#i love evike and gaspar so much

[kazz-brekker]

i think that everyone currently going through aemond targaryen withdrawal should go read the wolf and the woodsman by ava reid because the love interest is a one-eyed religious second son prince with daddy issues AND it’s just an overall amazing fantasy novel inspired by jewish and hungarian history with a fantastic exploration of nationalism, nation-building, religion, and jewish identity and culture.

[nerdynatreads]

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book review || The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

video review || Such a Specific Complaint -- March Wrap Up || 11 Books!

Okay, so I went in not really knowing much about this outside of it being influenced by Hungarian history and Jewish folklore and I’m really glad about that. This book surprised me, but at the same time, it seemed perfect for me. Right out of the gate, I was given an eerie atmosphere, but with a story reminiscent of a fairy tale.

Our main characters were a delight to follow, particularly once walls came down and they were picking at one another constantly. I loved that Evike is not a very likable person, she’s prickly and rude, but I also can understand why she acts the way she does. Gaspar took some time for me to get a proper feel of, much like Evike, but I really enjoyed learning about and seeing his tough exterior reveal his sweet nature. The slow burn, enemies to lovers, forbidden romance that comes about from forced proximity? Holy shit, it’s good.

The plot in this moves slowly. The first half of the book provides some, but really, it was more focused on establishing our characters, the history, and magics of this world. The second half really gets moving and I was surprised by many of the plot twists that took place. The political and religious talks throughout this had me HOOKED. And the gore really showcased the brutality of this situation, with one religious group attempting to snuff out others, even if it shocked the hell out of me at first.

Enjoyment wise? This was almost five stars, but I do have a few negatives.

The plot pacing wasn’t consistent. As I said, the first half of this is pretty slow and how that section is laid out is very different from the latter half of the book. I don’t mind a slow book, but the difference between each section was glaringly obvious, and felt disconnected.

Also the writing wasn’t my favorite. It’s very wordy, but not particularly lyrical, which is my preference when a book is quite verbose. That being said, the writing was perfect for the atmosphere and bringing to life the creepy forced, and decrepit villages.

4.5 / 5 stars