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bethsreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
This book was definitely a disappointment. It had an enticing concept, a matriarchal village that must pay the tithe of one girl a year to the ruling patriarchal coloniser of the area. The main character, Evike, is the only girl in her village without magic, and so she is cast away into the arms of the enemy when the tithe must be paid. I thought the story would be comprised of a dark and mysterious journey through the woods between these two enemies, with some obvious enemies to lovers romance in there. I think that if the book had been this, it would have worked a lot better. However, the scale became too grand with kings, politics, and war, and sadly it just felt flat and tropey for me. In fact most of this book was a genuine struggle to get through.
Evike on the surface is an interesting heroine, someone without magic from a community where magic defines and protects them. But she was so irritating and ends up getting a dark magic anyway! Whatsmore, she is supposed to be the best huntress in her village and Gaspar (the love enemy love interest) is supposedly keeping her alive because he is a useless hunter and she will protect him. However, it ended up being him saving her over and over again — also he ends up being a really skilled swordsman which completely conflicted that element of the plot. She doesn’t save him once, except by wrapping his wounds and cooking his dinner, which feels like it is just reinforcing the gender stereotypes it was trying to subvert.
I did like the books commentary on religious hypocrisy, but it kept hammering it home every page as if it thought the reader was too stupid to recognise it. A lot of the book was obvious and the rest convoluted. I did not genuinely care about a single character and if I hadn’t have DNF’d Belladonna just before it, I wouldn’t have dragged myself through it. I have heard good things have Reid’s other book, Juniper and Thorn, which I would be willing to try in the hopes it is better than this
Evike on the surface is an interesting heroine, someone without magic from a community where magic defines and protects them. But she was so irritating
I did like the books commentary on religious hypocrisy, but it kept hammering it home every page as if it thought the reader was too stupid to recognise it. A lot of the book was obvious and the rest convoluted. I did not genuinely care about a single character and if I hadn’t have DNF’d Belladonna just before it, I wouldn’t have dragged myself through it. I have heard good things have Reid’s other book, Juniper and Thorn, which I would be willing to try in the hopes it is better than this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War
maresuju's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
jaybird_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Read the book you will NOT regret it!! A dark, gorey fantasy with a cast of fully dimensional female characters and a well-done enemies-to-lovers romance. I don’t even want to say much else because it’s just such a good read. I loved the main character and the love interest is babygirl to me!!
Readers who dislike religion (even in the fictional setting) may want to pass this one over because it’s such a heavy theme but I thought it was delicious.
The critique: the author LOVES purple prose and cannot stop herself from writing as many metaphors as possible. This is a pro or con depending on personal taste imo.
PS there’s a pronunciation guide at the back of the book lol
Readers who dislike religion (even in the fictional setting) may want to pass this one over because it’s such a heavy theme but I thought it was delicious.
The critique: the author LOVES purple prose and cannot stop herself from writing as many metaphors as possible. This is a pro or con depending on personal taste imo.
PS there’s a pronunciation guide at the back of the book lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Vomit
breadwitchery's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism and Child abuse
excritos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content
katievallin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
mold_munchr's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content
simone_elizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
The thing I enjoyed most about this book was how it challenged our cultures view of historical eastern Europe and put marginalized cultures in the spotlight. I loved reading about Reid’s perspective on fiction as an academic and a Jewish person. The writing had some confusing imagery and the characters often repeated themselves, but those are minor gripes, especially for a debut. Also the gore in this book is hard core! (Which honestly… slay)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content
bri_fabiano's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Torture, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and War
niftynaturalist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This book had me in its grips from start to finish. It is a captivating read, with a rich setting and dynamic characters that each have a lot of depth to them. The story plot is summed up well in the book's description: Évike, a pagan wolf-girl, and Gáspár, the outcast heir to the throne, are forced to work together to try and save the kingdom in which they both live. The whole story is steeped in folklore, magic, spirituality, and religion in ways that both illuminate and underpin the plot. If you are a fan of the Winternight trilogy (by Katherine Arden), you will very likely fall in love with this book. The ending is a bit open for interpretation, but there is a short epilogue that has been made available by the author for those interested in the romance piece.
The main character, Évike, is fiery and spirited and everything I could have hoped for in a wild wolf-girl protagonist. Gáspár, too, has a great deal of depth and character development, and I really enjoyed watching both of their journeys as the story progressed. Each side character you meet has their own tale to tell as well, and I truly felt that there were very few characters in this book that did NOT have an exceptional amount of depth and development. The one exception may be Nándor, the villain, but I think his rather one-track-mindedness plays into his character in a way that is believable and feeds the story.
There is a lot of religious tension in this book, mainly intolerance and violence from the Patritians (who are a parallel for Christians/Catholics I believe) towards the Yehuli (Jewish people) and the pagans of the country, so if you are not interested in reading that you may have a tough time. But the story itself is one of power and its abuse, of love and family and heritage, and of belief, its meaning, and the power it gives. I have added an antisemitism content warning, which I will expand upon here for those who are concerned: there is a strong antisemitic sentiment among the Patritian zealots, and at one point a Yehuli man is made to stand on a pig's corpse and is handled roughly by his captors.
On a personal note, I am a huge fan of the relationships, particularly the romantic relationship, in this book and how they play out. Minor spoiler here, but if you are a sucker for the enemies to lovers or the man on his knees before his beloved trope, you will very much enjoy the romance in this book. The exploration of family and belonging here is excellent, both heartbreaking and hopeful in turn.
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of folklore and mythology retellings, as well as those who enjoy fantasy or just like to read about semi-feral female protagonists. I loved every minute of it and I hope you do too!
The main character, Évike, is fiery and spirited and everything I could have hoped for in a wild wolf-girl protagonist. Gáspár, too, has a great deal of depth and character development, and I really enjoyed watching both of their journeys as the story progressed. Each side character you meet has their own tale to tell as well, and I truly felt that there were very few characters in this book that did NOT have an exceptional amount of depth and development. The one exception may be Nándor, the villain, but I think his rather one-track-mindedness plays into his character in a way that is believable and feeds the story.
There is a lot of religious tension in this book, mainly intolerance and violence from the Patritians (who are a parallel for Christians/Catholics I believe) towards the Yehuli (Jewish people) and the pagans of the country, so if you are not interested in reading that you may have a tough time. But the story itself is one of power and its abuse, of love and family and heritage, and of belief, its meaning, and the power it gives. I have added an antisemitism content warning, which I will expand upon here for those who are concerned:
On a personal note, I am a huge fan of the relationships, particularly the romantic relationship, in this book and how they play out. Minor spoiler here, but if you are a sucker for the
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of folklore and mythology retellings, as well as those who enjoy fantasy or just like to read about semi-feral female protagonists. I loved every minute of it and I hope you do too!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, and Antisemitism
There is a fair bit of religious self-mutilation, but only a few instances where it is described very graphically. There is also a strong antisemitic sentiment among the Patritian zealots, and at one point