A story within a story but through a painting linking a mother and daughter striving for a better life is a really good premise. But the pacing is distractingly slow.

"Wolfwood" by T.S. Joyce is an enthralling novel that blends magical realism with a unique twist. The story follows a struggling artist named Zoe, who discovers that a stroke of her paintbrush takes her to a magical and dangerous location. Despite being offered much-needed money, Zoe, the mom, refuses to paint when the dangers escalate. Her daughter Indigo, who wants to secure their future, takes up the brush and begins to paint, but as the story unfolds, she realizes that the magic comes with a high price. Which lie will come with the greatest price?

The good:
I really liked the main character, Indigo.
The writing style was pleasant to read.
I liked that the author addressed issues like poverty and depression.

The not so good:
There are a bunch of flashbacks, which are one of my least favourite stylistic devices.
Another thing that bothered me was that there was so much talk about painting and paintings and I don’t really care about painting techniques etc., so those parts of the book were rather boring to me.

Overall Wolfwood was a pleasant read, but the plot could have been stronger, so the book also ended up being a forgettable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this Audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The only thing that was interesting for me in this story was the adventures of Indigo in that magical world when she started painting. Then, I found Indigo's relationship with her mother a bit difficult to accept for her mother was selfish and it seemed that she was hiding behind her trauma in order to leave her responsability as a parent to her 17 years daughter. Also, it felt through the story that Indigo was more waiting for an opportunity to be free from her mother with her past and seeking a better future for herself, seeing as Zoe didn't want things to get better for herself and her daughter.

All in all, if it wasn't for the audiobook version of this novel, I would not have finished it.

"There aren’t any wolves in Wolfwood, but there are monsters."

wolfwood is a haunting story that grapples with important themes amongst prose that is as breathtaking as it is ghastly. the pages will trap you in it should you get too close. i'm not usually one for magical realism—and i don't know if it's right to describe what happens in this world as such—but i think baer has expressed a powerful reminder of how terrifying a monster that grief can be.

indirect spoilers included!

"There aren’t any wolves in Wolfwood, but there are monsters. I’m seventeen years old when I tell them goodbye."

one of the things i love most about this story is the strength of indigo; who battles the prospects of poverty, an incapacitated mother and a fear of the unknown terrors of the world around her, all whilst still just trying to simply be a teenager. i think there's something gratifying in watching her grow and overcome even the most impossible of circumstances—she wants more for herself, and her willingness to face wolfood head on is proof of that.

i can't say much for the other characters in the story, besides the woolfwood sisters—i knew that indigo's friends were there for a reason, as well as the love interest, but i felt that their relationships fell flat outside of the painted world; though i was deeply invested in finding out who the wolf was, and what led to the downfall of indigo's mother. i think greater development would've bettered these dynamics, though i do appreciate the tied-up ending.

though this is a heavy read, it's definitely an important one. there is a rich world to be learnt of, in all its layers, and i wouldn't hesitate to recommend it!

thank you edelweiss and the publisher for this arc!

This book just captures you right from the start. You fall in love with the plot line and the characters right away. A great tale and a great read overall.

Indigo and her mother Zoe are barely getting by, even though her mother was a famous artist. They’re living in the basement of an apartment building and cleaning to supplement their rent. When a gallery offers to revisit Zoe’s final series of paintings titled Wolfwood, Indigo jumps at the chance. But her mother refuses with no explanation, leaving Indigo desperate. Trying to help her mother jumpstart the process, Indigo decides to secretly try her hand at painting and discovers that there was a very good reason her mother refused to revisit Wolfwood.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style. It flowed well and was engaging. The author explored some difficult themes, such as the consequences of not asking for help, the pressure that secrets cause, undiagnosed depression, and poverty. I really enjoyed the incorporation of these themes, but they were only present in the real world. It left Wolfwood and the events that occurred there feeling a little melodramatic and absurd, and made the tension and stakes of those portions of the work feel low.

