by Hannah F. Whitten
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'll preface this review by saying that I just read A Court of Thorns and Roses, for the first time, only a month before I read For the Wolf. This is a bit unfortunate as their introductory stories are both based on Beauty and the Beast.
Our leading gal is taken by a 'monster' and held 'captive' (sort of). Which, of course, results in them developing feelings for one another. Most would agree that ACOTAR is a pretty amazing read (captivating, quick, and kind of like crack, you just want more!). The opening 300+ pages of Hannah F. Whitten's first book in the Wilderwood series is perhaps the exact opposite. It's fairly boring, predictable, and seems to go on-and-on for no real purpose at times. I'm not sure why we didn't get more character development (besides a bit from our two lead characters) or why there is seemingly no foreshadowing whatsoever. Even the explanations of magic, politics, culture, etc. don't give (or at least not for me) any hints as to what might be coming next. And given how this story twists it seems fairly important to maybe give your readers a sense of what is coming.
But I will say this... that first 300 pages of boredom is worth it! Things really change up and have some excitement to them in the latter half of For The Wolf. Lots of interesting gothic-esque ideas are brought about (although not as gothic and dark as I want, but for your average fantasy reader I'm sure it's just right) and some really interesting dilemmas and situations come up.
Which leaves me to my last pet peeve... you absolutely cannot take a big, and I mean BIG, idea and repurpose it. This faux pas is almost as bad as having a castle in your book named Hogwarts. You can have a magical school castle but it needs a different name at least!
You cannot put someone into a 'shadow land' and then describe said land as upside-down. Like literally trees are upside-down. Now maybe it's because I just finished watching season 4 of Stranger Things; but I think the show is more than big enough by now to say that you should NOT borrow from it. Or, if your story and description came first; maybe consider tweaking it a bit because as son as I read about upside-down shadow lands all that happens is I feel annoyed that someone would rip the concept right out of Stranger Things. Right or wrong; that is how it comes across to me.
As I do plan to read book 2, I know I will have to get over my annoyance with this. As it does appear our shadow lands will be prominently featured in it. So let this be a warning instead to future publishers and authors; please, please make sure you change something just enough, or at least name it differently so that your readers aren't rolling their eyes at the blatant rip-off. And again, intentional or not, you just can't use something so widely known in pop culture and hope no one notices.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'll preface this review by saying that I just read A Court of Thorns and Roses, for the first time, only a month before I read For the Wolf. This is a bit unfortunate as their introductory stories are both based on Beauty and the Beast.
Our leading gal is taken by a 'monster' and held 'captive' (sort of). Which, of course, results in them developing feelings for one another. Most would agree that ACOTAR is a pretty amazing read (captivating, quick, and kind of like crack, you just want more!). The opening 300+ pages of Hannah F. Whitten's first book in the Wilderwood series is perhaps the exact opposite. It's fairly boring, predictable, and seems to go on-and-on for no real purpose at times. I'm not sure why we didn't get more character development (besides a bit from our two lead characters) or why there is seemingly no foreshadowing whatsoever. Even the explanations of magic, politics, culture, etc. don't give (or at least not for me) any hints as to what might be coming next. And given how this story twists it seems fairly important to maybe give your readers a sense of what is coming.
But I will say this... that first 300 pages of boredom is worth it! Things really change up and have some excitement to them in the latter half of For The Wolf. Lots of interesting gothic-esque ideas are brought about (although not as gothic and dark as I want, but for your average fantasy reader I'm sure it's just right) and some really interesting dilemmas and situations come up.
Which leaves me to my last pet peeve... you absolutely cannot take a big, and I mean BIG, idea and repurpose it. This faux pas is almost as bad as having a castle in your book named Hogwarts. You can have a magical school castle but it needs a different name at least!
< minor spoiler below >
You cannot put someone into a 'shadow land' and then describe said land as upside-down. Like literally trees are upside-down. Now maybe it's because I just finished watching season 4 of Stranger Things; but I think the show is more than big enough by now to say that you should NOT borrow from it. Or, if your story and description came first; maybe consider tweaking it a bit because as son as I read about upside-down shadow lands all that happens is I feel annoyed that someone would rip the concept right out of Stranger Things. Right or wrong; that is how it comes across to me.
As I do plan to read book 2, I know I will have to get over my annoyance with this. As it does appear our shadow lands will be prominently featured in it. So let this be a warning instead to future publishers and authors; please, please make sure you change something just enough, or at least name it differently so that your readers aren't rolling their eyes at the blatant rip-off. And again, intentional or not, you just can't use something so widely known in pop culture and hope no one notices.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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1 comment:
I picked this one up a while ago, looking forward to reading it!
Regarding the upside down thing...I get your point, but also feel like a parallel world being either upside-down or mirrored is a common enough trope in literature, no? Of course Stranger Things is super popular right now, but I'm almost sure it's not an original concept. But sometimes it's a fine line between a rip-off and a trope for sure!
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