In this article, you will find some frequently asked questions about The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid. I have tried to answer them as best as possible.
I hope you enjoy reading this article, and I hope this post answers some of the questions you may have about this book!
What genre is The Wolf and the Woodsman?
The Wolf and the Woodsman is an adult fiction debut novel inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology written by Ava Reid.
Is this book a standalone or does it have a sequel?
The Wolf and the Woodsman is a standalone novel. In short, Av Reid wrote the book with a clear ending and no cliffhanger.
Is it YA?
No, The Wolf and the Woodsman is not Young Adult nor New Adult. In other words, The Wolf and the Woodsman is an Adult book with adult elements.
Content and Trigger warning in The Wolf and the Woodsman.
Below you will find a list of some of the content trigger warnings of this book. Above all be cautious when picking up The Wolf and the Woodsman.
- Antisemitism,
- Physical child abuse,
- Self harm & self-injury,
- Blood & gore depiction,
- Body horror,
- Eyeball trauma,
- Dismemberment,
- Torture, and
- Animal death.
Summary
The Wolf and the Woodsman is a story about two outcasts trying to win against a tyrant with low odds. Moreover, it’s a story of enemies to lovers and of betrayal that turns the stomach woven throughout a story of magical and dangerous creatures. In short, The Wolf and the Woodsman presents compelling and endearing characters with clashes of religion, culture, and action that grab the readers’ attention from the very start.
Characters
Évike
Évike is the only woman in her pagan village without magical abilities. She is shunned and bullied because the gods have chosen not to grace her with power. When members of the king’s Holy Order of Woodsmen make the perilous journey through the forest to take a “seer,” a pagan woman with the power to see the future, Évike is the sacrifice sent by her fellow tribeswoman.
Gáspár
Gáspár is the king’s only legitimate son. Born from a foreign princess. He is also the captain of the Woodsmen and came for a seer to Évike’s village. Gáspár is an outsider to many of his own people. Therefore, his father despises him. Gáspár believes that only with more pagan magic can his father can hold on to his throne. But this kind of pagan magic is more powerful and involves the ability to see many possible futures.
Is there romance in this book?
Yes. The Wolf and the Woodsman contains a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance between Évike and Gáspár.
And if you’re interested in my enemies-to-lovers books featured on this blog, click here!
[SPOILERS]
Is it spicy?
The Wolf and the Woodsman is not very spicy compared to other adult romance books. It describes some of Évike’s fantasies. And there is one scene where Évike and Gáspár almost have sex.
Does it contain a love triangle?
The Wolf and the Woodsman does not have a love triangle. The book mainly follows Évike and Gáspár and the only romance is between them.
Quotes
“What would you have me do?’ he asks. ‘You have already ruined me.”
“All that talk of quiet obedience is for their benefit, not yours. They don’t have to go to the effort of striking you down if you’re already on your knees.”
“But you followed me here.’ My own voice is a whisper. ‘What a foolish thing for a pious prince to do.’
A breath comes out of him. ‘You’ve made me a fool many times over.”
“If there is anyone I would damn my soul for,” Gáspár says, “it would be you.”
“A bargain between a Woodsman and a wolf-girl already seems a fragile and terrible thing. Whose god would approve of it?”
“I’d rather die with a blade in my hand, or at least with fire in my heart, than live as the shadow of the shadow.”
Does this book have LGBTQ+ elements?
The Wolf and the Woodsman does not contain LGBTQ+ elements. The main romance is between a male and female.
Religion in The Wolf and the Woodsman
The Wolf and The Woodsman draws heavily from Hungarian lore and religious themes when it comes to the creatures Évike and Gáspár encounter on their travels as well as the worldbuilding itself.
Religion is an important subject in The Wolf and The Woodsman. The Patrifaith, the dominant faith within The Wolf and the Woodsman, leads its practitioners to believe that other faiths like the pagan faiths and the Yehuli faiths are wrong and need to be eradicated. Plus, all of the faiths within the novel are more similar at their core than dissimilar, especially when it comes to the ways followers of each faith invoke their magic.
In The Wolf and the Woodsman, the Yehuli are a Jewish-coded group. For example, when Évike enters her father’s, Yehuli community, she begins to learn a lot about this new part of her heritage. Plus, you can tell that Ava Reid put great care and love into the pages where Évike is learning their traditions and stories.
Books like The Wolf and the Woodsman
Below you can find some books you can read if you enjoyed The Wolf and the Woodsman.
- For the Wolf by Hannah F. Whitten – As the only second daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose, to serve as the sacrifice to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.
- Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao – Ana’s ability to control blood has long been kept secret. But when her father, the emperor, is murdered, she is the only suspect. Now, to save her own life, Ana must find her father’s killer. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is one where corruption rules and a greater conspiracy is at work–one that threatens the very balance of Ana’s world.
- The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino – Tess finds herself working all summer at her boarding school library shelving books and dealing with the intolerable patrons. The worst of them is Eliot Birch. After a bargain with Eliot leads to the discovery of an ancient book in the library’s grimoire collection, the pair accidentally unleash a book-bound demon.
- Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – An ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk, Grim fey creatures seem more ice than flesh, and Miryem’s fate, and therefore that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Check out this book to learn what all this means and how it resolves!
Conclusion
I hope this article has clarified some of the questions you may have had about this book!
And if there’s something else I didn’t answer in this post, feel free to leave a message about it in the comments below!
