I do like books that have elements of mythology and history in them. This one has Hungarian history and Jewish mythology woven into the story. I am not familiar with either, so I found a story that had a grown-up, or more adult style fairy tale feel to it.

Evike is a wolf girl but not like the others in her village. She does not have one of the magical abilities of the other though. This leads her to feel like an outcast or loner. She is bullied and not made to feel like she belongs. AS she doesn't have the powers, she is not as valuable and therefore becomes the obvious choice to send to the King.

Gaspar is a woodsman, he is also the Kings son. He is another character who doesn't really fit, he has mixed blood, and some see him as not being fit to be the next king.

Over the course of the story, the author gradually builds on her characters beliefs, thoughts and views. Being different or belonging to a different culture is something that is a strong theme in this story. Evike is a pagan and looked down upon. Gaspar is a follower of the Holy Order of Woodsmen. Their differences are shown, but they gradually become to understand each other. Bloodlines, faith, beliefs and cultures are something that the author has worked in so well. She shows different sides and viewpoints as well as extremes.

Being a book that deals with magical abilities, it puts this in a fantasy genre, but in some respects, it also falls into a coming of age for Evike. I was quite sad when I finished this book, I found it captivating as the two main characters travelled. Exciting as they met knew creatures and people. Addictive when it came to the dynamics and power struggles.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and it lived up to my expectations. I would definitely recommend it.

A debut infused with inspiration from Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman is folkloric delight!

We follow Evike, a pagan raised in small village who unlike her fellow pagans is barren (she has no magic) and soon is offered up as a decoy when the Woodsmen come for her village’s young seer. One of the men in this entourage is Captain Barany Gasper, otherwise known as the prince and heir to the entire kingdom.

As they journey back to the kingdom’s capital, things go sideways and the two must rely on each other to survive. Wrestling with themes of nationalism, religious bigotry, genocide, and anti-semiticism, Reid explores how societies and structures that reinforce these actions and beliefs leave irreparably harm on the ones left behind, and even how it harms the people who supposedly benefit from it.

The romance was pitched as enemies to lovers and while it wasn’t as slow burn as I would have liked it definitely was well written and enjoyable to read.

My main criticism is that I think it ended too quickly. It goes from the end of the final battle directly into the epilogue and I would have preferred a chapter or two just exploring the days after the villain was defeated.

Overall, I highly recommend this book as it is a strong debut and I will probably read whatever the author writes for years to come.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Wow, what a mystical, epic tale; including fantastic world building, strong characters and themes, where the most monstrous creatures of all are actually men. Note: this is definitely adult fiction, not YA.
Some of the themes include; genocide, war, magic (and mutilation), beliefs, hate to love, and relationships.

Truly a dark, epic fantasy that captures the reader, wresting an emotional response with every page read... not to be missed.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is a novel that delightfully discusses and interrogates the idea of what is belief, what happens when it changes and when that change is forced on society through the use of fantasy. Évike and Gáspár are thrown together in a situation where they must choose what is more important;  their beliefs or their survival. Is it worth dying just to cling to those beliefs? At first Gáspár, a deeply devout follower of the Patrifaith is willing to do just that, whereas Évike's pagan beliefs allow her to be a little bit more lenient. It isn't her gods that call for her to avoid getting close to Gáspár it's the blood on the hands of the Woodsmen, the Holy Order of soldiers that have claimed so many of her fellow wolf-girls for the King's pleasure. Can she let go of her anger, of her disbelief in the hypocrisy of what Gáspár believes?

As the pair travel together they realise that there is something more important than the rift between them. Gáspár's brother threatens the safety of both their homes and of Évike's father's people, the Yehuli, an indigenous religion under persecution. Nandor's hatred for everyone outside the Patrifaith threatens to consume the entire nation in a religious war just as the Kingdom fights one at their border. No one would be spared, including Gáspár, the son of a foreign queen, and those loyal to him.

