Little Red Riding Hood meets Beauty and the Beast meets Uprooted meets Stranger Things meets Snow White meets Princess Mononoke.

That's how I described the book when I was finally done. What started as a buddy read quickly became a solo read--I'm the only one who managed to keep going beyond 20%.

I couldn't help but feel that this book was suffering from an identity crisis. It's clearly a retelling, but of what exactly remains a mystery. Even though there are similarities with all the works I mentioned above, it ends with one or two from each of them, and doesn't fully commit to any of them. And while that many sources of inspiration for a story could lead to the kind of wild, crazy journey that is a good time while you're reading it, most of the book still manages to feel incredibly small.

This book is also being marketed as an adult book, but it absolutely reads as YA. You could swap the heroine out for one from a YA fantasy book and not notice the difference.

I will say that there were elements of the romance that I enjoyed (although I was bitterly disappointed when it turned out that the inevitable sex scene that I'd been anticipating was off-page/fade to black--why is this labelled as adult again?), and that the pacing towards the last 20% of the book is much improved. But I just couldn't help seeing similarities to so many other fantasy works in existence, and it took pretty much any enjoyment I could have felt out of the reading experience. None of it feels original, and while I know that can be said for a lot of fantasy books, this one really takes the cake.

Big thanks to the author, Orbit and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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I was really excited about For the Wolf since I'm always happy to read fairytale adaptations.

Right off the bat, I felt the writing was evocative and immersive without being frivolous, a feat difficult to achieve especially when trying to capture the mood of locations such as the Wilderwood in For the Wolf.

Having said that, however, I thought the plot was a bit too simple and slow-paced at times. I understood the curse and its basics but I wasn't too sure about the ultimate cause of all of it. Perhaps that was just me.

Red was a very interesting character initially but I found it hard to connect with her emotions for a majority of the book. I also felt that the side characters were not explored and developed to the extent they could have been. The romance felt quite bland and a little forced at times.

I am interested in reading more of Whitten's works simply because her writing style is great and I feel that her future works might balance all the elements of a great story better than in For the Wolf.

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 stars

For the Wolf is the story of Red. Red is the Second daughter of her royal family, which means that while her sister, Neve, is meant for the throne, Red is meant for the Wolf.
Basically, when she turns 20, she has to give herself to the Wilderwood and then, with her sacrifice, maybe the Wolf will release the Five Kings, who have been gone for centuries. But soon, Red realizes that it's not so simple after all. What if the Wolf isn't the monster she's been told he is? What if the Kings aren't the Gods they're supposed to be?...

I enjoyed this story. It had a lot of twists and turns that I did not see coming. I also quite enjoyed the characters, they were layered, as were their relationships.
All in all, I had a good time but I was often confused and a bit lost. The magic system took me quite a while to grasp, and honestly, I'm not sure I have understood it even now. Maybe I was tired (I usually am), but it felt a bit messy to me, and there was a lot to figure out in the first quarter of the book, it kind of made my head explode a little bit.
But yeah, it's a good story, a very good debut and I'll be reading its sequel.

For The Wolf was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it didn't disappoint! With a delightfully dark and spooky forest, an intense sisterly relationship, religious fanaticism, and a wonderful romance, this book was everything I wanted and more. The only downside is that I have to wait for the sequel!

When two daughters are born to royalty the first is destined to be on the Throne; the second is to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wilderwood. Red is a second daughter, and despite her sister's protests, she glad of it. A strange power she can't control lurks beneath her skin. Her leaving would be safer for everyone. When she reaches the forest she finds out everything she was taught was wrong. The Wolf is a man, the forest is in danger, and the sister Red left behind would destroy everything to get her back.

The Wilderwood is an amazing setting. It's a strange, sentient forest with a thirst for blood, and good luck trying to escape its grasp. Both setting and character, the Wilderwood was such an intriguing aspect of the book, and I loved learning more about its strangeness. It's both a threatening presence and something the characters long to protect; it's both powerful and defenceless. No spoilers here, but I loved how the main characters relationship with the Wilderwood shifted throughout the book. Even though it'd probably tear me apart I can't help but wish I could wander inside.