I felt that the magical realism aspect of the work should have been explained or incorporated a bit better. No one questioned the magic that was such a big part of the plot, and it was the only magic that was present in this world. No explanations were included, and the characters just rolled with the magic world, which made it unfulfilling and a little frustrating. Despite that, I did enjoy the characters overall. They were diverse, including in relation to their financial situations and backgrounds. And while the secondary characters didn’t have as much depth and development as the protagonist, they were still engaging.

This was an interesting magical realism read that I enjoyed despite a few qualms with it. My thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Now, I normally can’t handle books with a big emphasis on poverty and trying to climb out of it. It hits on my triggers.

But this book isn’t so much about the money, as it is about mental and physical trauma. Which I am much better at handling! :D

Indigo, our narrator, tries to claw her family out of poverty by finishing her mother’s famous “Wolfwood” watercolor series. But from the first session, Indigo is transported INTO the world of the paintings, facing mortal danger along with the three other girls trapped within. How is this possible? Who are the girls? And does her mother know about what really happens in Wolfwood?

There’s a bit of romance thrown in, though it’s not nearly so interesting as the story of these young women. Actually, it’s almost like a reverse man-pain scenario, which is refreshing! When men appear in the narrative, it is to help advance the narrative, not as a focus of interest themselves. And, hey, I’ll take it! And if you like the romance, despite that, good on you.

A tiny bit creepy, but not really horror. A good YA fantasy for those with a more artistic bent.

Advanced audiobook copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was good! It drew me right in and kept my attention. Well written, and I loved all of the characters and the "magical" aspect to it. The narrator was good too.

I really enjoyed listening to this one! Every time Indigo enters Wolfwood my heart stops and the themes of family, class, and privilege hit home. I had a hard time finding Zoe tolerable but learning about her past made my heart break and her whole story completely made sense after that.

Thanks to @netgalley and @tantoraudio for my advance copy!

Thank you to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, Amulet Books, Marianna Baer, and Annalyse McCoy (narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of Wolfwood in exchange for an honest review.

Indigo's mother, Zoe, is a painter. Or, was, until she had a massive breakdown and stopped painting. Once famous for a series of paintings that tell a story, Wolfwood, she has quite the fanbase that want more, but she just won't paint.

When Indigo finds out how much one person is willing to pay for a single of her mother's Wolfwood paintings, she knows it will finally mean stepping out of poverty and into a life of stability. But her mom still refuses to paint, so Indigo takes the situation into her own hands and copies her mother's style to complete the Wolfwood painting series. But who is the wolf, and can Indigo replicate the style and end the story her mother always planned?

When Indigo paints, she is pulled into the world of the paintings themselves, with monstrous man-eating plants battling against a band of sisters. Reality and fantasy blur as she works on the paintings.

This novel is an interesting concept with its use of art and surrealism. The parts where Indigo "blacks out" or enters Wolfwood have a fine line that make the reader feel the same way as the character: is this real or all in her head? I find the topic of painting to be used sometimes in novels, but not often enough, and the story presented here is certainly an intriguing one.

With touches upon mental health and the line between poverty and survival, this book has much deeper meanings than the surface of a painting. Like visual art, this novel paints its own story, and it is an excellent stand-alone for a young adult audience.

Wolfwood is Indigo Serra’s one chance to rise above the poverty her and her mother have struggled in for most of Indigo’s life, but her mother refuses to revisit the painting series she started in her youth. Indigo knows that they cannot miss out on this opportunity. They are one misfortune from being back on the streets and Indigo’s multiple jobs are not enough to keep them afloat. So, she does the only thing she can—she begins to paint the next paintings of the Wolfwood series herself. It won’t be for long, she reasons. Her mother will take over soon, once she sees that Indigo was able to get her started. But before she can share her secret with her mother, a new one unfolds. When Indigo paints Wolfwood, she seems to step into the painting’s world.
Baer writes the setting inside of the painting very lushly, while leaving Indigo’s real-world life stark and dingy. She also weaves memories from Zoe Serra, Indigo’s mother, throughout Indigo’s story, providing more context to Indigo’s escapes within Wolfwood. Information from each world is fed to the reader in complementary blocks, so that the ultimate mystery is woven together for a satisfying conclusion.
Indigo herself was a compelling narrator, her struggles are sympathetic and you want her to succeed. You can feel the exhaustion through the pages as she tries to balance her many jobs while she manages her mother’s emotions. Their relationship is unhealthy and difficult to watch, while also being understandable. Baer clearly lays the groundwork for their enmeshment and while I struggle to have sympathy for Zoe, I see why Indigo feels the way she does about her mother. Ultimately, it was frustrating watching Indigo drown under the weight of all that she was dealing with but never so much that I had to put the book down and turn away.
Wolfwood by Marianna Baer is a beautiful exploration of the complicated relation between mother and daughter with magical realism entwined in the story.

