Take a photo of a barcode or cover
rubeusbeaky 's review for:
The Wolf and the Woodsman
by Ava Reid
This book was so full of itself. It THOUGHT it was an homage to myths and a love-letter to literacy. But it had zero class, artistry, or innovation. This book relied more on the shock value of sudden violence or magic than on building any sympathetic characters, and expected the reader to simply feel awed by the randomness. Spoiler alert, if you've read enough fantasy, then the mere existence of fantasy in your fantasy is NOT a surprise, it's the beeping BASELINE! Your fantasy is meant to be a lens through which your reader can better examine, appreciate, and understand their own reality. Good fantasy tells us core human truths. Whatever "truths" this book thought it was imparting were disgusting and dangerous ideology that NO ONE need absorb. I DNF-ed at 200 pages after enduring:
- Jewish stereotypes
- Homophobic language
- Virgin shaming
- A suicidal first-person narrator
- The argument that a suicidal first-person narrator would feel better if she would just convert to Christianity!
- Exoticism of dark-skinned people in lieu of characterization
- A horny boy blaming a girl's mere existence for /making/ him horny, as if HIS body isn't his to manage. You know, the whole Jezebel, she bewitched me, she was asking for it, schtick
- Glorifying self-harm
In the end, the final nail in the coffin, the thing that made me rather suffer a terrible stomach virus than ingest any more of this trashy book... was that it had NOTHING to say. It ripped off The Grishaverse in plot only, there was none of the finesse or empowering themes. And the writing was just juvenile and bad: redundant, unwitty dialogue where the next line said or conclusion drawn didn't play off of the previous statement. There is no point in following these characters as they wander into the snow for 200 pages, then decide to BAIL and wander back OUT - ohsorrywasthataspoilerWHOCARESdon'treadthisbook! -because they have nothing to deliver on respecting religious affiliation while still calling on people to be wise and empathetic and eschew dogma when it conflicts with humanitarianism - NO! No. They have nothing to say on rewriting what's culturally acceptable as masculine or feminine, how to be yourself without shame - NOPE! Big old nope. Lots of potential... But in the end, the only thing this book really said was, "This author likey history and religion. She mash up other peeps ideas, make book good!" Nope you didn't, Ava Reid. Nope!
- Jewish stereotypes
- Homophobic language
- Virgin shaming
- A suicidal first-person narrator
- The argument that a suicidal first-person narrator would feel better if she would just convert to Christianity!
- Exoticism of dark-skinned people in lieu of characterization
- A horny boy blaming a girl's mere existence for /making/ him horny, as if HIS body isn't his to manage. You know, the whole Jezebel, she bewitched me, she was asking for it, schtick
- Glorifying self-harm
In the end, the final nail in the coffin, the thing that made me rather suffer a terrible stomach virus than ingest any more of this trashy book... was that it had NOTHING to say. It ripped off The Grishaverse in plot only, there was none of the finesse or empowering themes. And the writing was just juvenile and bad: redundant, unwitty dialogue where the next line said or conclusion drawn didn't play off of the previous statement. There is no point in following these characters as they wander into the snow for 200 pages, then decide to BAIL and wander back OUT - ohsorrywasthataspoilerWHOCARESdon'treadthisbook! -because they have nothing to deliver on respecting religious affiliation while still calling on people to be wise and empathetic and eschew dogma when it conflicts with humanitarianism - NO! No. They have nothing to say on rewriting what's culturally acceptable as masculine or feminine, how to be yourself without shame - NOPE! Big old nope. Lots of potential... But in the end, the only thing this book really said was, "This author likey history and religion. She mash up other peeps ideas, make book good!" Nope you didn't, Ava Reid. Nope!