

Plot: Reading Red Wolf was like entering a literary portal back to 2010ish when love triangles were central to most teen reads, the plots were consistently under developed and had a habit of adding things in last minute solely out of convenience. I debated dnfing it but I ended up skimming the last 25% or so instead. I’d like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for sharing a copy of this book with me in exchange for my honest review. Anyone who enjoys retellings should try it. This is a new author to me, and I have to say I was very impressed with this book. Grainger was a favorite from the very beginning too, and I’m left to wonder what’s going to happen to his character if there are future installments. Other favorites included Grandmother and Max. Some of Adele’s choices made me question her at times, but in the end, they seem to be the right ones. She’s consistently wary-trying to make the right decisions-willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family and the village of Oakvale. Adele is courageous-always putting one foot forward and doing what’s right, regardless of the circumstances. Multiple things are going on here, and Adele has a great deal on her plate, including the need to maintain secrets and relationships, fight monsters, and solve mysteries. She’s the main character and extremely likable, in my opinion. It leads me to believe there may be a second book.Īs far as characters, Adele was my favorite. What a cliffhanger too! I was left to ponder which person was involved in the shocking end. Finally, the book ties together perfectly and leaves the reader with questions. There’s a bit of a love triangle going on in the story, but it was minor and surprisingly worked without bothering me too much, given that this isn't one of my favorite tropes. The pacing was spot-on for the most part, but there was one event that seemed to drag on for too long. Albeit rather subtle, certain parts of the story reminded me of some of my favorite movies, including Twilight and The Village, which was an added plus. Some interesting twists take the story in new directions, making it impossible to predict. The story is unique and inventive being that it’s nothing like the original Little Red Riding Hood but still follows along with connections to the woods, wolves, grandmother, and of course: the red cloak. If I didn’t have other things to do, this probably could've been finished in half of a day. The book is written well, and it’s a quick read. So she was far more familiar than I was with the dangers and with ways to avoid them. She’d grown up in my grandmother’s cabin, though back then before the forest had encroached so boldly upon Oakvale, it was just inside the dark wood. I’d never been alone in the dark wood before, and I felt my mother’s absence like the loss of a limb. On a trip to her grandmother’s cabin through the dark wood, she’s troubled with a surprise encounter, and now must grasp and accept her newfound responsibilities as a guardian and protector of Oakvale. Her father’s death still haunts her, and she has much to learn about her family history. Soon to be sixteen years old, Adele wants nothing more than to settle down with the boy of her dreams and live in peace with her family in the village of Oakvale.