Let's be clear about one thing; this is a fantasy novel but it talks about some very real and horrific topics. Fantasy is the lens in which Reid uses to examine real past historical events, particularly the brutal acts of a newfound patriarchal faith that washed away all other traditions and belief systems with blood to establish itself as the dominant religion. As with the Patrifaith in The Wolf and the Woodsman, it did so by intertwining religion with state and crown until it controlled everything. Modern societies still bear many hallmarks of those actions today. The dire consequences of such an act are optimised through the character of Nandor, Gáspár's brother, a figure who has the power and presence to unit people in their hatred and faith to ensure that their country will be cleansed of anyone who does not follow their faith. It isn't an idle threat or a promise, it's a fact, with the blood of as many Yehuli as he can get away with already on Nandor's hands.


The Yehuli already live in persecution, already fear the sound of the soldier's footsteps when they celebrate their holy days and festivals. Likewise, the pagans have been cowed into conversion, forced into hiding or live under constant threat of one of their girls being taken by the Woodsmen. Neither community is a threat to the Patrifaith. They just want to be left to live their lives in peace, to continue the traditions as their ancestors have done for generations. It's a sentiment that I think a lot of us can appreciate. Even more so we recognise the oppressing forces who will not just let us do that, who demand that we should do things their way, that what we do is wrong just because they do not understand it.

Reading The Wolf and the Woodsman I saw in Gáspár a need for some controlling outside force to guide him, to show him the right way, likewise the same with Évike's father and the other Yehuli. Their scrolls were integral to their belief. In comparison, the pagans have a fully oral storytelling based system and that is enough for them. They do not need ritual or the written word to reinforce their faith.

While The Wolf and the Woodsman is a brutal depiction of three religious communities and their differences, it is also the story of their similarities. While stories are the foundation of the pagan belief system each one has stories and this is just one overlap that Évike recognises as she learns more about them. Even as the Patrifaith shuns pagans she sees things that they do that aren't that different to the villagers she's left behind, not that they would ever admit it. Then there's the blatant hypocrisy of a king who wants to use pagan magic to consolidate his power yet shuns the pagans of his country. I appreciated that Reid did not shy away from the stark truth, showing every repulsive act horrifically without any fairytale pretence.

Such as the relationship between Évike and Gáspár, which people have claimed was not romantic enough. If you read this novel and your takeaway from it was that there was not enough romance then you seriously missed the entire point of The Wolf and the Woodsman. I hesitate to even call it "romance" because romance conjures up a certain ideal and Évike and Gáspár's relationship is one born from two people being thrown together in a stressful, horrible situation and realising they care for one another. They are running for their lives, trying to survive monsters and weather, and are the only people who can stop the genocide of two peoples. There's no time for romance. It's real life, and real life is messy, quick and whatever you can get when you can get it. I honestly would have lost a lot of respect for Reid if she had made a point of making it all fluffy and romantic because it would have made a mockery of everything else in the novel.

The Wolf and the Woodsman’ is a dark, gritty tale inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish folklore. It has its weaknesses, but tells an intriguing tale with gorgeous atmosphere.

In Évike’s pagan village, all women are blessed with magic by the gods – all, that is, except her. To be without magic is to be foresaken by the gods, leaving her an outcast. When the feared Woodsmen come to the village to enact their yearly toll – a powerful Wolf Girl as payment to the King – the villagers send Évike instead. However, en route to the city, the Woodsmen are attacked, leaving only two survivors – Évike, and the mysterious one-eyed captain. Alone in the dangerous forest, they must learn to trust each other if they’re to survive. But the captain is not who he seems, and there are far more dangerous threats than the monsters in the woods. Always the outsider, Évike must decide where she really fits in, and what she’s willing to give up to protect it.

Évike is a damaged woman, all snarls and sharp teeth. All her life she’s been looked down upon and belittled – bullied for her lack of magic, and for her Yehuli father sullying her pagan blood. Évike trusts no-one, and she craves power like a drug. Her words are sharp and she’s a talented huntress, but she’s never been strong enough to truly damage anyone else. In a cruel world, she dreams of finally having the strength to hit back. In many ways, Évike is an unlikeable character – but its difficult not to be sympathetic to her plight. Her character has been shaped by circumstance, and whilst she might not be pleasant she knows what it means to survive.

Gáspár, the Woodsman, is a complete contrast. He puts on a tough front, but inside he’s soft and kind-hearted – far too gentle for a world as cruel as his. He’s also smart and patient, knowing how to play the long game. His weakness is his heart -and a certain amount of naivety born from wanting to believe in the best of others. Its impossible not to like Gáspár, but his gentle nature lends itself to mistakes and betrayal.

