The Wolf and the Woodsman: The Sunday Times Bestseller Paperback – 10 Mar. 2022

I was extremely lucky to receive an ARC of The Wolf and the Woodsman from Del Rey, and couldn't wait to read it. I had no idea what I truly expected from this book, as I had heard very little beforehand, however I am so glad I had the chance to read this beautifully written book.Before I say anything on the plot or characters, I will say that the writing style within these pages was lyrical, beautiful and truly captivating. The imagery of the world was described in such detail that I truly felt a part of the story whilst in the pages. Extremely dark and unflinching at times, Ava Reid has created a heart wrenching portrayal of Hungary's bloody history that does not shy away from the horrors associated with cultural genocide, religious persecution and bigotry, and has wrapped it up into a beautifully written and enlightening fantasy novel. The mythology depicted throughout this book through storytelling from Évike to Gáspár, is wonderfully deep, rich and diverse, and provided a wonderful backdrop to the story that unravels within these pages.As for the main characters of this novel, Évike is a strong willed, seductive, and proud heroine. She refuses to revoke her culture, or character, and is emphatic in her views and goals. I think what I loved most about the slow-burn enemies to lovers romance, is that this strong willed heroine is the one to seduce the pious and surly Gáspár, making him question his stringent beliefs and all he has been taught from childhood. She quite literally has him wrapped around her little finger, and the power that this invokes is extremely refreshing.I did find the pacing of the plot a little slow at times, but that comes with the territory of a slow-burn-romance. However the overarching story was rich and compelling, with a diverse range of horrifying monsters, beautifully written characters and exquisitely described settings.In conclusion: The mixture of old folklore and the callous writing style fuse beautifully in a magical tale within The Wolf and the Woodsman. The main heroine is feisty and dominant, and the romance between Évike and Gáspár is powerful, fuelled by true hatred for one another at the beginning and slowly developing into something truly beautiful. The plot twists and turns and is unpredictable at times, fuelled by beautifully wrought symbolism and mythology, this is definitely not a book to miss

🐺🪓💫 ะ𝗕ะะ𝗟ะะ𝗢ะะ𝗚ะ ะ𝗧ะะ𝗢ะะ𝗨ะะ𝗥ะ & ะ𝗥ะะ𝗘ะVะ𝗜ะะ𝗘ะะ𝗪ะ 💫🪓🐺Today is my honour of sharing my review for this fantastic debut:Ͳհҽ చօӀƒ Ⱥղժ Ͳհҽ చօօժʂʍąղ by @avasreid🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5🌟Thank you to @delreyuk and @rachelkennedy90 for my beautiful advanced readers copy and the stunning finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.A new fairytale that draws so many parallels with this modern and cruel world.This book has enchanted its way into my heart ❤️Ava has delicately woven the Jewish folklore and Hungarian history throughout this book but has somehow managed to keep the underlying parallels with the world of today fresh at the same time.Èvika is sidelined and ridiculed because she lacks the magic her peers have. This has seriously impacted her perception of her self worth.When the Woodsmen come and she is given to them in an act of deception to protect one of her worst tormentors, she truly believes that this was all she was to her village. Bait to save one of her magical peers.But as her journey with the Woodsmen/Woodsman goes on, Èvike soon begins to realise her own strengths and soon, her own magic.The book does have quite a bit of bloody/gorey scenes but these were always to express the story and never unnecessarily.The telling of the different religions and the history of how those in power tried to drive out those who believed in something different, definitely mirrors the modern world and the events still happening today.This book takes you along on a woman’s journey of becoming. It’s beautifully written and has all the hallmarks of a classic fairytale for the modern world.I am finding it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this is a debut! It truly is excellent and will be going on my list of recommendations.

I walked into this with few expectations, only knowing that some reviewers struggled with how the story unfolded. I was richly rewarded with a phenomenal story that I look forward to returning to again and again.This book is challenging. I think that's a good thing -- it urges you to think in new ways because we hardly ever tell stories like this any more. "What's the point of the wandering through the woods?" some have asked, and to them I say, "What's the point in suffering, in moving forward when we can just stay still?"Trite as that is, I think Reid has made a stunning world in this that feels much like stories from another time. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight comes to mind, with its twists and turns through solitary wilderness. But stories like Neil Gaiman's American Gods come to mind as well. The road a story takes us through doesn't always have to make sense on the first read, or even the second or third. That's the point -- good stories make us take them at their own pace, and new things are revealed each time we interact with them.Lofty thoughts aside, I really REALLY enjoyed this novel. It's safely one of my top reads for the year. I expected to be icked out by the gore and violence, but I found it fit the story and wasn't gratuitous or unnecessary. It was upsetting to the narrating character and thus it was also upsetting to the reader. It felt very human in that regard, even if the characters committing it weren't even human.All in all, a triumph of a story. I'm humbled that I had the chance to read it.

