The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid – Dark & Unforgettable (Review)

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall: 5/5 Stars
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Plot and Themes: 4.5/5
Awesomeness Factor: 5/5
Review in a Nutshell: It’s official. I’m adding this book to my “books I will not shut up about” list.

// Content Warning: Violence, Death, Mature Content, Self Harm (for Magic/Religion), Child Abuse, Abuse, Animal Death, War Themes, Murder, Gore (Graphic), Amputation, Torture, Antisemitism, Cultural genocide and ethnic cleansing //

Release Date: 6/8/2021
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Page Count: 432
Premise:

The Wolf and the Woodsman follows Evike, a magic-less pagan woman with a Yehuli father, making her an outcast in her village. When the Holy Order of the Woodsman comes to take a pagan girl as a sacrifice, her village betrays her and volunteers her to be taken. But, on the journey to the palace, she and the Woodsmen are attacked, leaving only her and the captain alive. But he isn’t who she originally thought. The two of them are forced to rely on each other to survive, but as they journey together, they realize they do have something in common: their desire to prevent the cruel prince from taking the throne.

This book is amazing, and because of that, my thoughts about it are fairly chaotic. So, we’re going to ignore my normal reviewing format in favor of trying to string together these rambling thoughts.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is a fantastic debut and an absolutely captivating story.

If you want:
– enemies to lovers
– huddling for warmth
– ruthless protagonist, secret cinnamon roll love interest
– intricate worldbuilding
– forbidden love
then you need to read this book.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is stunning. You can tell the amount of research and thought that went into crafting this world and these characters. The different cultures in the book have clear real-world influence, from Hungarian history to Jewish mythology (I’m not an ownvoices reviewer, so I would highly suggest reading ownvoices reviews discussing those aspects of this book).

This novel feels atmospheric and dark, showing a brutal world full of violence and gore, but still had moments for hope and love inside of it. The relationship in this book was beautiful, and the two main characters on their own were incredible and will stick with you long after you close the book.

Pros- Great characters, fascinating world, amazing writing
Cons- if you aren’t a fan of gore, this might be a hard read for you (I usually don’t care either way about gore, so this didn’t really bother me)
Overall- 5/5 stars.
I loved every minute I spent reading this book, and I can’t wait for more people to experience it.