Redarys has always known that as the second daughter her destiny has been to sacrifice herself to the Wilderwood and the Wolf. After all, the first daughter is for the Throne and the second daughter is for the Wolf. Red hopes her sacrifice will bring back the old Kings who have been trapped in the Wilderwood for centuries. But after entering the Wilderwood and meeting the “Wolf” Red realizes that everything she has been told is a lie.
I thought this book had a lot of promise. I loved the eeriness of the Wilderwood and how it seemed to be alive. Eammon’s (The Wolf) house was a bit strange with moss and plants growing everywhere. That being said, the worldbuilding for me was a bit underdeveloped. I felt that the author could have done a better job at explaining things instead of just letting little clues trickle out here and there. For instance, Red keeps referring to this horrific incident that happened to her when she was 16 which made her afraid of the magic within her (maybe, we really don’t know what her magic is or does) but we don’t know what happened or why it made her afraid until at least halfway through the book. I’m still not entirely sure about many pertinent details of this world and I have a lot of questions.
The writing is good. The author does a great job in describing the imagery and I could definitely picture the sinisterness of the Wilderwood. There are elements from multiple fairy tales, specifically Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast. Once I stopped trying to figure out which fairy tale this book was a retelling of, I just sat back and enjoyed those touches of fantasy. I did think there was a lot of repetition though. I can’t tell you how many times Eammon’s hair kept falling over his forehead – I really wanted to give him a hair tie.
I didn’t really connect with any of the characters and I think it was because the worldbuilding was lacking for me. I didn’t understand many characters’ motivations. I didn’t understand the magic of the world because it seemed like anyone could have magic if they tried enough, but Red felt like she had to keep her magic a secret and couldn’t tell anyone about it. I also didn’t understand the whole issue with the Kings returning. The author keeps telling us it would be bad if they returned but why? I just didn’t understand the stakes.
This is the first book in the Wilderwood duology and I just don’t care enough about the characters to read any other books in this world.
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