowly comes to terms with the realisation that her life is going to be completely different to what she imagined. She has to keep secrets from those she loves, battle monsters and protect the villagers of Oakdale. It’s a massive weight on such young shoulders, but Adele manages to remain true to herself and I really admired her for that. She’s entirely selfless as she always puts the safety of others above her own and there’s some scenes where you get to see just how courageous she is for a sixteen-year-old. A lot more happens in the story as a result of Adele’s decisions and she must face the ramifications as she’s now a protector, so it is her duty to decide what’s right and wrong. I thought this was explored really well throughout – is there always a good and bad decision? How do we decide what is right and what is wrong when it comes to the lives of others? The story and its outcomes are entirely hinged upon the decisions that Adele makes, which makes it very thought-provoking as the line between right and wrong becomes blurred.

Red Wolf is a brilliant and entirely original take on Red Riding Hood. While the beginning is a bit slow as it sets everything up, the pacing soon picks up and the second half is packed with plenty of heart-stopping scenes. I’m not sure if this is a standalone or not but I am dying for a sequel after that explosive ending. I was completely immersed in this dark and ominous reimagining.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

e___k's review against another edition

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slow-paced

0.25

desertlover's review

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3.0

3.5 STARS

This was a unique retelling. It was close to a 4 STARS rating, but the abrupt ending and countless bad decisions of Adele kept me from "loving" it. However, I enjoyed it enough that I would definitely read a followup.

bookishbasma's review

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4.0

Actual rating: 3.5