Unfortunately, the romance between them doesn’t quite work. Enemies-to-lovers is incredibly popular at the moment, and often works well – but the chemistry between Évike and Gáspár isn’t fully convincing. Évike’s sharp edges are hard to reconcile with Gáspár’s softness, and the chasm between them is just too wide. There isn’t enough on-page character development to show any common ground.

Character development in general is the book’s biggest weakness. Évike feels almost exactly the same at the end of the book as she does at the start of her journey. She makes some seismic discoveries, but none of them have any convincing impact on her. Gáspár starts off as a mystery and then has a solid story arc, but Évike remains stubbornly the same. The story is still enjoyable, but it would be vastly improved if Évike ‘s character was explored a bit deeper and allowed to grow more obviously – especially in the second half.

On a more positive note, the writing is exquisite. Ava Reid has a knack for scene setting and descriptive writing, painting a gorgeous yet eerie picture of both the forest Évike is from and the city her and Gáspár end up in. The atmosphere is always dark and gritty, but there are elements of real horror interspersed with lighter elements – the sun peeking from behind the clouds. There are points where you want to stop and just admire the phrasing of a particular sentence.

The plot is engaging and twisty, with several distinct parts. In some ways, this would work better as two or even three books. The second half is faster paced than the first, but both are engaging. It takes some time to settle in and get past Évike’s prickly exterior, but beyond that, the first half becomes reminiscent of ‘Uprooted‘ or ‘The Bear and the Nightingale’, with the second half adding the politics of ‘We Ride the Storm‘ or ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. There are a couple of moments where things become repetitive, but overall everything meshes together well.

Reid packs a lot into just under 450 pages, yet manages to get away without information overload. It does mean that some things aren’t explored as deeply as they could have been – the Yehuli, Évike’s father’s people clearly based on the Jews, get less page time than might have been nice, and similarly it would have been good to see more of the Northerners – but there’s still plenty to enjoy. The atmosphere and excellent writing goes a long way to papering over the cracks of the minor flaws. This is a debut novel, and the skill Reid has with words leaves little doubt that she has bigger things to come.

Overall, ‘The Wolf and the Woodsman’ is a mixed book, but one worth reading for the atmosphere, more unusual folklore basis, and the exceptional writing. The characters and relationships aren’t the strongest, but there’s still plenty to like. Recommended for fans of folklore-inspired tales, lyrical writing, and complex explorations of culture and identity

I'm afraid I won't be giving feedback on this book at this time as I didn't leave myself enough time to finish it. All the best with the book and kind regards.

I always enjoy the enemies to lovers trope and this book is no different. From the first line I was hooked. This book is inspired by Jewish folklore and Hungarian history, two areas where I haven't read a lot of books inspired from. I really enjoyed the characters and the relationship between them. The world was well constructed and loved moving throughout.

At first glance, The Wolf and The Woodsman seems similar to other fantasy books with these formula: girl-is-different-from-everyone-else, tortured-love-interest, and they-have-to-go-somewhere-together. I’m not complaining since I do love these tropes as much as anyone else, but I do not expect to be surprised by how the story goes. As it turns out, The Wolf and the Woodsman is so much more than a fantasy journey toward a certain goal, and that’s why I fell in love with it.

Born from a pagan mother and Yehuli father, Évike is the only one without power living in a secluded pagan village. Ever since the followers of the Prinkepatrios came centuries ago, everyone who doesn’t want to convert are forced to either live in remote places (like the pagans) or live without freedom in the city (like the Yehuli). One day, when the Woodsman—the King’s soldiers—came to demand a sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers. And thus begin the journey and struggle that Évike has to endure in order to save her cultures, and everyone else's who’s also oppressed.

First and foremost, The Wolf and the Woodsman was inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish myth, and it’s what make the story interesting and unique. I’m not Hungarian or Jewish, so the stories are completely new to me and I’m excited to know more about it. I do admit I’m a bit disappointed that there’s a lot of time jump during Évike and Gáspár’s journey since it’s their journey that I’m looking forward the most. The time jump is necessary though, since this book is quite heavy and cover a lot of things—from political ploy to oppression to ethnic cleansing. This book shows the dangerous effect of blindly following a faith.