One of the themes that I wasn't expecting to love so much was sisterhood. The first sister, Neve, thought she'd be able to stop Red from leaving, but she failed. In her despair and desperation to save Red from the Wilderwood, she gets involved with an incredibly interesting plotline. It's best if you see for yourself, but the little snippets of her point of view were always amazing.

I also loved the romance between Red and the Wolf! The way this book remixed both Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast was so much fun. Eammon is more of a man than the monster Red expected him to be. A man struggling with his responsibilities and (literally) bleeding himself dry to keep the forest at bay. The two are forced to work together, and quickly their respect for each other develops into something more. I wanted a few more scenes with these two than I got, but I guess the whole 'the forest will eat us if we get distracted' thing kind of puts a dampener on romantic entanglements. I'm so excited to see how their relationship will develop further in the second book!

There's something else I want to discuss, but it dips too far into spoiler territory, so I'm keeping my mouth shut! The only thing I can say is the religion in this book is very interesting...

The only thing I didn't enjoy about For The Wolf is that it becomes a little repetitive in the middle. I enjoy slow books, but I found myself wanting to speed things up because the scenes were too similar to each other. Don't get me wrong this isn't extremely prevalent, and it did help with the atmosphere of peculiarity and confinement, but I could have done with a little more forward movement. The ending was amazing though!

Overall, For The Wolf was a fantastic dark, forest-y fantasy that I couldn't put down. I read this all in one sitting and stormed through it because I enjoyed it so much. There are so many amazing themes and character relationships; the Wilderwood has truly stolen my heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review

For five hundred years there’s been a balance between the throne and the Wilderwood. One daughter to rule, the second to be given to the wood and the titular wolf.

I was quite excited to read this one, seeing it as a good blend of Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast with hopefully its own elements for good measure. Unfortunately, I’m somewhat ambivalent about the book.

Firstly I did enjoy the relationship between the two sisters and you get introduced to their dynamic right at the start and it continues throughout the book, providing a lot of the drive for the action. Both Neve and Red are victims of their circumstances in their own way but also make a lot of choices for good and bad. I like Red as a character. She’s very pragmatic and does things according to what makes sense at the time. This is not to say she’s unemotional but it's a different kind of emotion in comparison to Neve.

The book is also very atmospheric. Both the forest and the court are described in great detail, and the wood, in particular, is both creepy and foreboding in equal measure. The descriptions give a real sense of place and contribute to the sense of threat and menace the woods are meant to have. But also throughout the book, other sections reflect the fact that they’re not evil either but more neutral on balance.

However, in terms of pace, the beginning was a little hard going. There was lots of getting to know the characters and the setup with not much else. Certain mysteries are strung out and for the 1st third, I felt very clueless about what was actually going on. But after that, things hit their stride and the pace picked up. I positively raced through the last third of the book wanting to see how things resolved and certain elements came together to increase the tension.

I also wasn’t a fan of the romance. Eammon is the typical brooding romantic lead who believes everything has to be done by him and it shouldn’t fall to anyone else, with all the standard problems this creates. For me, it was a little out of nowhere that Red would give up everything just to be with him. However it did fit with the tone of the book, and there was some progression of the two of them getting to know each other. I think this is a very ‘me’ problem as others have been very enthusiastic about the romance.

In summary, an interesting variation on well-known fairy stories, for fans of Uprooted and those who enjoy vivid descriptions.

With thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit, and Netgalley for providing me with an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

'The first daughter is for the throne.
The second daughter is for the wolf.'

If the ominous tagline doesn't draw you in, the premise will.

Red is the second daughter of the Kingdom, and her only purpose from birth is to be sacrificed to the Wolf of the Wilderwood when she comes of age.

Great fairytale trope here - with a twist. Everyone tries to save Red from her fate but...she wants to go. Because she and her sister have been to the Wilderwood before, and Red unlocked a dangerous power she's afraid of, and wants to be away from her loved ones so she doesn't hurt them.

"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 Wilderwood - and her world - will be lost forever."

