I'd heard a lot of talk about this book a while ago, so I thought I'd give it a chance. The first half of it frustrated me because of the lack of information given to Red. It felt like it took a while for things to start happening. The second half of the book kept me enthralled and makes me want to read the next one. I like how the story mixes different fairy tales, like Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast, without feeling cliche or like it's trying to include too much of each. The worldbuilding is unique. The narration could get repetitive at times. Overall I enjoyed the story and want to know what happens next. ( )

DNF'd at 51% and kinda skimmed the last half.

Just really long winded and kind of a confusing magic system. ( )

I’ve tried reading this three times. Fell asleep within a couple minutes the first two times and was bored the third. DNF

It just wasn't holding my attention. I might return to it another time, but it isn't working for me right now 

I must be tough to please with fairytale retelling these days. For the Wolf is pitched as Red Riding Hood meets Beauty and the Beast - both fairytales which I love. Definitely got way heavier Beauty and the Beast vibes, though.

What I loved -
The cover is so pretty! And the premise sounded so cool - first daughters destined for the throne, younger daughters destined to be given to the ‘Wolf’ in the a living forest called the Wilderwood, to release the 5 kings from their imprisonment.

I loved the atmosphere of a creepy, living forest that demands blood magic to survive (as someone who’s currently playing through the Dragon Age video games again, this was exciting!).

The beginning and end were well done and both hooked me.

And I liked the prose. I got a great sense of the setting and what I was “looking at” while reading. A bit purpley at times but overall lyrical.

What I didn’t love -
The pacing! The middle 60% was so slow and I felt it was way too dragged out at 400 pages. Now, I don’t mind a slow story if it’s told well and holds my interest and maintains tension. Unfortunately this story didn’t do that and I found myself skimming or re-reading parts of it and wondering when it was going to end (I know I could have DNFed it, but I’m stubborn sometimes). This book could have had 50-100 pages cut out and I don’t think we’d lose much.

The characters were okay, but not very memorable. I felt both Neve and Red had similar personalities and while they were both technically adults, they came off as stubborn bratty teenagers many times. I wish I had more sense of their closeness other than simply being told they were sisters, so therefore they should love and sacrifice for one another. Not every sibling relationship is good, so I would have liked more showing in this instance and really feel their bond. The supporting characters weren’t really fleshed out and I started getting confused who was who at times, and instead seemed like they were just there to move the plot forward.

The romance was also just alright. I didn’t feel much in chemistry between Red and Eammon. There also seemed to be a very large age gap between the two (Red is 20 and Eammon sounded like he was a few hundred or thousands of years old), which really isn’t for me. Again, I was told they loved and would do anything for each other, but I didn’t quite understand the love they had, except that they fell in love only because they were stuck together.

This was told mostly in third person from iRed’s perspective, with chapters mixed in from Neve’s.

Overall, 3 stars. Enjoyed it for what it was, but I wasn’t invested in the story and characters like I wish I was. Not sure I’ll pick up For the Throne (book #2), but from the sample chapter I read, it seems like it could be a more interesting read. ( )