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A review by bookwoods
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
4.0
3,5/5
All of Ava Reid’s books sound right up my alley, so I made it a goal of mine to read them this year, starting with her debut novel The Wolf and the Woodsman. And, it shows a lot of potential.
The Wolf and the Woodsman draws from the conflict between pagan faiths and Christianity in the Nordic countries, and Nordic cultures in general. It was fun to recognize Finnish words in the story, but sometimes the mix of different cultures especially in how things were named comes across as messy.
The world building overall might have benefited from either simplifying or more detailed descriptions. The world includes a pagan village, which has to sacrifice a so-called “wolf girl” to the king. Woodsmen come to fetch the sacrifice, but the wolf girl isn’t quite as she was promised to be, and neither is the leader of the woodsmen. Together they embark on a quest through plains and northern wilderness and finally into the capital. Twists and turns ensue keeping the reader entertained, but the lack of finesse in the world building and pacing of the story kept this from becoming a favorite. Yet I’m eagerly waiting to continue on, with Juniper and Thorn next.
All of Ava Reid’s books sound right up my alley, so I made it a goal of mine to read them this year, starting with her debut novel The Wolf and the Woodsman. And, it shows a lot of potential.
The Wolf and the Woodsman draws from the conflict between pagan faiths and Christianity in the Nordic countries, and Nordic cultures in general. It was fun to recognize Finnish words in the story, but sometimes the mix of different cultures especially in how things were named comes across as messy.
The world building overall might have benefited from either simplifying or more detailed descriptions. The world includes a pagan village, which has to sacrifice a so-called “wolf girl” to the king. Woodsmen come to fetch the sacrifice, but the wolf girl isn’t quite as she was promised to be, and neither is the leader of the woodsmen. Together they embark on a quest through plains and northern wilderness and finally into the capital. Twists and turns ensue keeping the reader entertained, but the lack of finesse in the world building and pacing of the story kept this from becoming a favorite. Yet I’m eagerly waiting to continue on, with Juniper and Thorn next.