For the Wolf

I'd have to rate this 4.5⭐.

Maybe it was what my brain was asking me for, or maybe that I got too invested in the romance to care for anything else. But, while I loved the whole dynamic between the Valleydan Interludes and the Wilderwood POVs, but... every time a Valleydan Interlude came I felt like I was getting deprived from getting more Eammon and Red content, #sorrynotsorry.

It got so bad that at some point, eveytime it happend i was like 'Neve, I don't care' 😭. And then again, obviously those chapters where there for a reason, and after the 6th or 7th one I started to get the hints that maybe I should be paying more attention to those interludes 😭😂.

Anyhow, at the end of the day, did I wish maybe the interludes had opened up to other characters like Arick and Raffe? Yeah.

Apart from that, what I loved the most about the book was the character development of Eammon and I'd love to know more about his past in a precuel or something (pretty, please Hannah?🥺)

But yeah, I really enjoyed the book and if you're looking for a rollercoaster of emotions, this is the one!

ps: so much shaming Neve's interludes but now I am super excited for her adventure on book 2 too 👀.

Wolf Pup.....
Everytime it was said, I was like: “ohhh that's so cute!” Even though it wasn't meant to be that way.

There are a lot of things I enjoyed about this book, but let me tell you it was definitely hard to get through. I felt exhausted all the time and honestly I think it was because of the willing blood spread. Once it was over, because it wasn't enough anymore, I felt the story starts to pick up.

The “Final Battle” honestly the peak of the story, the moment when you finally see the whole power of this world and what it has to offer. At that point that I felt like I was reading something else. Totally save the book for me. Don't get me wrong, I did like the book before that, but I wasn't sure if to continue with the next one, but the cinematic feeling of great powers colliding was amazing. Plus the new looks on two of the main characters were fascinating.

Although the book does have a romance, actually several, story lines, It wasn't enough for me, but that's just my personal preference. I can say that this book is plainly cute.

As closure I would like to refer to the lovely sisterhood of the twins. They love each other so much you know none of them would give up on the other. Neve will probably need this soon. And at last, perhaps an unpopular opinion, Queen Isla. I felt so bad about her death and how she started to vanish. I believe she didn't know how to love her daughters knowing she was going to lose one at some point, but that drove her to lose both. And still I can't help myself but to think that she did love them, and that's what makes all so sad around her.

Part Little Red Riding Hood, part Beauty and the Beast retelling, this story follows Red, the second daughter of the kingdom who must be sacrificed to the Wilderwood, and to the Wolf. She willing goes, trying to keep her loved ones safe from the mysterious power she has thrumming through her veins. What she finds when she gets there is nothing like what she expected.

I've been wanting to read this book ever since seeing the cover. They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but look at it; it's perfect. This book, while marketed as adult, definitely read a little more YA in my opinion. There was some profanity, but other than that, the tropes and themes felt more YA. That is by no means a dunk on this book. There isn't anything lesser about YA, and I really enjoyed reading this. This book definitely felt more like a Beauty and the Beast retelling than a Little Red Riding Hood retelling. Besides the names of Red and Wolf, this is a story of a woman who willingly sacrifices herself to go live in a castle with a beast and ends up falling in love. There's even a magic mirror, and Red loves books. I thought that this story did a good job of providing that lovely fairy tale feel, while still having unique characterization and plot points. The whole concept of giving blood to the forest, and the forest being semi-sentient was very interesting and allowed for a really dark setting. I was enamored with the romance, the characters, and the plot. I can't wait for the next one!

TW: self-harm for magic use (cutting), parental neglect/emotional abuse, mentions of physical symptoms that might be triggering to those with emetophobia, anxiety/panic attacks, parental death, gore, mild audio/visual hallucinations, religious abuse, medium-heat romance (non-explicit)

I had a love/not-love relationship with this book. Whitten's writing was beautiful and she created an amazing and atmospheric world that was an absolute pleasure to discover. Eammon and Red's relationship was a true delight and it is absolutely what kept me coming back for more. No insta love here and there was lots of individual growth as well as coming to know each other. I also really appreciate that actually help each other and become a strong team because they build trust and work together. While I enjoyed Red's story and her relationship with the Wolf and their character growth I found I did not like Neve's half of the story. It was always during her bits that I'd lose interest and get bored because I found her utterly predictable and thus a little boring. Yet at the end she was sort of redeemed in my eyes because she acknowledges that she was more aware of what was happening around her than she wanted to admit and made her decisions for selfish reasons. Making decisions and then dealing with the consequences of those decisions and how they impact others was definitely a theme I saw woven throughout this book. I am curious to see how things go in the next book, and though I'm not particularly fond of Neve, I do see potential in her.

3.5*

This book was a disappointment. Most of it was okay, but there was a part in the middle I liked a lot.

There was something about the writing that I didn't enjoy, I was constantly rereading sentences because I was confused about what was being described. I don't know if it was because I was having a hard time visualizing the trees actions or because the descriptions were bad.

I also didn't like the lack of communication between the characters. Red from the moment she met the Wolf knows that he is keeping things from her, but she doesn't demand answers to know what the hell is going on in the forest.
Wolf is also frustrating as a character because he doesn't want anyone else getting hurt but he can???t avoid that because he is clearly overwhelmed with the forest, and everyone including himself knows that, but he insists on doing everything alone.
There was barely any character growth in this book. Almost all the characters at the end of the book were basically the same from the beginning with only really small changes. I think the one that changed the most was Neve and that wasn???t a good change.