My Rating: 5/5 stars

“What does it mean that I think it’s completely messed up that some people have so much money, but that I’m also happy I was able to pass for part of the group.”

That’s a question Indigo Serra has asked herself many times over the years. The daughter of the once famous artist Zoe Serra, featured as the star of gallery-expositions for the ultra-rich, she has experienced the glamour of the art-world from the side-line ever since she was a child. Nowadays, Zoe and Indigo are barely scraping by, ever since Zoe’s mental breakdown forced her to quit painting for good. When a high-end collector offers Zoe a revival show for her unfinished blockbuster series, Wolfwood, Indigo knows it's a crucial chance to regain financial stability. Zoe, however, mysteriously refuses. Desperate not to lose the opportunity, Indigo secretly takes up the brush herself, and begins to forge her mother’s unfinished paintings herself. Submerging herself completely in the fiction world of the paintings, Indigo finds the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur when she paints. Soon she finds out there may have been a reason behind her mothers desperate refusal to ever take up the brush again, that goes back through the colourfully painted jungles of Wolfwood, all the way to her mothers past.

Despite its Goodreads-tag as “fantasy”, I feel like Wolfwood is more fittingly described as a Young Adult contemporary novel with some slight magical realism elements thrown in. I’m admittedly already a sucker for this genre, yet still, Wolfwood was a standout for me, and exceeded all expectations I had. At its core is a meaningful and relatable story about themes of family, art, privilege and class- and financial inequality, that could’ve easily stood on its own, but was only enhanced in colour by the magical realism of the artwork coming to life in Indigo’s mind.
I personally loved the perspective of Indigo, a girl from a middle-class single-parent family, navigating her way through the elitist art-world and struggling with her feelings regarding it. Indigo admires and envies the beauty of such a slavish life-style, but also feels disgusted by the ultra-rich. She wants to simultaneously fit into them, but also stay true to her roots and ends up feeling like a (literal) imposter in both worlds. Dealing with this type of imposter syndrome myself (although in a very different context than art) I think Baer nailed that representation, in a way that I’ve only seen before in the likes of Tripping Arcadia. The magical realism element matches this theme perfectly: a girl displaced in an environment both filled with beauty and monsters, uncovering the history her mother had within it, and finding a place for herself.

Another great aspect of the novel is in the character-interactions. Most notably; the mother-daughter dynamic between Indigo and Zoe were great. No diagnosis is mentioned, but it’s clear from context that Zoe suffers from mental health problems that lead Indigo to take up the role of caretaker and “parent of the family” in many ways. Again, without spoiling anything: I thought this representation was spot on. Sensitive, without judgement, and respecting both the negative effects that come from such a dynamic, as well as the love of both parties for each-other.
Another great dynamic is between Indigo and her love-interest. I liked their banter, but mostly appreciated them going slow; a rare sight within a YA-contemporary.
Overall, I highly recommend this novel if you’re looking for something that balances important contemporary conversations with a lush and vivid world painted in bright colours that almost literally leap of the pages. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but in this case I’m glad I did, as its beauty completely matches the inside.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for allowing my access to an audio-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What an absolutely spectacular story, well-written and captivating..

Main character Indigo is the effortlessly cool girl, with incredible style and big dreams of fashion school. She is the only daughter of famous painter Zoe, who has been tapped to complete a series of her paintings from years ago. Except that Indigo's life doesn't look like the veneer she lets other people see.

