annagwritesandreads's profile picture

annagwritesandreads 's review for:

Wolfwood by Marianna Baer
4.5
adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you to Abrams and Marianna Baer for allowing me to listen to Wolfwood as an audiobook  ARC.

This had the potential for a 5 star book. I was thinking it would be a 5 star book, until there was a key explanation I was looking for that was not wrapped up. It STILL bugs me! If there's another book, I'll change this to a 5 star, but as it stands, I'm at a 4.5/5 star. If you NEED your books wrapped up likely you won't like this.

HOWEVER, I do think this book has a lot of fantastic qualities that kept me hooked:
- The overall plot: Indigo and her mother Zoe are barely scrapping by. Zoe, before Indigo was born, released Wolfwood, a series of painted portraits showing how 4 girls hunt down a wolf in wolfwood. This fantastical world hooked people, but it was unfinished. Zoe is given a chance to finish it and she refuses. Indigo knows to survive, she must finish Wolfwood. However, what Zoe did not tell Indigo, is that Wolfwood becomes real when you paint it. You enter the vicious jungle, been the clones of the main three girls, and you can get hurt. 
- The relationships: I really did like most of the relationships in this book and I disliked the relationships I think we are meant to dislike.
- Pacing: this felt FAST. My heart was pounding the majority of the book, until the end.

The. magical realism is there, you root for Indigo and only want the best for her in the end, and you want to help the folks of Wolfwood. If you aren't into pop culture references, you probably won't like this. I feel like this also had some interesting undertones talking about classism that I think are still prevalent today. Honestly, I'd go back into this world again in a heartbeat!