I was really impressed by this , it was so much more than I could imagine. I admit I thought this was just going to be a reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood, but this is so much more than that , it’s so much new mythology and history to me that I hadn’t known much about before (Hungarian) and it was so immersive. The world-building was fantastic, as was the magic system and the writing was beautiful. I loved the slow burn romance (did I mention it was enemies to lovers 😍) This is a wonderful debut and I will definitely be looking forward to future books from such a talented writer

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Reid deftly paints a rich and complex picture of a kingdom steeped in ancient magic, but broiling with religious and cultural tension. I was entranced from the first page, with her beautifully constructed prose and unique storytelling.

Being an outsider can be dangerous.

Being an outsider in a small village in the forest surrounded by monstrosities is worse.

For Evike, being the outsider who is the only girl without magic when soldiers of the king arrive seeking a victim for a blood sacrifice means that, uh, oh, she's it.

Based on Hungarian and Jemish myth, the snowy forest setting may seem like a familiar fairytale landscape, but this is a darker and more brutal beast. While there is a little more violence, and even some mentions of self harm than is typically found in YA, there is definitely a home for The Wolf and The Woodsman in fans of Naomi Novik, and Katherine Arden.

I started this book hoping it would end up being one of my favorite books of the year: the writing style is beautiful, the world building amazing and everything had this dark fairytale mood.

However, and even though I appreciated the aforementioned details, I couldn’t connect with Évike, our main character. She was harsh, savage and selfish. Her defense mechanism was to draw blood first, apologize later, and she treated Gaspar (and almost all the cast of characters, to be honest) poorly. Also, at some point, the writing style stopped being that beautiful and started feeling quite repetitive.

All things said, it was a good read. I truly enjoyed the different quests that our MCs embarked in, and the lore the author created. I will be definitely checking out more of her books in the future.

This was a beautifully written slow-burn fantasy novel that weaves together Hungarian folklore with interesting ideas about gender and race. I'm keen to read more from this author!

This was a really interesting fantasy and I love that it’s a standalone. The world building is very rich. I found the plot very slow however and didn’t love the romance but still a solid read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was expecting this to be a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and was pleasantly surprised when it went much further than that. I don't know much about Hungarian history but from this little slice, it sounds bloody and I'm intrigued! Reid manages to balance a complex political plot alongside discussions of family, belonging, xenophobia and religious tolerance, and that the love story element doesn't overpower this or feel tacked on is testament to Reid's writing.

Wow... this book was just fantastic. The premise immediately hooked me, and from the first page I was enthralled. Evike is such a brilliant and nuanced character, I loved her so much. This book came alive with the characters and the care that was embued in them - they all felt so real. I was really intrigued by the world-building for this one, and the magic system, too! Reid's writing, as well, is amazing. The descriptions of the scenery and landscape particularly stuck out. There were a few moments I felt a little lost while reading, but that's likely my own fault! Thank you to Netgalley and Ava Reid for the opportunity to read this!

Firstly thanks very much for the publisher and NetGalley for the arc, I always appreciate it! All my opinions are as usual my own and I always will be honest. While this book was not for me, I am in the minority as it has raving reviews in general.

<b>Real Rating: </b> 1.5
Plot/story: 2
Setting/worldbuilding: 2.5
Characters: 1
Writing/ prose: 1.5
Unputdownable: 0
<b>Short review: </b> This book suffered from too much flowery writing, forced worldbuilding, excessive myth-telling and useless religious debates.
And lack of plot, little character development, repetitive dialogue, and the blandest romance ever, each conversation ending with someone flushing and the other person scowling.
As a debut novel, I think the author has potential; I can tell she did lots, LOTS of research. But as someone very cleverly said, authors must keep 90% of their research to themselves and let 10% pepper the story. Otherwise, we would just read the research ourselves.