Lastly, I couldn’t NOT talk about the very very slow-burn romance in this book! Enemies-to-lovers and slow-burn romance are two of everyone’s favorite romantic tropes, and this book delivers both of them beautifully. Évike and Gáspár’s development—from friendship to allies to something more—happened naturally and doesn’t take the spotlight from the issues highlighted in this book.

All in all, The Wolf and the Woodsman is definitely a must-read! Do note that this book is classified as an Adult book, and might not be for everyone. The author posted a list of content warnings in her Goodreads review of this book.

The Wolf & the Woodsman is the wickedly enchanting debut from Ava Reid (@avasreid). It's dark fairytale/fantasy vibes are perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden.

The story, just like the romance, is a slow burn. It took until around the halfway point for the book to fully sink its claws into me, but after that I had to devour most of the second half in one sitting.

This standalone novel is full of deliciously decadent prose that's dripping in atmosphere and served with lashings of in-world folklore inspired by Jewish mythology.

There's also a charming magic system and a perfectly paced Enemies to Lovers romance.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is out next week (8th June) and it's a wonderfully accomplished debut from an exciting new writer in the fantasy genre. I can't wait to see what Ava Reid writes next.

HE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN is a fantasy inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology. Stories are an important element of the narrative and the author seamlessly weaves them in to enhance the reader’s experience. They have the power to comfort, educate, inspire, frighten and so much more. They also form the rich history of the communities from which the book’s characters come.

Évike is twenty five years old and the only woman with no magic in her village. As an outsider, she is sacrificed by the village when the Woodsmen come calling for yet another girl with magic to be used by their king. After a horrific attack, only Évike and a Woodsman who turns out to be Prince Gáspár survive and must form an uneasy alliance if they want to survive the monsters that surround them and the wider threats to their very way of life.

I absolutely adored the enemies-to-lovers relationship between these two characters. They both harbour a strong distrust and hatred for the other yet slowly come to reach an understanding. As war threatens the borders of the kingdom, strife is also growing within the city itself as religious tensions between the new faith and the older ways increases. Nándor is Gáspárs half-brother and a pious fanatic who wants to ethnically cleanse the kingdom through the genocide of pagans and the forced expulsion of the Yehuli. There are some awful and sickening moments so please check out the content warnings if necessary.

The descriptive imagery lends the narrative a lyrical prose that reads like a fairytale. As Gáspár and Évike travel further and further, the beautiful settings are vividly rendered in rich detail. The action builds in the last quarter and becomes much faster paced as everything begin to unravel. I think this is a standalone but there’s definitely room for more stories in this world and I would love to revisit the characters one day. THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN is a folkloric fantasy that will appeal to fantasy fans and lovers of atmospheric stories.

I am a big fantasy fan, so when I saw this book come up, I thought it looked right up my ally. And boy I was not wrong. The world is amazing thought up, and there are religion systems that are brilliant but not too indifferent to our own that we can not easily grasp what they are about. The characters are both complex and quite simple, so you can understand where they are coming from very easily, thought that is not to say they are not brilliantly written and come across as real people.

If you like a good fantasy book, with swords, axes, magic, and magical beasts, then this is the book for you! Hope there will be a sequal!

Sometimes it's hard to review a book because you have a lot of things to say, sometimes good, sometimes not so. This time, I'm struggling because I'm lost for words. This book absolutely blew me away. The skill, the lyrical elegance, the sheer beauty of it... With a backdrop of myths and legends supporting a story that has something in it for everyone, there is nothing to not like about this book. Utter brilliance.

This is simply a wonderful story. It is not an easy read – it addresses trauma, both personal and that of social groups – but as a whole, it packages them in a story that is a delight. Ava Reid’s debut is lyrical, compelling, heart-breaking at times and like with many of the great books that I’ve been able to read and review this year, I already have a finished copy organised and I am looking forward to re-reading it in its finished form.

I devoured The Wolf and the Woodsman – I think I read it in a little more than a single sitting. It is an addictive story with strong worldbuilding that draws the reader in. And I loved Évike as a main character. She is stubborn and gives few shits about what others want for her. She stands up for herself, her family and her people. And Gáspár is a soft boi hiding behind a tough shell – I don’t read a lot of m/f romantic stories these days, but this was one that I found worked really well for me. I definitely need more of Ava Reid’s writing and nuanced approach to trauma and social issues.