From the cover and the blurb you might be expecting a 'Red Riding Hood' re-telling, and there are elements of that, however as it progressed I found it to be more 'Beauty and the Beast', although The Wolf doesn't stay very ominous or scary for very long, and is more of a quiet, byronic, romantic anti-hero... without any bite.

I didn't enjoy this as much as I anticipated - half the time I'm not really sure what is happening and the plot progresses very slowly and is a bit repetitive, it seems to be a constant cycle of going into the woods to do some bloodletting and be stunned by unusual creatures and the 'abnormal' magic Red possess, to characters recovering from injuries and concluding each time that they're done for, only to go back out there and do it again, each time not really adding anything to the story. There were a lot of allusions to the 'mysterious backstory' that then didn't deliver when revealed - it felt like no effort had been put into why this was all happening. The love triangle that is first built up (which is actually a square - Eldest daughter Neve is betrothed by the kingdom to Arick, whom she doesn't love, curse of the throne - Arick in turn loves Red, and Neve loves Raffe) was immediately nixed by Red marrying and falling for The Wolf, something which the author later send to come back to and realise needs closing up but… can't. It was quite messy in the world building. The sentient forest was a great idea but I didn't understand a lot about what was going on when it was being described. It was confusing, and overall, I think, just a backdrop for the romance plotline.

Which would have been fine… if there was any chemistry between Red and Eammon/'The Wolf'.

I feel like all this is down to the book being stretched out for a sequel, which is a bugbear of mine. I think this could have been a great standalone novel. I also can't see how there would be enough material for a second book.

The first daughter is for the throne. The second daughter is for the wolf.

And FOR THE WOLF is the spooky forest book of your dreams.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, especially as someone who loves fairytales and perpetually wishes there were more new adult books. I can definitely see the comparisons to Beauty and the Beast and Little Red Riding Hood, but it had a lot more darkness, blood and political intrigue.

It's pitched as a fantasy romance - and it definitely lives up to that - but it’s so much more about sisters and sisterhood. Messy and complicated, full of good intentions and bad choices. Red and Neve are one of my favourite sibling relationships in fiction, possibly ever. There was a lot more of Neve’s perspective than I expected, which just made me even more excited to read her story in the second book.

That said, the relationship between Red and Eamonn was delicious and hit all of my favourite tropes. The romantic tension was off the charts, and the pacing was perfect to allow space for their relationship to grow while still moving forward at a satisfying pace.

I could go on, but the truth is that everything in this book shone. The Wilderwood was such an immersive setting, due in great deal to the lyrical, descriptive writing. I can picture it perfectly in my head, and my first walk in the forest after reading this gave me chills. The cast of supporting characters was really strong, especially Fife and Lyra in the Wilderwood and Raffe and Arick in Valleyda. The themes were classic, but explored in a way that I can't remember ever seeing before.

Don't mind me – I'll just be over here, counting down the days until FOR THE THRONE.

eARC kindly provided by Orbit UK and NetGalley

When I saw that For The Wolf was recommended for fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherina Arden, my interest was immediately piqued. I love wintry stories, with dark forests, folklore, brooding heroes and strong female protagonists.

The main protagonist Red, has prepared for her fate since the day she was born. As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, her sole purpose is to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood and to leave her beloved sister Neve behind. What could easily be a cliched tale, soon develops into an intricate, layered story, with excellent writing, unique characters and a claustrophobic atmosphere that draws you into the forest with Red.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it was easy and enjoyable to read and I honestly can't wait for the sequel.

For the Wolf was one of my most highly anticipated reads for the year and, boy, did it deliver! I loved this book from its first page right up to its last and it easily earned its rightful spot as one of my favourite reads this year so far.

Redarys is a Second Daughter and all her life she's known what that means: her only purpose is to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wilderwood so that he will return their old kings-turned-gods to her world.

The First Daughter is for the throne.
The Second Daughter is for the Wolf.
And the Wolves are for the Wilderwood.