<b>My advice: </b> Do not be deceived, my friends, this is a sheep in wolf’s clothing. It’s YA masquerading as adult. The only 2 reasons marketing is shoving this down adults’ throats is because of copious amounts of gratuitous gore and one half -page sex scene which was fairly vague and easily removed.

These are elements that define YA in my opinion:
1. The main character/s are the centre of the world, interacting mainly with same-age individuals who share similar interests.
2. Adults are to be avoided, vilified, killed off, are an annoyance.
3. Typically, first person and (more frequently nowadays) present tense POV.
4. Dealing with teenage-related issues such as bullying, self-image issues, finding their role in society, their first love, leaving home for the first time.
5. Immature, repetitive, childish dialogue.
6. A simplistic plot.

This book has most of the above.
The things I liked in this book were the atmosphere (that chicken thing was wicked cool, more of that please!), the incorporation of Hungarian and Jewish inspired mythology and the themes of religious oppression, generational conflict, ethnic cleansing, and belonging. Although even these were very heavy handed, having elaborate descriptions and mythology on every single page.

<b>Long review, no spoilers: </b>
<b> Plot: </b> This had a promising start and went downhill soon after. I kept picking it up and putting it down, the pace was painfully slow and the scenes and inner monologue so repetitive that this book could have been cut down to 200 pages.
There’s an overwhelming amount of navel-gazing happening, the main characters absolutely do not read as adults. I had to go back and check that they were indeed 25.


The initial quest-adventure is absolutely pointless and utilised only as “alone time” for our main duo, which wasn’t even well done. There was no enemies-to-lovers slow burn, no real conflict, nothing to bond over or push their relationship to blossom. One day Evike wakes up and notices his bronzed bicep and BANG that’s all she can think of. All. The. Time. How handsome he is and his eye and his skin bla blaaa.
Everyone is flushing on every page, the woodsman is scowling every second.

The encounters with "monsters" last one page each time and do nothing much to the story.
The politicking in the Capital was very limited and had mostly just shock value.
The ending felt rushed and the Epilogue was a mockery of the decades of struggle, oppression and conflict between people.

<b> Characters: </b> Evike is one of the most unlikeable and idiotic characters I’ve read and I can’t really tell if this is intentional.
She is a dumb brat, I am surprised she didn't die 50 times. Evike acts like a brainless teenager, always provoking more powerful people and acting rashly. It was infuriating and flabbergasting to see someone who was bullied and put down all her life behave aggravating on purpose and speak without thinking. If anything, her experience should have taught to be wary and selective of words and actions, instead of becoming a bully herself, mocking and berating Gaspar on every page.

Her obsession with Virag and Katalin and heir cruel treatment is grating. It serves little purpose except to fluff out the book. Evike isn't healing from the trauma or being haunted by ghosts, she keeps thinking of them every single page. For 2 characters we barely know and seen, the appear more often than real people around Evike. Virag and Katalin's names appear approx. 200 times each. Gaspar's name appears 500-ish times and he is one of the main characters that appears in every chapter!

Maybe this obsessive reliving of memories is a part of the human psyche, but not a good storytelling technique. I came here to read interesting things not to be reminded every page that Virag was cruel and kind and Katalin was cruel and beautiful. Can we concentrate on the new surroundings of the Capital and its curious inhabitants maybe?
Reading again and again about these women’s bad treatments of Evike (not even that bad considering one was disciplining and the other a bully, not some master torturer), has taken the edge out those actions, not having the same impact as if it was only mentioned a few times and strongly reverberating through Evike's mind and body.
I have a small spoilery rant at the end of this review about Evike forgiving her abusers, read it if you don’t mind spoilers / don’t plan on reading this book.


Gaspar the Ball-less didn’t even have a true chance to shine. While an interesting introduction reminiscent of Mathias (SoC), he spent the majority of the book behaving as a blushing maid and giant scaredy cat cowering in his father’s and brother’s and order’s and religion’s shadow. His big moment at the end felt out of character.

