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Title: For the Wolf (Wilderwood, #1)
Author: Hannah F. Whitten
Pages: 480
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: 1st June 2021
Blurb from Goodreads:
The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.
As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose - to be
sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's
captured gods.
Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control,
at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves.
Again.
But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling,
not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have
become will swallow the Wilderwood - and her world - whole.
Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop
My Review:
*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley*
All her life Red has known that she will be sacrificed to the Wolf of the Wilderwood.
As the Second Daughter of the Queen, it is hoped that Red's sacrifice will result in the return of the Five Kings who saved the world from monsters centuries ago, something that didn't happen when the past Second Daughters went to the Wilderwood.
Red loves her sister Neve, the First Daughter and heir to the throne, but part of Red wants to go to the Wilderwood - she has a strange power, one she struggles to control and is worried will hurt Neve.
But when Red goes to the Wilderwood, she discovers that the Wolf is not a monster, but a man struggling to save the Wilderwood and prevent the evil threatening to escape and destroy everything Red knows and loves.
Can Red learn to control her power?
Can she work together with the Wolf to save the Wilderwood?
The blurb for this book really intrigued me, as did the cover, but I ended up with mixed feelings, unfortunately.
Red was an okay protagonist, and I understood why she didn't try to fight against being sent to the Wilderwood. However, I'm left feeling that I didn't really get to know her and I wasn't invested in what became of her.
I liked that Neve, Red's sister, wanted to bring Red back home so much, but I did think she was maybe a little naive.
My favourite characters were Lyra and Fife, who I would like to find out more about.
The setting of the Wilderwood was interesting, as was the concept of it being sentient.
The plot was interesting to begin with, but I did find the pacing to be off, which I think was partly due to the length of the novel - at over 450 pages I felt that this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter.
The writing style was easy to follow.
While I enjoyed the concepts in the book, I did lose interest in what was happening and nothing particularly shocked me.
Overall, this was a mixed read.