The story has a strong Jewish element – and with that I mean both in terms of Évike finding her father and his community, finding a place to belong, but also a community that struggles against prejudice, against prosecution. But ultimately, the book’s message is one of hope. And that is, I think, a large part of why it deals so well with difficult themes. I highly recommend this one.

The Wolf and the Woodsman is an unforgettable, beautifully written, atmospheric fantasy debut. The story follows Evike, the only woman without power in a pagan village making her the outcast. So when the Holy Order of Woodsmen show up to take the village Seer, the village gives up Evike instead. When the woodsmen get attacked, only Gáspár, the disgraced prince, is left alive with Evike. The two end up having to rely on each other to survive, but they both end up seeing that the other is more than meets the eye. If you’ve read Naomi Novik or Katherine Arden, you’ll definitely want to get your hands on your next fantasy obsession, The Wolf and the Woodsman.

I have not shipped a m/f couple like this since Phryne and Jack from the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries TV show. There are a few moments between Évike and Gáspár where I had to put it down while reading and shriek at friends who'd read this early because they were the only ones who could understand the intricate mess of my feelings.

Ava Reid's turn of phrase is beautiful. Some of her descriptions, even a handful of words as part of a sentence, are done so well that I'd pause to reread and admire them. They expertly blend in with Évike's narrative and the tone of the book. Based on Hungarian folklore and Jewish mythology, the world she's crafted is reassuringly solid: there's a clear sense of a past, present, and future.

One of the things I especially loved is that while there are feminist tones in this novel, alongside a patriarchal religion that insists on keeping women in their place, the different religions are depicted with great nuance; all of them have flaws.

While a reader would automatically consider Évike's village, and her religion, to be the most liberal of them, in a place where women hold magic and are able to hunt, Ava Reid is quick to show that this feminist world has its own constraints, its own expectations of the roles and duties women are expected to uphold based on their magic, and the cruelty that they inflict on others, like Évike, who have no place in their own rigid society, dominated by their own capricious gods. There are no truly good or bad choices in this novel, just ones made by desperate characters hoping for the best possible outcome while trapped in poor situations.

THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN is a dark wonderful novel. I can't wait to see what the author does next.

Headlines:
Unique fantasy standalone
Dark and sinister moments
Get lost in the visual imagery

This felt like such a fresh story to me with three different belief systems intersecting through the characters. It was a story told in the forest, plains and sometimes cities and villages. I was happiest reading when the story was in the forest even though that where the monsters were.

Evike was a character to get behind, she was complex, morally grey on occasion and resillient. She was ever at the mercy of whatever people she was with. Her self discovery of her lineage, the faith of her father and the Yehuli people were fascinating and the chinks of light in this tale. Gaspar, woodsman and a man with many facets, was equally complex and how their grudging collaboration evolved was great reading. The friendship was a slow burn for sure.

There were monsters, witches, creatures with powers, kings with powers, megalomaniac princes and the kind of tales told to really give you the chills. This easily scared reader coped with it all and it conveyed a murky atmosphere of not knowing what was around the corner. There were some dark and gory moments but they truly added to the story.

I was fortunate to read the hard copy and audio for this and the narration was superb. The characterisation and dialogue fitted that dark atmosphere I described so well.

I thought this was a great debut, a standalone to recommend and I can't wait to read more by Ava Reid.

Thank you to DelRey UK for the early review copies.

I loved the sound of this book but I really struggled to get in to it. There was some great ideas in the writing but it just didn't grip me.
I'm sure there will be a lot of people who adore this book and I really wanted to love it but ultimately it just didn't work for me. Very much a case of me, not the book.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

* I was sent this for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review *

Évike is the main character of this Hungarian/Pagan-inspired folktale/story. She's the only one in her village without any magic, and she's an outcast. Her family origins are looked down on by many in her village, and so when the ominous Woodsmen turn up to take away the village Seer Évike is surrendered to them instead.

Gáspár Bárány is one of the Woodsmen to steal Évike and yet he's more than he first appears. When the two of them end up as the only ones left after an attack, they have to work together and form a bond from their outsider status.

