Really fun for me to read. I don't know if it is for everyone but as someone who does not typically read YA/middlegrade I found this story engaging, emotionally enthralling and enjoyable. Would like to see this in the format of a graphic novel. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher!

In Oakvale, a town surrounded by a menacing forest, Adele is both Little Red and the wolf. Awakened as a guardian werewolf on her sixteenth birthday, Adele is tasked with protecting her town at all costs—and the costs are great. In quick succession, she learns that she is a werewolf, that she can never tell the boy she loves, and that she is betrothed to a man she’s never met. Red Wolf could be a typical fairy tale retelling, but it isn’t, because Adele’s challenges not about who she’ll end up with but rather about who she will be.

Adele’s first choice seems simple. Stay on the path or go into the woods where she hears a crying child. There are some mitigating circumstances. The woods make you hear things that aren’t there, and everyone knows never to leave the path. Still, it’s a simple choice, and Adele brings Tom, a non-speaking child, into the town.

The second choice is much more complicated, as most matters of the heart are. Adele has to choose between Grainger, the boy she’s loved all her life, and Max, her betrothed. Grainger is a watchman who protects Oakvale from wolves, witchery, and monsters, but can’t be trusted with her truth, while Max already knows and could share in her destiny but is from Ashborne and expects to live there. It’s a big choice, but it isn’t the center of the story.

The third choice, however. The third choice is the crux of the matter. When Adele’s family discovers that Tom is actually a whitewulf—a bad werewolf—who has infected Romy, a young girl, Adele has to decide who she’ll protect. Will she obey her mother’s and grandmother’s advice to kill the whitewulves and save the town, or will she protect the children who haven’t killed anyone yet? And when Grainger shoots one of them, Adele will also have to choose between starting a wolf witch hunt with the truth or betraying him with lies.

No choice is easy, but Rachel Vincent has outdone herself. Red Wolf is a fantastic read.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Rachel Vincent brings us a dark new twist on the beloved Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale with Red Wolf! If you’ve ever read a Rachel Vincent book, you know she excels at the shifter character and I was eager for her take on the classic fairy tale with a twist!

Not all fairy tales end happily ever after. Adele knows that more than anything, having lived her life in her little village of Oakvale surrounded by a dark and evil forest, she never expected much out of life. Perhaps marry Grainger, her childhood love, but then she learns of her family’s dark secret and what it means for her and her future.

Adele comes from a line of redwulfs, loup garou, or the standard werewolf. Her family is sworn to protect the village of Oakvale from the dark creatures from the forest around them, except, if the town were to know of their true nature, they would kill that which protects them. The town is very superstitious and doesn’t like anything to do with dark magic. In fact, Adele’s father was burned at the stake after her suffered a bite from a werewolf.

But that’s not all that turns Adele’s world upside down, her mother informs her shortly after her first change that her betrothed is on his way to meet her. All of Adele’s plans for her life are suddenly falling apart. Now she has two suitors vying for her hand, she has to keep her dual nature a secret from her younger sister, her friends, her lover, everyone or risk certain death.

This book, was just amazing! I love a good fairy tale retelling and this one, while not quite a Little Red Riding Hood story does contain some of the same elements, a girl, the woods, a wolf, a red cloak, a grandmother who lives deep in the forest. This book has all the makings of a modern day Grimm fairy tale for sure. It’s dark, gritty and will have you on the edge of your seat.

I lamented what Adele was going through. Not only does she have to adapt to her new nature and keep it a secret from the ones she loves most, but she’s thrown into an impossible love triangle. To be with the one she longs for, Grainger, who knows nothing of her family history, or settle for her betrothed, Max, who knows everything about her family secrets and isn’t too bad of a guy either. Though Adele has herself a love predicament, it doesn’t take over the story as much as I thought it would and honestly, as the story moved forward, you start to see who the victor will be long before Adele does. I’m still left feeling conflicted over everything that happened romance wise, but again, since it wasn’t a focal part of the story, I am not overly torn up about it.

The pacing of the story was somewhere in between fast paced and well-paced. I wouldn’t call it slow, but there are definitely moments where you wonder where the grand finale is headed. This is a standalone novel and yet it ends in a way that leaves you craving for more, but could be satisfied by the lack of more. It was a riveting tale of a girl finding out her identity and accepting the fate life has dealt her. Its ending is sure to leave you a bit shell-shocked.

Red Wolf was the Little Red Riding Hood retelling I didn’t know I longed for. It is the perfect standalone read for all werewolf fans to devour in one sitting. The blend of fantasy and fairy tale likeness made it a most enjoyable read and I would eagerly devour another retelling should Rachel go down that path! There is nothing I wouldn’t read from this lady!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars


Red Wolf release July 20, 2021

Red wolf was highly engaging and a unique take on the Red Riding Hood story. I thought the characters were addictive and felt real, along with the world in which the novel is set. That being said, it is a bit longer than I would have preferred, I think overall though people will enjoy this one.

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for an honest review.

Red Wolf was an energetic, action packed, on the edge of your seat retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Rachel Vincent took something I have been familiar with since my childhood and put a very unique spin on it.