The only other character worthy of mention is Zsigmond. His introduction and the exploration of Yehuli culture, tradition and religion was ultimately the reason I pushed to finish this. It was however featured very little, the narrative choosing instead to venture yet again on another pointless quest which was futile at the end of the day (trust me).

<b> Writing style / prose: </b>
I’ve mentioned it already, but it is not great. Excessive use of similes, surprisingly used by Evike, an illiterate village girl who would have no knowledge of such refined language. Repetitive, the sheer mention of people blushing and flushing and scowling is ridiculous. Unstructured storytelling, unrelated scenes back-to-back, time jumps, slow pace. There is potential there, but a stricter editor and clearer purpose was needed. Was this intended to be religious commentary? An visceral romance? Exploration of cultures? Finding ones’ purpose/calling/place? It was too messy and tried to have too much of everything.

I really struggled with every name in this book, they were difficult to remember (forget about pronouncing!), and since this is an English book, not a Hungarian book translated to English, I found it pointlessly challenging. I don't need to be spoon fed, but also unless the world has a very specific naming convention (see Stormlight Archive), bogging down the story with impossible to remember names brings nothing to the table.

<b> Worldbuilding/ magic system: </b> This felt very convoluted and stuffy. There were 4 different religions/magic systems, vaguely explained and underdeveloped:
- Patrifaith (Christian based religion) – God grants you magic if you pray and / or chop off body parts.
- Yehuli (Jewish based religion) magic using written words which is extremely powerful ( at odds with the fact that these people were the most oppressed and abused in the kingdom).
- Pagan (I guess based on Hungarian myths - correct me if wrong) magic, which is forest magic with random creatures and also the wolf-girls magic which is inherited at birth.
- Juvvi (I’m not sure of its real-world inspiratio) magic that controls/ connects to animals.

<b> Overall, </b> I think this author should have kept this a clear YA, without trying so hard to mature several scenes but not the characters themselves. It's very uneven and goes from uncensured gore and brutal torture to silly little interactions and people making stupid choices (the villain mortally injuring someone and then leaving the room, saying they will come back later once they are dead? Ooook. Evike mortally injured and making jokes with Gaspar, come on woman.)
Below is the tiny spoilery rant about Evike’s “selfless” decision to save her tormentors – the villagers who were cruel to her and one person in particular. It’s a bit spoilery so feel free to skip it.
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The logic behind Evike's decision to help Katalin plainly does not make sense. She says (twice) that if she doesn't, Virag will have been right to cast her out of the village, that wolf-girls are only warm bodies. This makes no sense. She could have felt a misplaced sense of loyalty or responsibility, she could have been trying to be the bigger person. She could have just been feeling generous and grown more mature. She could have left Katalin to die, it would have been a more authentic decision based on her mean, vengeful personality and history. But no, she saves Katalin because god forbid Virag is right. Excuse me nobody saved you when you were cast out of the village to go DIE.

Also absolving the 2 main people that caused Evike hell growing up is such a YA move, cmon people. It took 2 lines of dialogue from Katalin, saying she was jealous that Virag was kind on occasion to Evike despite LASHING HER. That’s the big ol’ reason why Katalin was always cruel and threw fire in Evike’s face.
Forgiving the abusers easy peasy lemon squeezy, excellent lesson. Thank you and goodnight.

BTW, if I read about another surprise royalty one more time, I'm just gonna burn down all my fantasy books in a glorious bonfire that will force Ordog to gift me the power to foresee which books to avoid in the future.

I'm a little torn on what to rate this book.
I really enjoyed the interwoven mythology and folktales of cultures that I haven't seen written about often and the dark, poetic, atmospheric descriptions. But there were a few things to do with plot/pacing and characters that read very much like a debut book. Which I believe it is, so it shouldn't be faulted too much for that. These just happen to be a few pet hates of mine when they come up.

