Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent

Red Wolf

by Rachel Vincent

Powerful and compelling, this high-stakes, feminist reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood is perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Meagan Spooner.

For as long as sixteen-year-old Adele can remember, the village of Oakvale has been surrounded by the dark wood—a forest filled with terrible monsters. A forest that light itself cannot penetrate.

Unlike her fellow villagers, Adele cannot avoid the dark wood.

Adele is one of a long line of guardians: women who secretly take on the form of a wolf, in order to protect their village.

But when accepting her fate means giving up the boy she loves, abandoning the future she imagined for herself, and breaking her own moral code, she must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her neighbors safe.

Reviewed by Kim Deister on

5 of 5 stars

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Red Wolf is a wonderful reimagining of a tale we all know, Little Red Riding Hood. The story is creative and unique, the twists and turns taking it in new directions, make it difficult to predict where it was going to go next. But even if the story itself was very different from the original, the familiar elements of the woods, the wolves, Grandmother, and the iconic red cloak were still a part of it.

Adele, the F-MC, is an extremely likable character. Barely sixteen, she has suddently found her world changed, upended. She struggles to make sense of that, to reconcile the future she thought was in front of her with her new responsibilities. And part of that is Grainger.

The changes in her world have created a bit of a love triangle for Adele, in ways she’d never imagined possible. Grainger is the boy she’s loved for as long as she can remember, a childhood friend turned more. But who he is and what he does may not allow them to have the future they planned. Enter Max, a boy from another village, one of the few people who knows and accepts her secret. Love triangles are not usually something I love in my reads, but the romance in this book is fairly minor. And the author handled it in a way that felt right.

All in all, a great read.

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Reading updates

  • 1 January, 2024: Started reading
  • 5 January, 2024: Finished reading
  • 31 January, 2024: Reviewed