But Red soon discovers that not things aren't always what they seem, and old myths and legends sometimes lie. The Wolf is in fact a man struggling to hold together the now crumbling Wood, the last remaining barrier between Red's world and an evil beyond imagination.<

For the Wolf brings together familiar fairy tales and original mythology to create a complex and rich world. I could definitely see elements of Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast, and even spotted a little Snow White in there! This book takes well-known tropes and elements and gives them an original twist, creating a highly entertaining and engaging read that had me gripped throughout.

I personally loved the characters and the way they changed throughout the book as more and more is revealed about the Wilderwood and its purpose, the kings, and the mysterious shadows slowly creeping into the world.

Red is definitely the centre of the book, whether we're following her POV or looking at her sister Neve's attempts to find a way to bring Red back. I really enjoyed seeing Red grow and accept her role in the wood... and at the Wolf's side. While at first she seems passively resigned to her fate, her full strength quickly comes through as she works hard to find her own place in the world. Red is headstrong, witty, independent and fiercely loyal to the people she loves: basically, everything I love in an MC. The romance is definitely a slow burn and Eammon, the Wolf, is the perfect tall, dark and brooding gentleman.

I also really liked Neve's interludes. I found her to be a very interesting character, and in some ways even more complex and intriguing than Red. I'm so curious to see what Neve'll get up to in the next book! The entire cast is fantastic, and I loved all the secondary characters. I wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of some of them, but maybe I'll get my wish in the second book.

The world-building was also perfectly on point! The Wilderwood gave me definite Uprooted vibes, as did some of the writing. I'm in love with the author's writing style and the way she crafts gorgeous and deliciously creepy descriptions. The pace did slow a fair bit around the middle mark, which made it feel as though certain sections were dragging on with not much happening. It picked up again though and the ending was incredibly fast-paced and gave me ALL the feelings at once.

For the Wolf is one of those books that reminded me why I love fantasy so much. Magic, an eerie wood, legends and traditions, and an incredible cast of characters come together in this beautiful and unforgettable tale. Can't wait for the second book!

“The First Daughter is for the throne. The Second Daughter is for the Wolf. And the Wolves are for the Wilderwood.”

For The Wolf is a beautiful and dark tale of sacrifices, curses, and magic that kept me completely hooked from the first to the very last page and I keep still thinking about it days after I finished reading it.

The protagonist is Red. A princess, the second daughter of a queen, her fate was sealed the moment she was born. As a second daughter Red will be sacrificed to the Wolf, the creature living in the forest of Wilderwood, in exchange for the return of the Gods. Red accepted her fate a long time ago and she’s been waiting and preparing for the day she will be given away. Red has her own reasons to go into the Wilderwood as she thinks it is the only way to protect her twin sister Neve and those she loves from her magic.

When Red arrives in the Wilderwood, she finds out that there is more to the legends and myths she’s heard all her life and she allies with the Wolf to save both her people and the forest. In the meantime, her twin sister Neve, the future queen, refuses to leave Red in the hands of the Wolf and the Wilderwood and won’t stop at anything to get her back, even if that means creating dangerous and deadly alliances.

The story is beautifully-written and it is so engrossing and intriguing. There is magic and curses, legends and sacrifices, monsters and gods, heroes/heroines and villains, romance and alliances that will make it almost impossible to put the book down. The characters are well-developed and Red is a fantastic heroine, loyal, brave, and strong-willed.

I was drawn to this novel by the buzz around it and, once I started reading it, I wasn’t disappointed. It is a dark and addictive fairy-tale that reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood and The Beauty and the Beast, but it also original and unique. I loved For The Wolf and I can’t wait for the sequel, For The Throne, to come out.

The story follows Red as she is sacrificed to the wolf only to find out she doesn't have to be and the wolf is a man. a moody, brooding sort of man who sacrifices himself for anyone else. that type of man. Then the story deviates and we get snips from Neve, Red's older sister, and what she is doing in the palace. I never liked Neve's story. In the beginning, it distracted me from Red's story but then I understood there was a thread running through both and intermingling. Then I started disliking Neve's story even more seeing if for what the plotline was and where it would go. I always loved Red's storyline. That was the one that kept me going.