Pacing: This is definitely a slow burn book. Which, depending on the reader, can be good or bad. I generally don't mind a slower paced fantasy but I don't think I could connect with the characters in this book which made me feel the effects of the slower pace a lot more. Over half-way in we were still going through the journey stage found in many fantasies. While I did enjoy the inclusion of the myths of different witches and creatures, I feel like one was thrown in every now and then just to throw a spanner in the works for the main characters. Only to be beaten/resolved a few paragraphs later. After the 3rd time it unfortunately felt a little repetitive even though I was interested in the lore.
The pacing for me was also a little off with the romance threaded throughout the plotline. Coupled with the fact that I couldn't really get on board with either main character (which I'll discuss later) it read like a bad attempt at hate to love trope. The antagonism was short lived between them with Évike was mooning over Gáspár when it really wasn't realistic for her to. I usually really enjoy hate-to-love tropes but felt like this one was a little rushed. Especially when it came to random proclamations of love after we hadn't seen Gáspár's character for a sizeable chunk of the book. At least it read that way to me.

Characters: Unfortunately I really didn't click with our main character, Évike. While it's not necessary to like the main character to enjoy the book, some of Évike's choices/actions really grated on me.
I could see what the author was trying to do with her character arc but I think for too much of the story I just found Évike quite naive and gullible in her decision making. The petty back and forth barbs with Gáspár also just got on my nerves, because it turned into being more about him rebuffing and regretting their kiss compared to him standing for everything she hated. So many times I just wanted to shake her and shout, "Look at the bigger picture! Rather than focusing on just getting a reaction out of him. She's travelling to a city where she knows her kind is reviled and wanted dead, to be delivered to the king and a future that she's going blind into. Not knowing the fate of the previous wolf-girls.
After reading the fantasy genre for so long, so many of her decisions weren't believable for me.
Such things as walking into the city where most people want her dead while wearing the wolf cloak which makes her instantly recognisable, and yet she sulks and spars with Gáspár about it when he rightly asks, is she crazy for riding in with it?
Évike's character definitely felt the most fleshed out to me, but the rest of the characters were too forgettable. Gáspár didn't seem to have more to his character than spouting his religious rules and a few back stories about his father. I didn't see any chemistry between him and Évike, so the romance made very little sense to me. Same for both of the villains, we seem to be told of the king's cruelty and brutality through Gáspár's stories and mystery of why he wants the wolf-girls and yet when we actually see him he's a weak coward barely holding onto his title and people. This is just a pet hate of mine where we are told about a character and not shown. Or shown something completely different. The villains just seemed like the outline of the 'evil bad guy' that needs to be defeated without much substance to them.

The magic for me was one of the weakest points in the book. While there was a unique power explored, through forging metal from nothing, there was no real explanation of how this worked or principles behind it. Other than there being 3 different types of magic that wolf girls could perform. It just ended up muddying the waters when some of the Woosdmen could also use these powers or a variation of powers that didn't make sense with the 3 already mentioned.
When Évike received her powers it was a little washy for me how she came to the conclusion of obtaining them and also with the ease of which she could then use said powers. With no previous knowledge or training about a gift that no one she knew had ever possessed before. Again just something that took me out of the story because of it's unlikelihood.

There were a few things with plot convenience that also took me out of the story. Such as the ease that Évike had in wandering around the palace and city with no escort or guard. It's unrealistic for me to think that someone labelled 'evil' and 'a heathen' is let loose to do whatever she wants in the palace and city where people are encouraged to hate and exterminate her kind.
Also for Évike and her father's reunion. It seemed way too convenient that she just show up to a city where she'd never been before, didn't know the layout of, with minimal knowledge of her father that's years old and the first thing she sees is her father surrounded by an audience due for court punishment. Following this then she thinks she can find him by just knocking on ever door in a section of the city hoping to find him.
Multiple instances like this just pulled me out of the overarching story quite a bit.

Having said all that though, I think the language and writing used to describe the world-building and geography of the land was really good. Especially when it came to the forest scenes. I think if you're a fan of similar styles to Naomi Novik or Katherine Arden you should also give this a go and see what you think.
While there were still some kinks to work out, being a first book, I'll definitely keep an eye out for this writer's work in the future as I liked her writing style that much.

Évike was born and raised in a pagan village, but without any magic, she is only good to be sacrificed to the Woodsmen, but travelling through the forest, they are attacked by monsters forcing them in an unlikely alliance.

This is a fantastic story of gods, beliefs, magic, and Jewish folklore. Through the characters’ voices, the author creates a fantastic world of legends, myths, gods, magical creatures, and a dangerous forest full of monsters that will keep you entertained for hours.

4 Stars

I actually did think this would be a 5* read at various points during the book. I love a lyrical journey through the woods, I love political intrigue, and I love a good family reunion. Yet I never really connected as strongly with the story as I hoped to.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is often marketed as being for fans of Spinning Silver and The Bear and the Nightingale, two of my favourite books. I definitely got the Spinning Silver vibes with the exploration of the Jewish/Yehuli population, as well as the enemies-to-lovers romance between a girl brought to a palace and a prince who is more than he seems. The similarities with The Bear and the Nightingale mostly lie in the folklore, storytelling element and to an extent the lyrical writing, though I think TBatN is more polished in both regards. The writing in The Wolf and the Woodsman is hit or miss - though mostly hit, and I did find it very lovely for the most part, but there was the odd weird metaphor/overwrought description/overuse of repetition which reminded me this was a debut novel. Really, for me, the comparisons to the Winternight trilogy are mostly superficial; in terms of tone, the two books couldn't be more different. Where one is full of charm and wit and whimsy to balance out its darker elements, the other has a bleaker, grittier tone, its magic bloody and violent, its moments of warmth often too fleeting to be truly appreciated. This is definitely personal taste, but I much prefer charm and whimsy, and I do think that can work alongside heavier topics when done well. Poignancy comes from a good balance of light and shade, in my opinion, and this leant a bit too heavily towards the "shade" for me. (Other readers might much prefer this!)

My absolute favourite part of this story - and the most heartwarming - was Évike's relationship with her father. It was incredibly sweet and unexpected, and I really enjoyed the little bits of Yehuli culture we got to see too! (Batya was also great and I wanted more of her). One of the most interesting aspects of Évike's character is her struggle to belong, being part of two outcast cultures, and I wish this was more of a focus of the story than the aforementioned blood magic, and even her relationship with Gáspár - which I did actually like for the most part. Given he himself is a product of two enemy cultures, I would have liked that to be brought up more. It's the most obvious emotional tie between them and yet we kind of skirt around the subject a bit without really getting into the meat of it.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is, regardless of the issues I had with the story - many of which were a matter of personal taste - an incredibly strong debut. A part of me wonders whether this would have been better split into two books, to give more room to the side characters and heavy themes to breathe alongside the more fantastical elements. (The end, which contains most of the book's action, is also quite short). At the same time, I'm pretty impressed by how much Ava Reid managed to fit into the one book, which isn't even super long. Standalones are hard to get right, and to be honest, they did a pretty great job.

Unfinished as of yet but I'm just not sure if I will finish this, I'm trying hard not to DNF it because I have seen and heard lots of good things PLUS I love how dark slavic folklore can be.

Evike is the only non magical person in a village full of magical people and when the Woodsman, the Kings Men, come to collect their magical sacrificial lamb in the form of one of the magical women, Evike is handed over like it's no big deal. No one knows what happens to these taken women but if you aren't magical you are worthless apparently.

Once taken Evike and the Woodsmen take a journey back to the Kings castle and on that journey meet creatures from myth and legend and their group of six is cut to two: Evike and a Woodsman. To survive they must make an uneasy truce. I bet you can see where this is going... In true YA fashion its an enemies to lovers dealio.

And I just.... find Evike and the Woodsman unlikeable. I am finding it hard to care because I don't like them.

The writing is fantastic and I love the lore but I could do without the characters through.

Great escapism as you embark upon a dark fantasy with fairy-tale like encounters. Évike is a girl who is virtually orphaned due to the death or her mother and being abandoned by her father. She is raised somewhat harshly by the village seer. Taunted as she has no magic skills, she leads a simple life, steeped in storytelling, where she has excelled in hunting. As part of tradition each year the Woodsman take a girl from the village to use her magic powers. This year in order to avoid the next generation seer from being lost from the village, they disguise Évike and sacrifice her instead.
This turns into a complex journey of striving to survive, where she and the head Woodsman, Gáspár, also a prince encounter viscous magic trees, a magic bear and other threats, before reaching the city and the political manipulation, marginalisation and oppression of the Yehuli people.
It invokes a range of emotions amidst, betrayal, fear, violence, confusion, anger, determination as well as romance. It is fast paced, intelligent and layered. The characters remain with you after the book and you are keen to find out what will occur. I did find Évike’s protracted petulance towards Gáspár a bit arduous. She did recognise some of her flaws, but she is saved by her strong heart and near fearless attitude. Magic, baddies, political strife and oppression; much is packed into this story. It isn’t YA, as some parts are too explicit, but a lot of the writing is very similar in style. Maybe scope for some of the dialogue to have been more convincingly constructed, but not knowing where things may ultimately lead to made for an enjoyable fantasy adventure

The book tells the tale of two enemies teaming up to find a mythical magical animal in a bid to stop someone who has plans to ethnically cleanse the land and take the throne. In their travels they come across monsters and different religions, all the while Évike and Gáspár argue about their different religious beliefs or as the story goes on lust after the other. Throughout the author provides commentary on zealotry, prejudice and many more themes.

It was all very dark and dour. There was no true levity in this story, the closest thing being lust, which didn’t work for me. There’s no charm or warmth to the characters or events. So with nothing and no character to feel invested in, I found it hard to motivate myself to return to this book.

This was made worse by how tedious it was to read “Wolf girl” repeated over and over again, similarly the amount of repetition of coupling by the riverside too, and how painful some dialogue was. It was all extremely off putting.

I do see why this has been likened to Nina and Matthias from Six of Crows, as it is two characters of opposite sides, becoming familiar to the other. I loved how they quarrelled like an old married couple, but equally, it was tiresome too as for the most part it felt like going round in circles.

My favourite part of the story was the pagan stories as they definitely delivered a folklore feel. There’s tales of a sword that beheaded a three headed dragon and Gods creating Gods by accident. I liked the monster elements too, such as wood giants who become immobilised by riddles and witches with poison. I also felt the way in which the author wrote about conflicts of faith was as well balanced as anyone could get.

The Wolf and Woodsman offers an exploration of ideas, attitudes and history within a fantasy context, which was stiff to read about at length but nonetheless interesting and at times certainly felt very real. I’d of been more enveloped in the story if the characters had had more personality, but I just never found myself caring about what happened to them, which dampened my enjoyment considerably, I’m sorry to say. I wouldn’t recommend it for that reason unless any readers are particularly drawn to stories with conflicts of faith weaponised and subsequent oppression at their centre.

Thank you kindly Del Rey UK for an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Evike is a wolf girl - destined to have magical powers - only hers are non-existent and she is forced into a life of servitude and degradation. Evike's world is a small, insular forest where her pagan village live with their whispering trees and formidable Gods. Evike's lack of magic is blamed on her sullied bloodline, her father is a Yehuli man who lives beyond the city. Whenever the king feels like capturing a wolf girl to satisfy his appetite for magic, he sends his Holy Order of Woodsmen to kidnap a pagan girl for blood sacrifice. Evike's mother was taken when she was just a small child and her hatred has grown for them ever since. Soon they arrive and the villagers trick them into taking Evike, despite knowing she will provide the king with no magical satisfaction.

But soon Evike forms a bond with the one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen, except he is no ordinary Woodsman but the prince Gaspar Barany, who as a son of a foreign queen is now an outcast, even from his own father, as their countries are now at war. Evike and Gaspar bond over their common threads of isolation, alienation, oppression and betrayal. When Evike learns that Gaspar's half-brother ,who detests pagans and the Yehuli is plotting to commit regicide and seize control of the city and surrounding kingdoms, she decides to help Gaspar stop the atrocity and prevent the slaughter of her village.

Evike is an incredibly raw character whose fierce loyalty to a father she has never met and to Gaspar who should be her sworn enemy is admirable and makes us as readers care deeply for her struggles. As someone who adores the enemy to lovers trope, this books has more than enough to satisfy. There is a delicate balance of witty remarks, sexual tension and rife anger. Gaspar is very much the male version of Evike with a slightly colder exterior that once cracked is a melancholy black hole crying out for affection.

One of the most riveting parts of the story, apart from the enemy to lovers trope, is the setting. The pagan forest is glittering with mythical creatures, legends and abominations with some inherently gory scenes. I was craving for more of this mythical setting but once Evike and Gaspar reach the city, the woods take a backseat. If there is a sequel I would love the forest to be explored further as its description of the depths of the forest smelling of rotting meat from haunted devils is evocative and enticing - leaving the reader wanting to know more about the cultural landscape. Another intriguing part of the novel is the Gods and magic system. The pagan's magic is inherent and generational. However, the Woodsmen's magic is through blood sacrifice, involving knives and blood letting to enable magic to flourish. Pagan gods are fallible, they make mistakes and live closely with their people. Whereas, the Woodsmen's Gods require pure devotion and are heralded as perfect, divine beings. These contrasting magical/ religious systems appear to antagonise each other and I would love to see a further exploration of their cultural histories and how they came to coexist.

Will Evike finally find her magic? Has she been worshipping the wrong gods? Will her and Gaspar ever be able to truly love each other? Will they be successful in saving the king's life?

The Woodsmen take wolf-girls with magic every few years. The wolf-girls have magic and they can either make fire, forge, heal or be a seer. But Evike doesn't have magic, she is barren, therefore her villagers betray her and sacrifice her to the Woodsmen. Along the way, Evike and the Woodsmen encounter monsters, things get complicated, Evike develops feelings for the prince, discovers that she has hidden magic and also reconnects with her long lost father. The prince's brother is a threat to the throne, and he's also kind of super evil and almost indestructible, so this is where things get tricky.

LIKES:

1) Writing - Perfection. Descriptive, but not overly floral, sharp and precise. It's a refreshing change to see how intricate the writing is, and how almost magical her sentences are without drifting too far off from the main point.
2) The world - I appreciated the blend between the Hungarian history and Jewish myths. Authentic, but not too complex, where you're struggling to remember all the details. Because my husband is half Hungarian, the phrases and words were all familiar to me, and I felt such excitement reading this, because I felt a connection to this world. How should I describe the world? Dark, dreary, dangerous... vile, cruel, at times gruesome? A tad depressing as well.
3) Loved the way the romance was an important element but it is as slow as it can be. And I love that it's not cliche at all. I felt like they were so different, yet simultaneously absolutely the same.
4) The darkness - The monsters we found in the forest are not exactly...cute. And I loved it. They were so scary and repulsive, and the descriptions of creatures swallowing a chunk of flesh and muscle, blood streaming into the grass was almost too vivid for comfort. There are all kinds of wicked creatures here I almost wished there was more. Oh, I mustn't forget the king who wears a crown of fingernails. Yuck. But also awesome.

