Book Review; For The Wolf- Hannah Whitten

Page Count 437

Publication date June 2021

Publisher Orbit

GoodReads link

Synopsis

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The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

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.

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Review

You’d think from the title, the book cover, the red cloak, the main character being named Red, that this was a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood- I did.
For The Wolf is very much a Beauty & The Beast retelling, the enchantments, the romance, the choices and motivations.
I wanted to be annoyed, I wanted to roll my eyes at the predictability and maybe I did at the beginning, but despite myself I loved it, loved it ALL!

For The Wolf is told through the linear present tense view points of twin sisters, Redarys and Neverah. One destined to rule Valleydan and the other to be sacrificed in it’s name. Nobody knows what happens to the second daughters who are thrown to the wilderwood at the mercy of The Wolf, only that they never return.

Part of the beauty in this story is uncovering the truth of the Wolf and the wilderwood so I won’t talk about that here.

I mentioned predictability earlier, by that I only mean the very base arc of the storyline. The world-building and lore of Valleydan are fantastic, well developed but not so heavy handed that a reader can’t easily follow.

The sister’s dual plots are intriguing and Whitten had me equally invested in each of them, I didn’t find myself wishing for more of one than another as is often the case with multiple POVs.

Whitten’s writing flows at a good pace and with the fairytale wonder you’d hope for in a good retelling, however I did find a few repeated phrases, character habits and metaphors a little irksome at times.
All of which is instantly forgiven when you come to the grand finale. Every reader knows that feeling- you don’t want the book to end but you can’t stop yourself racing through the pages. The final chapters of For The Wolf blew me away.

You could read For The Wolf as a stand alone if you wanted to, I for one have definitely been hooked and will be excitedly preordering the next instalment; For The Throne.

Massive thanks to my pal Hannah C for recommending to me 🙂

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