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fae_princess_in_space's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You know sometimes you just think to yourself, I need a book that is simply scorching smut and MCs just draped in red flags, with the barest minimum of plot. That’s this book; if you’re looking for something with a robust storyline and wholesome MCs with good character growth, this ain’t it. If you’re after a mythical nightmare monster railing a hot witch in a world that doesn’t quite make sense, then by all means, read ahead.
This is a *very* loose retelling of Little Red Riding hood, but also with Beauty and the Beast vibes I feel? The world is interesting - it’s sort of post-apocalyptic, sort of high fantasy dark fairytale. Long story short, the humans fucked up the planet and caused a rift in the veil between the human world and the supernatural world. This caused all the supernatural baddies to fall through and they settled into 4 factions (syndicates) - earth, wind, fire, water. Or like, earth, sky…. Volcano maybe?… and sea? Idk. Elements.
Our big bad MC Wotan is leader of the Wild Hunt and and Earth syndicate and runs a club on the outskirts of a forest (I know I know, it doesn’t need to make sense, shush). Anyway, Ryder, sexy redheaded fortune telling which tries to trespass on Wotan’s land in order to reach his (evil? Evil ✔️) grandma. And y’know, gets captured, railed in the big bad’s sex dungeon. You get it.
Now, I hear you screaming, Jen, you obviously hated this book, the plot sounds like hot garbage. Yes, BUT ALSO NO. I have read other books by these authors before and they are SO FUCKING GOOD. The writing was great, the smut was great, the characters, whilst flawed as shit, were super engaging. So you know what? Four stars. Because I love monster smut.
And I have been told that book 2 is *excellent* and contains a great deal of vampires so yes, I will be continuing with the series.
This is a *very* loose retelling of Little Red Riding hood, but also with Beauty and the Beast vibes I feel? The world is interesting - it’s sort of post-apocalyptic, sort of high fantasy dark fairytale. Long story short, the humans fucked up the planet and caused a rift in the veil between the human world and the supernatural world. This caused all the supernatural baddies to fall through and they settled into 4 factions (syndicates) - earth, wind, fire, water. Or like, earth, sky…. Volcano maybe?… and sea? Idk. Elements.
Our big bad MC Wotan is leader of the Wild Hunt and and Earth syndicate and runs a club on the outskirts of a forest (I know I know, it doesn’t need to make sense, shush). Anyway, Ryder, sexy redheaded fortune telling which tries to trespass on Wotan’s land in order to reach his (evil? Evil ✔️) grandma. And y’know, gets captured, railed in the big bad’s sex dungeon. You get it.
Now, I hear you screaming, Jen, you obviously hated this book, the plot sounds like hot garbage. Yes, BUT ALSO NO. I have read other books by these authors before and they are SO FUCKING GOOD. The writing was great, the smut was great, the characters, whilst flawed as shit, were super engaging. So you know what? Four stars. Because I love monster smut.
And I have been told that book 2 is *excellent* and contains a great deal of vampires so yes, I will be continuing with the series.
katy1727's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
3.75
kickassleigh's review against another edition
4.0
Wotan and Ryder
I read these out of order, so I have already known about Tower prior to this book. It was good to see the whole story. This book starts off with a bang and progresses quickly. The story is good enough for how short it is, but leaves a lot of questions or details unanswered. Still a good read and addition to the Beautiful Nightmares series.
I read these out of order, so I have already known about Tower prior to this book. It was good to see the whole story. This book starts off with a bang and progresses quickly. The story is good enough for how short it is, but leaves a lot of questions or details unanswered. Still a good read and addition to the Beautiful Nightmares series.
kaylareads_toomuch's review against another edition
I don't think I like dark romance as much as I thought. The dubcon elements were too close to noncon
ky_brown03's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pure filth and i loved every second. loved the tropes, short and sweet and the fairytale retelling. i kept pronouncing wotan’s name as wonton in my head though and could stop which pulled me out of it a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Confinement, Car accident, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Torture, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
retrogirlreads's review
5.0
“Hunt the Wood” was an amazing MM retelling of the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, and I really enjoyed Anna Fury and Amy Pennza’s unique take on it!!! Ryder is a witch with limited power, so he’s not worth much to his grandmother, the head of a powerful coven. But he’s desperate to earn her approval, so he still does her bidding, and this is what gets him mixed up with Wotan, the Master of the Hunt. I thought Ryder and Wotan’s relationship was good, but also intense and complex. I enjoyed their interactions, and I loved watching them fall for each other even when they weren’t intending to. The spicy scenes were also excellent. All in all, this was an amazing read, and I definitely recommend for MM and/or paranormal romance lovers!!!
subtlemystery's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
whatthefridge's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I wanted to like this book, I really did. Prologue is kind of jarring, but the worldbuilding is fascinating. It’s post apocalyptic meets high fantasy. I wanted to see how dark it would go.
But it fumbled hard.
It took me a while to get into the flow of the story, and my biggest issue comes down to Wotan. I strongly feel like the author waffled on how to characterize him. Wotan begins as someone dark and dubious, but then he gets chopped up into a saccharine lover.
But it fumbled hard.
It took me a while to get into the flow of the story, and my biggest issue comes down to Wotan. I strongly feel like the author waffled on how to characterize him. Wotan begins as someone dark and dubious, but then he gets chopped up into a saccharine lover.
It begins when Wotan is given anxiety about their mating bond. He said the bond was permanent! But then it backtracks to Acktually if Ryder rejects the bond it will break. Artificial vulnerability fucking shit. Cowardly in fact. Almost makes me want to DNF.
Considering how proud Wotan was in taking what he wanted from Ryder, it then becomes tedious how much Wotan ruminates about consent. It’s artificial filler for drama and suspense that’s not earned. Cowardly backpedaling to make Wotan more palatable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture