The Wolf and the Woodsman

by Ava Reid

[Rach Wood]

Inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, the haunting debut of Ava Reid follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of a holy order as they form an unlikely alliance to defeat a tyrant. I started reading it in the summer of 2021 and only finished it after mid-January 2022. But I'm sure I would have devoured it had I read it in e-book format. With long chapters and a tiny font, it was difficult for me to read more than a dozen pages a day. And, to be honest, the first half of the book is definitely slow-paced. But the world-building is so intricate it makes sense we get to know it before the action begins. Atmospheric and dark, the imagery is stunning.

Alongside magic, religion plays a significant role, and there are echoes of real medieval history’s power dynamics between Jewish, Christians and pagans. At the core of the story, nation-building is depicted as a brutal process that takes advantage of the power of myths and storytelling, especially about mighty gods, to bend populations to the will of a few men. Tactfully, but without mincing words, Ava Reid addresses important and sensitive issues, such as oppression, persecution and ethnic cleansing, and gives us the opportunity to see people trying and sometimes succeeding at surviving it.

As for the main character, Évike is a well-written character, for sure, but I don’t know if I like or despise her. Outcasted by her own tribe for her corrupted bloodline (her father is a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king), she’s bound and taken away to be offered as a sacrifice to the fanatical king of Régország. But the one-eyed captain of the Holy Order of the Woodsmen challenges what she believes in. Not every Patritian, a follower of the Patrifaith, is loathsome as she had imagined. Especially not the gentle and tortured Gáspár Barány. It’s great to watch how their alliance allows them to grow as individuals, and I also loved the slow-burn romance, but it annoyed me how mean Évike could be (and was most of the time) to Gáspár, especially after he shows how compassionate and trustworthy he actually is.

Bottom line, I just wish this one wasn't a stand-alone. I feel it could have been a superb duo or trilogy; that would allow the author to delve deeper into the political intrigues and the lore of the world. The first half was much slower compared to the second and the end, while somewhat satisfying, felt rushed (the crux of the issue was swept under the rug). There were also topics that could have been more developed. For example, I would love to know more about Gáspár experience as a mixed-race man with olive skin in a vaguely Eastern European fantasy country. Maybe he should have had a POV. I also would have loved to see more of the relationship between Évike and her father, since that was one of my favourite storylines. And then, there’s a question that will haunt me forever: why a certain character is granted power by praying while some have to get hurt in order to reach theirs? I guess it’s related to the different religions and belief systems, but I wanted to know more about it.

I guess this is actually a 3.5, but I rounded up. In the end, I had a good time with it and plan on re-reading.