I liked the Wilderwood and its magic is neither good nor bad. I liked how it worked. Even the Shadowlands had a well-working magic in return. The way those magic clashed made perfect sense but wasn't easy to spot in the beginning. I liked that.

Red was my favourite character but she wasn't particularly well written. I didn't buy her emotions, I bought her actions. There were some telling of what she felt and I didn't like it at all. But I loved her storyline so I accepted it.

Eammon was also an interesting character. However, I felt we saw very little of the side characters. I would have liked a bit more of them all. It was very narrowed on the MC.

It was an ok book. I liked one story better but felt the MC of that storyline wasn't written the best way. The plot made me continue reading not the character.

I know this is a debut author so it will be interesting to see what else this author comes out with but for now, I don't think this series is for me.

All the feels of a fairy tale with all the depth of a modern fantasy novel, "For the Wolf" is a story that will linger in my mind for a very long time. I loved Hannah Whitten's style of writing and thought the characters were drawn superbly (particularly Red and Neve). The world this book is set in is compelling, rich, and solid. I hope it won't be too long before book 2 is available.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

There are some books that you want to like, so very badly, and yet you just can't find a single thing in them that stirs anything other than a 'meh' from you. For The Wolf is, sadly, one of those books. I was expecting, from the hype, a rich, interesting fairytale- something like Uprooted or Deathless. Instead, I got the same YA book I've read a hundred times before.

Don't get me wrong, there's some fascinating concepts in here. Eammon has a sort of Green Man, Fisher King thing going on with the magical Wilderwood that's genuinely neat, and Redarys' character is an interesting concept as a girl raised to be a sacrifice, but the actual execution leaves them as two snarky young adults, one a bit more emotionally distant than the other, who seemingly turn on a dime when the plot demands it. For example, Redarys' journey from being afraid of her magic to wanting to use it lasts a chapter at most, and her romance with Eammon is a fairly straight progression even if it's got more bloodletting than usual.

Essentially, this isn't a bad book. It's even atmospheric, in places. But it was, in very crucial moments, only about an inch deep, and the other fairytale books the publisher invokes do not make a flattering comparison.

For the Wolf is a dark, sweeping debut fantasy about a young woman who, to save her kingdom, must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood. But not all legends are true and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

The first in a series, this is a richly imagined and enthralling tale of love, legends and the secrets that hide beyond the trees. A mix of Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast, it is a compelling, captivating and brilliantly plotted piece of escapism with myth and folklore running through its heart. It's multilayered, beautifully written and full of intricate details that makes the whole story even more enchanting, and I was engrossed from the get-go as it was easy to become immersed in the setting and with a cast of characters that jump off the page and come alive, there was no putting this down.

It's magical but dark, whimsical yet other times unsettling and features prose that is no less than exquisite. The vivid, luscious descriptions and the imagery Whitten conjured make this book worth reading on their own. If you enjoy fairytales or richly woven fantasy worlds this comes highly recommended.

3.5 🌟 This book is a sort of mix between Little Red Riding Hood and The Beauty and the Beast. Red has always been destined to be sacrificed to the wolf because she is a second daughter. No one really knows what happens when she enters the wood, she is scared but she feels she has a strong affinity with it and she is so brave that she doesn’t run away but embraces her destiny. Of course the wolf is not a terrible beast but a beautiful young man with a great burden: he is the only one that can keep the shadows lurking in the wood away. Red immediately feels a connection with him and it is basically Insta love. It is definitely not my favorite trope but I must admit they are quite cute and they recognize in the other a person that can understand and support. The thing that bothered me a little is that there’s no a true villain till the very end, they basically fight shadows for the greatest part of the book and some of the scenes seemed the same to me. Though I found Red’s sister so interesting, she is ready to do anything to save Red and be with her again.. she was the morally Grey character this book needed! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early copy.

This is such a wondrous, compelling and endlessly exciting fantasy romance. It has so many incredible elements to it, a twist on Little Red Riding Hood and a little of Beauty and the Beast.