Grandma, what big eyes you have. Grandma, what big ears you have. Grandma, what big teeth you have! What if grandma was always the big bad wolf? In Adele's sixteen years of life she has only known the bubble that is her small village of Oakvale. Her home is surrounded on all sides by the dark woods which is filled with monsters looking to prey on the villagers. Every year the dark woods seems to encroach more and more on the border of Oakvale.

It is normal for Adele and her mother to travel through the dark woods as her grandmother lives in a clearing deep in the woods. On her sixteenth birthday, Adele discovers the family secret. They are Guardians. Tasked with the job of protecting the village of Oakvale from the creatures that go bump in the night. Will Adele be able to handle her new challenging role? Will she find the task more than she anticipated for her life?

Vincent's Red Wolf was a fast paced story that grabbed me right from the beginning. There was suspense, a love story, and tons of action; everything you need in a great story! I loved it!

Love retellings of fairy tales, and Red Wolf is such a good one of Little Red Riding Hood. Spooky woods? Main character is a badass guardian red wolf? Romantic interests? Yes please! Oakvale is surrounded by spooky woods, and Oakvale's community, including Adele, has been told to never go into it. If they do, they must never leave the path and always bring light. What a premise! Can't wait to read the next in the series!

There are so many fairy tale retellings that if there's going to be a new one, it had better be good. Luckily, this one is. From the cover, it's obviously a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, in this case about a teen girl named Adele who is sent into the dark woods with provisions for her grandmother, who unbeknownst to her, has set a test for her. After besting a wolf in the woods, Adele finds herself changing in unexpected ways and finds out about a family legacy that she needs to uphold, sacrificing all of her plans for the future, including her love, Grainger. Just as Adele thinks she's settling in to her new role, she realizes that she may have brought the evils of the dark wood into the village with her and has put everyone at risk. But while there are plenty of action-packed scenes of Adele fighting monsters in the woods, solving her problem isn't going to be so easy and she has moral conundrums to weigh. Vincent will have readers racing to the end as they devour this story. Review from e-galley.

The cover omg it is so beautiful. I loved this version of red riding hood. I loved how she was a wolf instead, was a nice twist to the story. If you love reading fairytale retellings I highly recommend this book.

I loved this take on the classic fairy tale. I loved even better that it is a stand-alone title. It certainly has potential for a series, but it is not required. Putting it down took more effort that I had this weekend and I read it in nearly one sitting. My young adult fans will love it as well as adults. It is a definite addition to my library!

This is a dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Growing up is always hard to do; but when your red hair is considered a bad omen, your Grandma is considered the town witch because she lives in the Dark Wood, and your father was burned at the stake for possibly being a wulf, the deck is kinda stacked against you. Somehow Adeline managed to find someone to spend the rest of her life with . . . or so she thought.

Secrets and lies. Superstitions and fear will drive dreams and destinies apart as a whole new world is revealed. Nothing will be there same. It's a story about growing and making hard decisions. Choosing what matters to you at the end of the day - yourself or helping others.

There are really though decisions that the characters have to make in this book. Decisions that are literally life and death. While I may not agree with all of them, I do appreciate that the author let's the characters make the hard, messing mistakes knowing they will have to live with the consequences just like we do in life. How one lie effects others. It's a book that shows that one different choice would have led to a different sequence of events. It's a book that has a deep meaning behind the plot. I'm still thinking about it and is been hours later.

**I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. **

This book was received as an ARC from HarperCollins Children's Books - HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This version of Red Riding Hood was beyond intense. I was captured right from the start and could not go back. All of the town is frightened by the Dark Woods and little do they know that one of their own is a keeper of a power that turns her into a wolf and sniffs out trouble to protect the town but is it her the one that they fear? This book got my heart racing and my thrills spiking because every page was a new turn in the book and I was left shocked and speechless when I finished. Our teen book club will love this and there will sure be conversations that will set off some fireworks.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Not your average Red Riding Hood!

Surprises and some major Village vibes, Red Wolf is a new twist on an old story.

The book is well-paced and suspenseful. Its air of mystery keeps you reading even when our main character seems a bit fickle.

There’s more that meets the eye to this village- a whole semi-dystopian fairy tale world to escape to if you’ll just wander into the woods and take a read.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I liked the plot. I think it's a creative retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story we all grew up with. It was dark, gritty, and fantastical. I think Rachel Vincent really captured the mood of the town and that really made me believe the stakes that were at play. The mythology of the werewolves and the magical creatures featured in this book were really well done. I didn't enjoy the protagonist that much. And maybe that's because I felt like disagreed with a lot of her decisions throughout the book. She felt very stubborn and like she alone knew what was right. And I guess that makes her a believable sixteen year old so I don't hold against the author or character too much. But I did make me not connect to the book through her, if anything I felt more connected to Max, the mother, and the sister.

I think there were a few plots that were left unanswered. Not sure if this means there will be a sequel or not. The ending was abrupt but I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Compliments to the book cover artist, the cover is gorgeous!