A review by howl
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

i was disappointed to discover that this book is young adult in wolf’s clothing: a supposed adult fantasy novel that reads like innumerable young adult science fiction/fantasy novels i’ve encountered before, with heavy-handed first-person narration, an isolated heroine besieged by mean girls (even though they’re all supposed to be 25), and a scary magic man (who turns out to be a prince, of course) with whom she goes on an adventure while they grudgingly fall in love. once i got over my initial irritation i did start to enjoy it quite a bit, enough that i actually looked forward to reading more. the combination of first-person and present tense was still rough, and this book contains an astonishing number of similes (a near-constant distraction), but overall i enjoyed the dangerous traipse through the countryside and the snare of politics at the capital. i also didn’t really mind the romance, formulaic as it was; unrealistic romance can be fun to read, and i can definitely see why certain tropes therein are so popular. i’m often put off by m/f enemies-to-lovers if the man is too much of an asshole, but i didn’t think this was too bad compared to some other examples i’ve encountered. ultimately, however, i thought the best part of the novel may have been the heroine’s reconnection with her jewish heritage; it was so lovingly described and it imparted the most positive emotion i felt while reading. other aspects i found effective were some of the more gruesome surprises this book had in store (perhaps the only way it really asserted itself as adult besides the characters’ ages) and the integration of folktales that prefigured certain events. the latter reminded me of the bear and the nightingale, a comparison made by the publisher which otherwise fell a little short for me, besides the mystical eastern european setting and the fact that there is one character who seemed to have been very heavily inspired by bear’s konstantin:
nandor, a blue-eyed, stunningly beautiful, and charismatic zealot buoyed by a larger supernatural power. 
overall it was a decent reading experience despite the flaws in the writing. 
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