For The Wolf is an exhilarating, whirlwind adventure, with beautifully layered, intelligent and engaging characters. The world building, the legends and stories, the sacrifices, relationships and interactions all add an exceptionally intrinsic sense of magic to the book as a whole. It's fanciful, daring, slightly dark and wondrously enthralling.

It's one of those edgy, sensual and spectacular fantasy romance tales, that has you invested and engrossed from the opening sentence, right up until the very end. It's just so beautifully written, the varying, dominating personalities, the side players, the dramatic plot points and the darling thread of romance weaving throughout.

I absolutely loved this! One of my favourite parts was definitely the magic system, which was based on nature. The woodland setting was atmospheric and unsettling, and I really liked that the author tackled darker topics and themes, allowing her characters to be flawed and make questionable decisions. The slow-burn romance was perfect, the writing was good, and overall, I had a great time reading this.

My only main criticism is that the pacing felt a little off in parts. The story is told in two settings, and sometimes the events were going very quickly in one place and relatively slowly in the other, which meant that the two storylines didn’t always match up. Some of the plot points also felt illogical, and there were some passages I had to re-read to truly understand what was happening (although this may have more to do with my exam revision-addled brain than the book!). As a whole though, this was a fantastic read and I will definitely be picking up the sequel when it comes out!

Content Warnings: blood and gore, self-harm (cutting skin for magical purposes), dead bodies, murder, death of a loved one

Red, a Second Daughter was going to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wilderwood, to keep the monsters at bay. The hope was that the Kings (their gods) would be returned to them. Red agreed to go for she was afraid of her power hurting someone. It turns out the Wolf is actually a man, the Kings are not what they think, and her power could be the blessing that saves them all.

Taking your attention hostage from the very beginning, the fairy tale feeling envelops you, but there is an unexpected absurdity to the situation that you will really like.

Gorgeous lyrical writing in a gothic-drenched narrative, with one of the most dangerous and scary forests you've ever read. Graciously tinged by a sweet melancholy and a little bit of the protagonist's warranted cynicism. The way Red's power is presented creates wonderful pictures in your mind, as does the figurative speech in general. The wordplay is so creative.

There are also delightful traits to the story and unanticipated superb characters. The clash of the protagonists' wills is something to behold, the makings of an unprecedented team. I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, with intrigue tidbits keeping you engaged, almost like a mystery to solve. It breathes of quiet intensity. But when the excitement takes hold, boy is it fierce!

The story is well-rounded due to another POV with the Valleydan Interludes, so we can see what is happening back at Red's home. And Valleydan plays a more important role than you think.

This story is about finding and utilizing your inner power, overcoming your fears, and how forceful love can be in any form.

Birthed by a Red Riding Hood inspiration, this is story is a world of its own, with subtle nods to other tales. A breath-stealing beginning to a series promising to be exceptional. I have to say I adored this book.

Unfortunately, this isn't my cup of tea, even though I am a HUGE fan of fairy tales, fairy tale retellings, fantasy in general... But this felt like a very typical story, with our very typical characters, and I just couldn't take yet another same-old story that reminds me of other same-old stories.

20% in and I already don't like RED. She is already annoying, stubborn, the typical YA character for me. SPOILER ALERT: So, you know this is all practically a hoax and yet you want to remain in the forest? Yeah, right! Fuck my family, I'm going to stay with the Wolf who likes chilling in the library.

I do understand that someone may like this, and may think this is a fun, excellent, deliciously dark fairy tale retelling, but I do not feel that way at all. I felt the atmosphere was great in the beginning, but the descriptions started to get repetitive, and I got sick and tired of the moss, the trees, the branches, the blood...

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a chance to try this out.

It's been a while since I dropped everything to read a book that just arrived in the post that same day. But there is a lot to be said when that book has a dark, magical woods that is corrupted, is a mix of fairy tales that haven't been retold like this before and there's a potential monster boyfriend situation. I'm in.

I fell for this book in seconds of opening the book. I have mentioned in passing that I love a great opening line in a novel and it really has the potential to hook you from there. The first line of the book, set the mood of the entire story but also just spoke to my very soul; 'Two nights before she was sent to the Wolf, Red wore a dress the colour of blood.'