Possivelmente a melhor descoberta que eu fiz esse ano foi o livro de estréia de Ava Reid. TWATW é uma fantasia protagonizada por Évike, uma jovem que vive numa sociedade matriarcal onde apenas as mulheres possuem poderes, mas ela é a única que não os tem. Traída pelo seu povo, Évike é enviada para a capital do reino conquistador da região como um tributo, e por isso é escoltada por Gáspár, o líder de um grupo de ‘woodsmen’, por uma floresta cheia de perigos mágicos e humanos. O livro conta com uma das melhores descrições religiosas que eu já vi em livros de fantasia, trazendo inspirações católicas, judaicas e pagãs para construir um mundo onde a magia é vista como uma arma e uma tradição passada de geração em geração.O livro me surpreendeu muito a partir dos 60% e seguiu por um rumo que eu não esperava, mas que foi tão bem construído que funcionou muito bem dentro do desenvolvimento dos personagens. O relacionamento de Évike e Gáspár começa como um enemies-to-lovers clássico, mas se desenvolve em muito mais que isso, e seus questionamentos internos e culturais não são apagados por isso. O final em si me agradou muito porque não segue a fórmula básica de contos de fada. No geral, é um livro que me agradou bastante e por mais que eu ame muito esse universo, fico feliz de ele ser um standalone/livro único, porque estender essa história para uma série iria enfraquecer a história.

There are some books you can't put down. They catch you from your first breath and carry you away into the night until your eyes burn and fingers cramp. You are hopelessly enchanted. This is one such book. Every word, every phrase, lifts us upward into magic and a winter world that is at once both foriegn and yet familiar. Bravo Ava Reid, you are a master wordsmith. All I want to know is - when is the next book coming out?

This is my absolute favorite book of 2021. Highly recommended if you like imaginative fantasy and lush writing.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*First up, if you're looking for enemies to lovers, don't bother picking this up. There's about 3 chapters where our protagonist hates her love interests guts then she spend the rest of the book swooning over him.I was initially invested in this book when I first picked it up, however I quickly lost interest after the slow pace became evident.I was around 40% through the book when I began to wonder where this book was taking me. I kept expecting the plot to lead in one direction, only to go in another. I felt the whole journey to find the mythical ex machina bird was a waste of time, only serving the purpose of bringing Evike and Gaspar closer together - a convenient plot and overused trope.There was a line that Evike used "We are bound together", which Gaspar echos back to her at one point and I expect this to be a reocurring theme or perhaps in a more literal, magical term that binds them together, but it's not really bought up again. Gaspar himself is a plain character and to be honest, he doesn't really add much to the plot, as his bastard born brother and usurper to the throne, Nandor, doesn't need to kill Gaspar in the end to become the king - Gaspar serves little purpose and I feel that perhaps this book could have benefitted from some chapters being told in his point of view to give us more insight to the world of the Partritions (or whatever they're called, honestly all the terminology went over my head after a while).The slow pace was often jarred by Evike telling a story that has little relevance to the plot, more so to give us historical/religious context. These stories never really fit into the pace of the plot. When it came to their own personal stories, both characters seemed to be pushed to tell their trauma; Gaspar seemed to constantly misunderstand and misjudge Evike's character, and she's forced to reveal some of her past in order to make herself seem more justified in her actions and beliefs.Evike constantly needles and torments Gaspar to the point he snaps and spills his painful past - not healthy grounds for a relationship.A problem I had with Evike was the inappropriate jabs she FREQUENTLY took at Gaspar for his apparent sexual inexperience. Whenever she wants to get under his skin, she resorts to petty insults and crude remarks about his vow of chasity, that apparently all Woodsmen take.If the roles were reversed, and it were Gaspar making remarks about Evike's "virginity" or "purity", I think there'd be a lot of discussion to be had.A large chunk of this book is just us following Evike and Gaspar and they blindly stumble through conflict with no real plans, but somehow everyone still had an happy ending.It wasn't a terrible book, but I wouldn't read it again nor would I recommend it.3/5