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A review by crownedaimee
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
“If you stare long enough into the darkness of the forest, eventually something will stare right back.”
The Wolf and the Woodsman follows Evike who is an outcast in her village due to her lack of magic. When the Holy Order of the Woodsman comes to take pagan girl as a sacrifice, her village is quick to betray her and volunteer her to be taken. But on the journey to the palace, the Woodsman and Evike are attacked, only leaving her and the captain alive. But he isn't who she originally thought he was. The two are forced to rely on each other to survive and soon realise they have something in common as they journey together.
I was really hoping to like this book because of all the hype but I just kinda got annoyed with it? I felt like parts were so choppy. Without going into too much detail and spoilers, there was a part towards the end where Evike and the Woodsman was doing something and in the next moment, there was a bunch of people with no explanation on how they got there? I don't know if it was just me and my mind completely skipped a whole scene because let's me honest, it happened a lot in this book or whether it actually happened like this. And don't get me started on how much stories was in this book. I swear it was like every chapter, I was so done with it.
The start of this book almost had me dnfing it straight away. It felt like such an information dump with all these names and places that I couldn't read because my head couldn't wrap around the names. Can we make it a rule where the pronunciation guide is at the start to avoid these confusions? It did hook me in at the start once I got over this but it got lengthy and I was struggling to push through it.
I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style and the pacing was off. I couldn't really connect to it. or once, I couldn't really find a likeable character. They didn't have much personality and it pained me. Plus we're supposed to fall in love with them as Evike constantly makes fun of the Woodsman and makes terrible decisions?
If you do plan to read this book then please check the trigger warnings, some include: magic requiring self harm, torture, animal death, antisemitism, child abuse and more.
Would I read anymore books by Ava Reid? Possibly. This is the debut novel afterall and I do like to give other books by authors another chance but if it's anything like this then perhaps not.
“Stories are supposed to live longer than people.”
The Wolf and the Woodsman follows Evike who is an outcast in her village due to her lack of magic. When the Holy Order of the Woodsman comes to take pagan girl as a sacrifice, her village is quick to betray her and volunteer her to be taken. But on the journey to the palace, the Woodsman and Evike are attacked, only leaving her and the captain alive. But he isn't who she originally thought he was. The two are forced to rely on each other to survive and soon realise they have something in common as they journey together.
I was really hoping to like this book because of all the hype but I just kinda got annoyed with it? I felt like parts were so choppy. Without going into too much detail and spoilers, there was a part towards the end where Evike and the Woodsman was doing something and in the next moment, there was a bunch of people with no explanation on how they got there? I don't know if it was just me and my mind completely skipped a whole scene because let's me honest, it happened a lot in this book or whether it actually happened like this. And don't get me started on how much stories was in this book. I swear it was like every chapter, I was so done with it.
The start of this book almost had me dnfing it straight away. It felt like such an information dump with all these names and places that I couldn't read because my head couldn't wrap around the names. Can we make it a rule where the pronunciation guide is at the start to avoid these confusions? It did hook me in at the start once I got over this but it got lengthy and I was struggling to push through it.
I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style and the pacing was off. I couldn't really connect to it. or once, I couldn't really find a likeable character. They didn't have much personality and it pained me. Plus we're supposed to fall in love with them as Evike constantly makes fun of the Woodsman and makes terrible decisions?
If you do plan to read this book then please check the trigger warnings, some include: magic requiring self harm, torture, animal death, antisemitism, child abuse and more.
Would I read anymore books by Ava Reid? Possibly. This is the debut novel afterall and I do like to give other books by authors another chance but if it's anything like this then perhaps not.
“Stories are supposed to live longer than people.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Antisemitism