Review: For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

June 16, 2021June 16, 2021 NinaLeave a comment

Do you like fairy tale-esque stories? What about dark fantasy? Slow-burn romance? If any of these pique your interest (or perhaps all of them?), I have a recommendation for you! For the Wolf is a darkly alluring atmospheric fantasy inspired by Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast.

*Thank you to Orbit Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

“The First Daughter is for the throne. The Second Daughter is for the Wolf. And the Wolves are for the Wilderwood.”
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

When I saw the author mention ‘monster boyfriend’ in regards to this book, I was ready to strike a bargain with some ancient eldritch entity to get my hands on an ARC. Fortunately, Orbit Books was kind enough to send me a copy so I didn’t have to sell my soul! But would it have been worth it? Yes. What can I say? My achilles heels is a brooding monstery bf.

I can never get enough of Red Riding Hood inspired stories. It’s one of my favorite fairy tales. For the Wolf vividly brings to life a haunting, sentient forest where Red is sent to be sacrificed to the Wolf. She was a second daughter, bound to the forest, bound to the Wolf, bound to an ancient bargain. A life in exchange for protection from the shadowy creatures that lurk in those dark depths. A life to placate the Wolf to free the Five Kings. But once Red enters the Wilderwood, she learns that things aren’t as they seem.

The writing is so poetic and richly descriptive. I have plenty of passages flagged just from my appreciation for Whitten’s craftsmanship of the written word. A cursed forest, a ruined castle, an evil priestess—I loved the gothic atmosphere. I’ve come to enjoy slower paced books more in the last few years and this one definitely was a slow burn. It gave me a chance to fully savor everything, from the world building to the romance (a very sweet romance, might I add).

My favorite aspect of the story was the complexity of familial bonds. Red and Neve are sisters, but while Red was prepared to accept her fate of being sacrificed to the Wolf, Neve, who was destined for the throne, wasn’t going to lose her sister so easily. The dynamic was really compelling—examining the duality of two siblings bound by fate. This book did have one drawback for me and it was the confusing magic system. We get bits and pieces scattered throughout the story, so it didn’t feel very cohesive and at times I was left puzzled. I hope it will be more substantial in the next book. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the sequel.

If you like slow paced, darkly atmospheric fantasy with a brooding hero and a strong-willed heroine, then pick up For the Wolf!

Amazon

Goodreads

Amazon affiliate link

5 Reasons You Should Read The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

June 14, 2021June 16, 2021 NinaLeave a comment

I’ve been reading back to back darker, atmospheric fantasy lately—my saving grace amidst a nearly two-month long reading slump. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres, and I tend to gravitate towards the darker variety (of any genre, really). But this summer seems to be the summer of dark fantasy and I’m loving it. My latest read was a haunting debut full myths and magic and monsters, inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish folklore. Without further ado, here are 5 reasons why you should read The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid.

*Thank you to Harper Voyager/Del Rey Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

1. The immersive world building. Reid crafted a rich world with fascinating lore and folktales. A pagan village where magic is revered. Woodsmen who come every few years to claim a girl to be sacrificed to the king. A magic system based on body horror. A journey to capture the turul; a mythological bird. It’s an epic, sweeping world of gods and monsters and the folly of kings.

2. Enemies to lovers. The romance was a subplot, but it was without a doubt my favorite aspect of the book—not just because enemies to lovers is my favorite trope, but because of how well it was done. Évike is a hardened, wild girl who is rightfully angry at the world after all the abuse she suffered. She’s fierce and a little mean; rough around the edges—my favorite kind of heroine. Her counterpart is a disgraced prince on his knees. He’s a tortured soul seeking redemption. He also happens to be the Woodsman captain tasked with taking Évike as a blood sacrifice for the king…his father. Their journey is steeped in angst and tension, and it’s so good.

3. Historical parallels. I learned a lot about Hungary’s violent history reading this book. Genocide, ethnic cleansing, and religious conflict. It was horrific and difficult to read at times, but a critical part of the book. Reid wanted to shine light on the oppression and marginalization experienced by ethno-religious minorities, and she pulled no punches.

4. Evocative writing and vivid imagery. It’s atmospheric and dark and haunting, taking us from eerie woodlands where monsters lurked, through frozen tundras and glacial lakes, to a dangerous city where the real monsters resided. I felt like I was transported right into the world, traveling along earthly and icy plains with our protagonists.

5. Jewish #ownvoices. I rarely ever see Jewish representation in fantasy, so reading the Jewish culture and mythology woven into the story (the Yehuli people) was amazing.

Keep in mind that this is an adult dark fantasy with very grim and graphic content. If you like The Bear and the Nightingale, Spinning Silver, or The Witcher, pick up this book! Content warnings: gore, abuse, self harm, torture, genocide, antisemitism.

Amazon

Goodreads

Amazon affiliate link.

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

Review: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

June 1, 2021 NinaLeave a comment

*ARC provided by Tor.com in exchange for an honest review.*

There’s a dreamlike quality to this story that’s difficult to fully depict but impossible to forget. A wistfulness for bygone summer days; a bittersweet nostalgia through rose-tinted lens.

Vo reimagines The Great Gatsby from Jordan Baker’s perspective as a queer Vietnamese immigrant in the most elite circles of 1920s American society, where she existed in a liminal space—a borderline between acceptable and not. Contrasting her is Daisy, her dearest friend caught in the middle of two men’s distorted affections.

Then there’s our former narrator Nick, naive and bright-eyed. And of course, Jay Gatsby, who sold his soul to the devil for power and prestige. Beneath the glitter and glamour, the opulence and dazzling lights, the disarming smiles and lavish parties, was an empty and perhaps monstrous man, relentless in his pursuit of Daisy. Therein lies the tragedy of it all. Multifaceted characters in all their bright and flawed glory, tangled together in hallowed golden halls.

Vo captured Fitzgerald’s melancholic tone so well while weaving in nuanced themes of sexuality and race. I would’ve loved to see more of the magical aspect—Jordan’s ability to bring paper cuttings to life and the infernal pacts with demons. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this story immensely and it’s one of my favorite reads so far this year.

The Chosen and the Beautiful is out today!

Buy on Amazon

Add to Goodreads

Amazon affiliate link.

“The sky went still, and far above, I could see foreign stars, stars the moved, stars that winked at me, stars that shot across the sky like comets. Under the wrack and wreck of what had come before, the sky was new, and I reached for it with a yearning, eager hand.”
The Chosen and the Beautiful

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.