Indigo's existence is a daily fight just to survive, with exhaustion and despair leaping off the page. She has admirable determination and many complicated feelings, and is a character you want to root for.

There are a number of heavy themes in this story, and hard choices are made. A lush, imaginative fantasy world provides a stark contrast to the harsh real world setting - though both are fraught with different sorts of struggles. Alongside descriptive language and lovely writing, readers are treated to complex relationships and character depth. The author explores roles of all kinds: parent and child, sister, and caretaker, while deftly handling the topics of depression, homelessness, wealth disparity, and trauma.

Annalyse McCoy does a great job embodying Indigo for the audio version, so definitely pick up the audiobook if you can. I hope this book absolutely takes off, because it deserves to!

Wolfwood is a series of paintings made by Zoe Sera in the late 80’s. Her daughter Indigo Sera is still in high school and struggling to make ends meet, all whilst trying help her mother after a depressive breakdown. Zoe is supposed to be making new paintings for her upcoming exhibition, debuting a new Wolfwood series. However Indigo soon discovers that her mother has not been painting at all, only the original sketches from years ago remain and the pieces already have buyers in place for huge amounts.

With this in mind and trying to keep the debt collectors at bay, Indigo takes it upon herself to help her mother out, by planning the paintings and making a start. However Zoe wants to cancel the show, which they cannot afford to do, so Indigo decides to try her hand at imitating her mother’s artistic style. Soon Indy is working away in the studio, but whilst working on the macabre figures in the painting, something draws Indy in and soon she begins to lose time, literally feeling like she is experiencing another life inside the paintings.



The narrative is told through dual timelines, one from Indigo’s perspective in the present day and the other when Zoe was younger and a travelling artist, linking the background of Zoe’s life and the world inside the paintings to the present day and Indie’s experiences.



This is a well thought out and exciting Young Adult book, with sinister undertones. I really enjoyed it, I’m sure the intended audience would love it too. I liked the kind of Jumanji vibes throughout, intermingled with everyday teenage life.



The narrator is great and portrays the work well.

Overall I enjoyed this book and the narrator.

Indigo frustrated me at times but that’s what teenagers do. I think she was a flawed character struggling through her own trauma while not being aware of other peoples trauma and how it affects people in different ways.

I enjoyed delving into Wolfwood and trying to piece together the two worlds.

Indigos mother also frustrated me at times, communication is key to living your life right ?

Wolfwood is a great mix of contemporary fiction and magical realism that touched on topics like depression, grief, addiction and classism in a really interesting way. I really loved the complexity of the relationships and the variety of distinct characters.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

This book reps for mental health. In this case, it’s depression. The story tells how a struggling mother and daughter survive just to make ends meet every month. Daughter does something that almost puts her in the same situation. On the other side of the story, you are pulled into a crazy dangerous imaginary world from painting. I love how you can just see the colors rolling off the pages when listening to the book!

CN for the book - gore/terror, sexual activity

This story hits a few of my interest areas and so I was excited to see art and folktale style fantasy merged with YA fiction

I thought I was mostly ploughing through this until he last 3rd, when I had to force myself to stop listening in order to actually go to bed!

I enjoyed Baer’s writing style, there’s a minor gripe that the main character doesn’t really question why she keeps getting pulled into another world, initially she does question it, but then it’s just ‘a thing that happens’ and we never really know why.

That aside I really enjoyed the story, I’d suggest it’s for older teens as it has some sexual content, some of the terror/gore aspects are a little vivid, and some of the social topics raised might need further conversations for younger readers

I look forward to reading more Baer in future

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Wolfwood is the story of a mother and daughter living in poverty when the daughter seizes an opportunity to change their lives, but the mother's mental health again holds them back. This story touches on some difficult topics like food insecurity, housing insecurity, inadequate healthcare, and mental health issues. This is not a fluffy coming-of-age story, but was quite heart wrenching at times.

Wonderful audio narration.