This is a fantastically written book and an even more powerful debut. It's clear where Hannah Whitten has taken her inspiration from and what elements she's using to craft this story but they fold together so well and the story drags you further and further in like the Wilderwood.

The story begin with the Second Daughter herself. Red, short for Redarys, is preparing herself for her inevitable sacrifice to the Wilderwood on the edge of the Queendom of Valleyda. Red has been prepped for this her whole life, not gaining much of a life due to it. Her twin. Neve or Neverah being the First Daughter and destined for the Throne. Opposing sister dynamics are some of my favourite things to see in SFF so this was something I loved from the very beginning.

Hannah Whitten has crafted a fairly brutal world here and it's pretty much displayed to us from the very beginning. Many years prior, a couple names Gaya and Ciaran, made a bargain with the Wilderwood in order to keep the monsters from the world in the forest and to bring the Five Kings back to maintain peace. These two were the first Wolf and Second Daughter, the tradition carrying on from a story of Ciaran bringing Gaya's desecrated corpse to the edge of the forest telling the people to send the next Second Daughter. Something I really loved was how Valleyda use this tradition to wield power over neighbouring countries.

There is a religion that surrounds the tradition of sending the Second Daughter to the Wilderwood called The Order. It is matriarchal in it's structure and is powerful due to it's association with the Wood which Valleyda it is noted by the characters that while it is the only power they have it's also a handy weapon. The border to the Wilderwood lies there. If the other countries want to remain safe and free of monsters, they had best respect this religion. I was really impressed with the subtlety here in the writing. There is a temptation to make religion a main feature of a fantasy novel but the small, sly ways The Order weaves it's influences among different countries like vines of the wood itself is honestly excellent.

Another superb part of the book is of course the characters and in particular the development of their relationships. Again, I love sibling dynamics in books particularly between sisters so the attention to them over the secondary relationships was a big bonus. We are told that the sisters have made an attempt to destroy the traditions and the Wilderwood before and they have kept the idea of breaking the trend alive for many years. Neve herself trying to free Red by organising a means to runaway in the very first pages. When Red enters the wood, the only person she tells she loves is her sister and her main determination is to eventually get back to her. Neve in turn, looking to use her time in the Throne to get Red out. The strength of their relationship is something I think pinning the story on was a fantastic choice.

And the relationship between the Wolf and Second Daughter? Excellent. Absolutely brilliant. We learn that the Wolf is called Eamonn and lives out his days in a crumbling ruin in the middle of the Wilderwood with two others. He and the wood are one. I know we're all used to hearing that the bad guy 'isn't all bad' but Eamonn is clearly not the bad guy here. Wolf he may be but he is quickly established as a kind, tenacious man with a good heart and a determination borne from years of fighiting back against the breaches within the Wilderwood. He and Red are well matched in wit, and in their shared need to have someone to relate to. Red comes from a neglectful parentage while Eamonn was born from a pair of fairytale characters and his duties built into his actual body. Their relationship is built on healing and sharing and I really want to see more of it.

The magic system and the fairy tales this reuses really deserve their own mention. Red has her own untamed nature magic, a different situation for a Second Daughter. It's shown to be this wild, feral type of magic that encourages plants to go wild, overwhelms her with dirt coming out of her mouth and is clearly linked to the Wilderwood. This contrasts really interestingly with Eamonn and his abilities as the Wolf where bleeding and bloodletting are needed from him to maintain control of the wood. It's an interesting dichotomy and definitely a different one that stands out. The fairy tales, was a nice mashup. There are clear parallels of Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty across this book but I do like the elements of Snow White and Rose Red in there as well woven into it. Just wanted to mention it, for my Fables and Robin McKinley fans.

I want to thank Orbit for sending me a copy, both via a NetGalley and a finished copy, for review. For the Wolf is out on the 3rd of June and is a must read for fans of Uprooted, Pans Labyrinth and Fables. Thanks for checking in folks and happy reading!