For the Wolf

Part Little Red Riding Hood, part Beauty and the Beast retelling, this story follows Red, the second daughter of the kingdom who must be sacrificed to the Wilderwood, and to the Wolf. She willing goes, trying to keep her loved ones safe from the mysterious power she has thrumming through her veins. What she finds when she gets there is nothing like what she expected.

I've been wanting to read this book ever since seeing the cover. They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but look at it; it's perfect. This book, while marketed as adult, definitely read a little more YA in my opinion. There was some profanity, but other than that, the tropes and themes felt more YA. That is by no means a dunk on this book. There isn't anything lesser about YA, and I really enjoyed reading this. This book definitely felt more like a Beauty and the Beast retelling than a Little Red Riding Hood retelling. Besides the names of Red and Wolf, this is a story of a woman who willingly sacrifices herself to go live in a castle with a beast and ends up falling in love. There's even a magic mirror, and Red loves books. I thought that this story did a good job of providing that lovely fairy tale feel, while still having unique characterization and plot points. The whole concept of giving blood to the forest, and the forest being semi-sentient was very interesting and allowed for a really dark setting. I was enamored with the romance, the characters, and the plot. I can't wait for the next one!

TW: self-harm for magic use (cutting), parental neglect/emotional abuse, mentions of physical symptoms that might be triggering to those with emetophobia, anxiety/panic attacks, parental death, gore, mild audio/visual hallucinations, religious abuse, medium-heat romance (non-explicit)