DISLIKED:
1) I felt the pacing was a little off. Personally, the first half felt like nothing was happening, and the second half picked up the pace and I was hooked. There was a very evident shift in pacing.
2) Connection with characters - Though the writing was amazing, I just didn't connect to either of the characters. Not that I didn't relate to their feelings or life stories, or didn't understand why they did when they did it...it's just that I felt like something was missing that would pull me closer to Gaspar or Evike, or any of them for that matter.
3) Why is Evike just mad all the time? She always seemed to be bristling with rage, had simmering anger in her belly, confronted people with venom. Anger stole over her, or she looked at someone in anger, or she felt a pulse of anger return, or anger blackened her, or it made her veins run hot...She gulped with fury, and felt a blind and furious rage at times, she even blinked furiously...And that's all just in the last half. The repetition was a bit unnecessary.

Honestly, I am perplexed about how to rate this. The rating lingers somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, and this is primarily because I feel like the story had the potential to BE more.

I am still going to read any future works from this author, like I said, her writing is brilliant. I just hope that next time I get a bit more emotionally dragged into the story.

Evike is part of pagan community where one girl is selected each year to be a blood sacrifice for the King to wield their magic. Evike is collected by the Woodsman and is forced on a disastrous journey to the castle but will she be able to change her fate as well as the fate of her kind?

Well this was definitely an intense read! Action packed and an addictive from the first chapter. The world building is probably one of the best I've ever read and loved all the folklore stories weaved into the plot.

The characters are all well developed and I loved the dynamics between them all.

Also, that slow burn enemies to lovers was 👌

A fantastic fantasy stand alone (although, I wouldn't hate a sequel😉). Ava Reid definitely has potential to become one of my favourite fantasy writers!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with a copy to review

Finally, an adult fantasy that reads like a YA! it makes sense for MC to be 25 years old with her experiences and not 16.

The story took several twists and turns and almost felt never-ending in a good way. I loved how there was always something else. I wasn't shocked or super surprised but these twists and turns but kept me interested throughout.

The world, in general, felt large but on some occasions, it felt small and I didn't like that. I think the main reason why it sometimes felt small was to do with the distance it took to travel by horseback to the far north. Only 6 days!

Anyway. I loved how so much of the religious world building took place through storytelling and the expression on Evike when cultural differences were apparent.

I honestly did notice much of the writing which is a good sign.

The story flowed through the book and I was carried along completely unaware of the current, the rocks or the river bank.

I enjoyed this read no matter how long it took. The religions and the magic made it super interesting.

I'm curious to see what the author does next.

Ok, imagine this:
-one-eyed zealot with a flaming sword
-praying to your god make magic things happen
-a group of special soldiers that can have no wives and no children
-a legitimate heir forced to join these soldiers
- everyone coming from anywhere except of The North is called a southener
-quite a lot of talk about bending the knee
-someone actually says "winter is coming"

Sounds familiar??

Idk, I think I'm just a bit tired of authors taking slavic culture, history, names and making it their magical playground. It's like the're not even trying! I get that Polish/ Hungarian/ Russian folklore sounds so exotic, names sound exotic just because they're not English-sounding, but it's not, and I repeat, it's not your playground.

Anyways, even if I weren tired of abusic slavic themes, I would still consider this book boring.
Nothing really happend for the 80% of the book.

The only interesting character is the villain, because at least he has some sort of personality.
Evike, the MC, is just stupid, obsessing over people who abused her both mentally and physically. Like, idk, I <i>personally</i> wouldn't be so quick to jump to save the community that was abusing me for years, making me feel worthless, giving me away for sure death without blink of an eye.
As some other reviewer pointed out, people who are living in constant fear of violence, who are well aware thet their every word my lead to literal beating, learn to weigh every word, to consider very carefully what they're about to say, and they're like that even if they leave the abusive enviroment. They're not saying everything that spring to their minds, just like Evike does.
Gaspar is bland version of Beric Dondarrion, but without his wit.

I was excited for this book, because I really wanted to read some nice fantasy, but unfortunately this dook did not deliver.