Too cutesy for my taste, although I agree that the artwork is lovely. I'm sure this book will have legions of fans, but I will not be one of them.

A Wolf for a Spell is a deliciously magical adventure involving wolves, witches, and villagers—all of whom must work together to defeat an evil tsar.

The story begins with Zima, a wolf who’s dealing with issues within her own pack. She’s always been told to fear humans, but she isn’t sure what to believe anymore. One thing Zima knows for sure is that it’s not safe to converse with witches, and she’s been given strict orders. After an unforeseen event, Zima is forced to communicate with the forest witch, Baba Yaga, and discovers there’s real danger on the horizon for all who live in the forest.

Concurrently, a young girl named Nadya from a nearby orphanage is puzzled about her friend, Katerina. Katerina has recently left their orphanage to marry, but something just isn’t right, and Nadya knows it. The mystery must be solved, and it’s going to be up to her and some other brave characters to put the pieces together and save their forest.

This is such a fascinating story; I could easily read it over and over. I love fairy tales and that’s exactly what this story feels like: a Russian fairy tale. There are multiple points of view throughout the story, and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out how these paths were going to converge. All the characters have something to learn and it comes together beautifully in the end. There are themes of friendship, trust, heroism, good vs. evil, and overcoming.

The illustrations were unexpected and added a nice touch. Even though they were quite simple—just black and white—they were perfect for the story.

Overall, A Wolf for a Spell is a beautifully crafted tale that captivated me from beginning to finish. Middle-grade readers who love fantasy, especially Slavic fairy/folk tales, will fall in love with this book. Honestly, it’s a story for any age. There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about it, and I can’t wait to share it with my readers.

5*****

#AWolfforaSpell #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the E-arc copy A Wolf for a Spell.

ARC provided from NetGalley

I love a good story inspired by folktales and here we have a tale with Baba Yaga. The cover and inside illustrations are beautiful. I felt like some of the illustrations were more refined and detailed than others, but the other all style fit the work and I wish there had been more of them.

The book has three main points of view told in 3rd-person: Zima the wolf, Baba Yaga, and a young orphan Nadya, with each chapter having different icons representing each character. You really get to know each character and root for them throughout the book. I was a little disappointed Nadya did not get her own epilogue chapter like the other two. You can infer what happened to her but I would have liked more closure.

Overall, an enjoyable middle-grade book I read in a day. Kids might think it's a little slow about half-way through but the action of the end moves quickly and has a few cliffhanger chapter endings to keep you reading.

An old woman, two girls and a wolf must find their true path and save the world that they love. This is reminiscent of Sarrypennypacker's Pax with the touch of the magical.