What I liked about this is the vibe and tone of the story throughout. If you've tried Katherine Arden's stories then this feels similar, from a cold, dark and magic-filled world. I certainly think for a debut the author has a well established voice and her ideas and world felt fluid and absorbing on the page.

The plot does have a romance element, which felt a little predictable to me, but I enjoyed the magic of the world which is rooted in traditional folklore and myth and feels slightly dark and nature-based. Overall, there's a good sense of place and Évike fits her story and character well into the world.

3*s from me and I'd certainly try more by this author.

A gorgeous debut novel, with Evike as the main character. She is the only non magic person offered as a sacrifice to the Woodsmen, on pretence that she is a seer. I found the prose to be of top quality, and the characters were well drawn. I do not wish to say too much and therefore will avoid spoilers, but I would recommend this novel. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advance copy of this book.

The Wolf and the Woodsman opens in a familiar way; once a year, a girl from the village is taken by the King to maintain peace between the two groups. The story that follows, however, is anything but worn out. Instead of being the one powerful girl among her people, as many stories in this vein might go, Évike is the only one who seems to be barren, not blessed by their gods with the power to heal, or summon flame, or forge metal through song, or see visions of the future. For this, she has been mocked and despised by the other girls her entire life, and even the old seer she lives with, Virág, who took her in after her mother was taken by the Woodsmen, does not treat her kindly.

So, when Virág sees that the Woodsmen are coming for a seer, she dresses Évike up as one and sends her in place of Katalin, her main tormentor, so that the village will not remain without foresight. Before they even reach the capital, however, Évike and the Woodsmen are attacked by the monsters that roam the great forest of Ezer Szem, and only her and the Captain survive. Except, in that moment, each realises the other is not what they seem: Évike is no seer, and Gáspár is no captain, but is the true-born prince of Régország.

A tenuous alliance ensues, as Gáspár does not have the skills to survive alone in the wild, and Évike does not want to risk another being taken from her village if she were to run away. Together, the two of them journey to the North, in search of a creature that may grant the king power to see the future, allowing him to win the war that is ravaging the country, and appeasing the masses who have begun to turn to Nándor, Gáspár’s half-brother, who is plotting to seize the throne. Through this and other ventures, the wolf-girl and the Woodsman realise that, perhaps, there is not so great a difference between them as they first thought.

This story certainly does not pull its punches. It is exquisitely written, each sentence crafted perfectly, suffused with myth and story, yet so much of this world is pain and violence. This certainly reflects Évike’s experience; her life has been full of pain and neglect. She is the only daughter of the village without power, and she is the only one who’s father was not a village man, but a Yehuli tax collector. And though she did not always love the stories told to her by Virág because she feels they do not belong to her, she uses them during her long journey with Gáspár, telling him of her gods and heroes, and using those stories to give herself strength.

I really loved reading all the short tales embedded within the book, and I loved the way they all come from different cultural points but still have many overlapping elements. Gáspár’s faith, for example, is the Patrifaith which worships one God and is the enforced religion of the kingdom, but its founder was a pagan-born man. Évike’s people are pagans, and they pray to multiple gods. The Yehuli are also considered pagan by the Patricians, but they also worship one God, and they are the ethnoreligious group based on the Jewish people. From what I understand, a lot of the elements of the story also draw on Hungarian history and mythology, and though I am not familiar with it, it was still a joy to discover. What I also enjoyed was the way each of these faiths is given credit – there is not one that is disproven, but each group who believes in the blessing of their deity is rewarded with power.

There was a part of the story that lost me for a while, because in the middle of it it didn’t feel as if there was much of a plot, and what there was didn’t seem to me to have any possible resolution that could be at all satisfying. Without spoilers, I will say that I was pleasantly wrong. The ending is not perfectly happy, but I think it was perfectly fitting to Évike’s story, and I really enjoy the way we get a glimpse of the future of the characters while still being able to imagine the rest.

Overall this was an evocative read, full of darkness and full of hope. Tender despite the cruelty of the world, and just as the characters learn to find tenderness in unlikely places, after a life of shame and neglect, this book brings forth little pieces of light in the obscurity of the haunted woods, and takes you on an adventure through myth and history along the way.