Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

68 reviews

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Infertility, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

man, i thought this was going to be a solid 4 stars for a good chunk of the novel, while we're following the two main characters on a quest of sorts. this is hate-to-love, and throughout their journey they're grappling with preconceptions about each other based on centuries of hatred and oppression between their people (the fantasy is very cleverly based on pagan, christian, and jewish mythology, with all the attendant real world conflicts--the author "has a degree in political science . . . focusing on religion and ethnonationalism" and her expertise shows). grappling while wanting to grapple each other, if you know what i mean. it makes for a very intimate narrative, slow-paced but propulsive . . . but then the journey ends, the world opens up, and our two lovers are separated. what was compelling me to keep reading just kind of dropped out of sight for a while and i found it harder to pick up as much as i had been, and even after they were reunited it never quite got that spark back for me. and then i loathed the epilogue.

idk. there were things that happened in the latter part of the book that i liked and i think were necessary to forward the narrative and themes. however. it just could've been done better. i will also say, this is sold as adult fantasy. i would argue it feels a lot more ya. the heroine is almost a classic ya heroine, the tropes are very ya tropes. these aren't necessarily bad things, but that's not gonna work for everyone, so i wanted to make a note of it.

i did enjoy this for the most part, i'm glad i read it because now i know that ava reid is gonna knock it out of the park for me someday (this was a debut). i'm quite looking forward to reading more from her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: War

Genocide is

a constant threat, but no genocide actually occurs.

chrispybacon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

The book had a strong premise but poor execution. I was excited to have a heroine in her mid-twenties but Evike is so dumb I could not relate to her at all. None of her relationships are healthy - the Yehuli want her to convert (they also help her but they are very interested in her joining them), her love interest is a coward and also her jailer, her whole village physically and verbally abused her. Her life was shit and I would have left all of them in the dirt. It makes zero sense to return to her abusers. 
The plot is a lot of walking, being horny, being angry, being horny, plans backfiring, suffering deadly injuries but surviving them, more being horny and more walking. Somewhere in there were aspects of accepting yourself, growing into your powers (and loosing them), and conflicts about religions and cultures clashing which suffered greatly under all the rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

squids_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book follows a young woman as she works to save the people that she loves in a world that is different than anything that she ever believed. 

I thought that this book was pretty good. The world-building was amazing and the magic system was interesting. I would have liked a greater description of how people got their magic but that's okay. The main thing that I didn't like was that the main character was hypocritical because she believes that gods of other religions can exist just not the gods of the Woodsman. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. 

Overall, I thought that this book was well written and I'm excited to read more by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry

averi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Ableism

alliecat1915's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, and Deportation

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

“We belong to each other. ”

So atmospheric and each description is as fantastical as the last. I was particularly impressed by the witch in the sod house. The sudden switch to the grotesque and horrifying caught me off guard and was truly immersive. The world building is like no other but at the same time it is convoluted and hard to keep track of. I won’t pretend that I could name a single place or character besides the main two despite dedicating days to reading this book. 

The one thing occupying my mind during the duration of my read was the fact that Gáspár is basically Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The evil royal father casts him aside, abuses both him and his mother, and most strikingly delivers a prominent eye injury. Just like Zuko Gáspár has to become a warrior and complete an unsavory mission. He’s forced to work alongside Évike, an enemy of his determined by the wars of men that came before them, aka she represents Katara/the entire Gaang. Similarly to Zuko losing his firebending Gáspár becomes incompetent in the art of battle when he’s forced to use an axe as a woodsman rather than the sword he was used to as a prince. In both scenarios, the change in power is due to casting aside their family.

Even the final battle is similar. Gáspár/Zuko face their overly powerful dark sibling Nándor/Azula with the help of their former enemy-turned ally Évike/Katara.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE LEFT ME WITH SO MANY THOUGHTS. As much as the act of Gáspár kneeling in front of her was sexual it brought me so much relief. Nándor constantly made lewd jokes about Évike on her knees which were meant to demean her. In the one scene where someone is on their knees in that context, it is not Évike. Even more importantly it is an expression of love, a plea for forgiveness, and a promise from Gáspár to her. So wonderful.

I can’t help myself. Whenever I read something with any remotely religious undertones I have to put on Ethel Cain. This is no exception, hence the songs I feel represent the novel.

Songs:  

• Strangers - Ethel Cain
• Compass - The Neighbourhood
• Take Me to Church - Hozier 
• Not Strong Enough - boygenius
• Dear Arkansas Daughter - Lady Lamb
• mad woman - Taylor Swift 
• The Exit - Conan Gray (“the shape of our wounds is the same” - Évike)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement

ericageorge91's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

If you told me that this book came from lost pages of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, I would believe you. From beginning to end, The Wolf and the Woodsman felt like a dark fairy tale told around a campfire. 

Ava Reid wove a brilliant story full of Hungarian history and Jewish mythology. The writing is stunning. The story was magical and atmospheric. As for the characters, you can’t help but root for Évike and Gáspár’s heroes’ journey as well as their love story. The last time I read an enemies-to-lovers handled this well was in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse. Let me tell you, there were parts of this book that had me giggling and SCREAMING!  I won’t spoil those parts because I need readers to discover them organically 😌

Keep in mind that this isn’t romantasy. The quest is very much the forefront of this story and the romance is slowly roasting in the background, which is, personally, how I prefer my romance. I highly recommend this book. Shoutout to the audiobook narrator Saskia Maarleveld. Her talent really enhanced the storybook feel 🤗

TW:
(Graphic) Blood, body horror, death, gore, injury/injury detail, murder, religious bigotry, self-harm, violence

(Moderate) Animal death, antisemitism, bullying, grief, physical abuse, sexual content, trafficking, xenophobia 

(Minor) Animal cruelty, child abuse, death of a parent, torture, vomit 

Rep: Hungarian history, Jewish side characters, sapphic side characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Trafficking, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent

chrisljm's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.25

Meh. Not a fan of the narration, which read like poetry but in the way where I just don't know wtf they're talking about sometimes. The folklore is written well but it became repetitive and too drawn out, making the story drag. 

Also for all the people who recommended this book because of the romance, you had to be making shit up because the romance sucked. Not to say the romance came out of nowhere, because I knew it was going to happen, but there was absolutely no build up at all. I didn't care for any of the characters, which is besides the point because they also had no chemistry at all. I truly don't understand what Gáspár liked about Évike because she was honestly dumb as fuck. She had no common sense and no sense of self preservation. She absolutely refused to think before any of her actions, even when Gáspár explicitly explains how she'd make the situation worse. She also spends majority of the book belittling Gáspár, and constantly attacking him on how she thinks he's ashamed they've laid and slept together, even though they have so many other things to worry about. He literally tries to get her to think before doing something rash and getting them both killed and she accuses him of fearing people will found out he's no longer pure. Like be fucking fr. 

The book also touches on religious/ethical/moral themes but honestly with the messy plot and execution, flat characters, and confusing narration, I honestly don't know what the take away was supposed to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Genocide, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit