**I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I wanted to absolutely love this book and for a while I thought I would. I love the twist on the classic little red riding hood tale. It has a darker feeling and feels very female forward which I appreciated.

The issue I took with this book is how the author chose to end it. It was an awful way to end an otherwise awesome concept.

A dark and atmospheric Red Riding Hood retelling, Rachel Vincent's Red Wolf is a richly developed, thought-provoking novel. Surprising betrothals, secrets and lies, werewolf lore, dangerous and deadly woods, a love triangle, and fearsome journeys propel the story and make for an immersive read.

From childhood, Adele is inexplicably drawn to the woods. She doesn’t know why until her sixteenth birthday, when she learns that she is a Guardian – part woman and part wolf – who is destined to protect humans from the dangers that lurk just outside their village. Adele is shocked and dismayed as her life is turned completely upside down. All of her hopes and aspirations must change as she learns about her family and their duty.

Adele’s character is dynamic and well-developed. We see a teen filled with hope become a skilled fighter and protector of her people. We also see a young woman who faces tremendous responsibility and who struggles with her conscience. Adele constantly questions her fate and her influence over the lives of others. She is uncomfortable with the secrecy and lies and yearns for a simpler life. However, she is also drawn to the woods and the world inside of it. Her character is so well-layered, and her conflicting feelings highlight the tumultuous turn her life has taken.

Other characters are richly developed as well. Adele’s mother, grandmother, and sister are the definition of female strength. They are close and share a strong bond, even though there are secrets between them. Friends, villagers, and two young children add interesting and often complicated dynamics to the plot. With so many strong and unique characters, there is never a dull moment in their lives.

What makes a monster? This is a question that appears repeatedly throughout the story. There’s a great line that suggests that sometimes when one has to make a decision, there are no good choices. I think the story highlights this concept, as Adele is often faced with difficult choices and unexpected complications. Adele has to face the ramifications of her decisions and actions, which leads to even more difficult choices. As a guardian, this is her burden to bear, and the line between good and evil, as well as right and wrong, is often blurred.

Sometimes a guardian has no choice. Even more often, she has no good choice.

The world-building is another strength of the novel. Dark, foreboding, and atmospheric, the forest is so vividly described that it becomes a character. I love the imagery and personification, which contribute to the life-like feel of the dark woods surrounding Adele’s village. The dark wood is a scary place that humans avoid at all costs, and the author skillfully projects an ominous foreboding anytime the woods are mentioned. The dangers of the woods are a constant presence in the lives of the villagers, creating a fearful and wary mood throughout the story.

The dark wood was alive. That’s how it had always felt to me, anyway. As if every breeze that skimmed my skin were a breath from the forest itself, blowing over me. As if I’d marched into the belly of some great beast. As if I’d been swallowed whole.

Now, I’m not usually a big fan of love triangles, but in this story, it totally works. Adele is torn between her first love and a partner who is specifically chosen for her. The two men in Adele’s life contrast each other well while sharing many similarities. Both young men are honorable, intelligent, and brave, but only one can truly understand and know about Adele’s full identity. Adele’s choice isn’t easy, and I think that’s a pattern throughout the story – how people react to difficult choices. Some choose to face these problems head-on, some try to avoid making decisions, and others ignore the problems altogether. Adele doesn’t have that luxury, and she spends much of the story conflicted.

Well-paced, action-packed, and immersive with a heart-pounding and shocking ending, Red Wolf is the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish reading it. It makes you think about morals and ignorance and how fear of the unknown often leads to unfounded and irredeemable decisions. Thanks so much to the author and Harper Teen for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Disclaimer: I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Okay, so I absolutely loved this!! This is a retelling and it’s a lot darker. The protagonist, Adele comes from a generation of women who can turn into wolves! They have to protect their village and the village people are not allowed to know about their existence. This book was so good and it’s pretty fast-paced so I highly recommend it!!

There is a LOT packed into this book--hereditary werewolf revelations, hidden betrothals, a love triangle, a mysterious forest that talks to people, and village people who are liable to burn their protectors at the stake for witchcraft. This isn't even accounting for the last half of the book, which is just WHOA crazy.

I was not immediately drawn in by the writing--it felt a little too juvenile for the dark, gritty retelling it was trying to paint. The plot itself, with Adele having no inkling of what she is and getting thrust into her destiny as a village protector led to infodumps. Her choice of boys kind of gets lost in the last half of the book, when the werewolf story really gets into gear, leaving her with a chaotic choice: kill werewolf children or...abandon them in the woods. It seems like a ridiculous choice on it's face, but it gets weirder!

Ultimately, I was a little confused about the novel's decisions where it concerns Adele--talked up as the only thing protecting the townspeople from the woods, when really it's more interested in what she'll do to protect herself and what she loves, which are two very different things. That isn't fully explored, and mostly seems brushed off in the end. The woods aren't fully explored much, either--the thing causing all of this chaos.

In any case, I was fully expecting this to be the first in a duology, but I think it's a stand-alone, and that's, I think, fine. That's fine.

First: The cover is amazing, second: its a about a creepy forest; third this a dark retelling about Red Riding Hood. Is everything I want.

On the edge of a forest full of creatures and danger, Adele lives with her family, every full moon she goes into the forest to visit her grandmother, who lives in the cabin surrounded by monsters.
When Adele turns 16, her grandmother shared her a secret, the women in her family possess magical skills and are trained to fight the creatures of the forest, including the great big bad wolf, the most powerful beast of all.
Adele's life will take a turn that she did not expect, she needs to guard her secret, no one can know, including her sweetheart, he is a guard and swore to protect the village of paranormal creatures, Adele's family does not think he will react well when he finds out about Adele's abilities and want other future for her.
But when danger comes to town, Adele will face a moral dilemma, keep her secret or protect everyone's safety.

This is page turner, and its full with action. At the middle the story takes some twist, and you only want to know what will be happens, the end I feel was rush, but this is a good retelling, Adele is a nice protagonist, but I prefer the secondary characters. I like the forest creatures and the myths behind the werewolf and beast. This was so entertaining, a new perspective about a classic tale.

This had me in the middle third, not gonna lie.

Me at the beginning: This seems like a pretty basic concept and I don't even like werewolves at all.

Me in the middle: Ooh, okay this is interesting. This mess the kids are in is tense, and I feel for Adele's inner conflicts.

Me at the end: lol WHAT

There's obvious Red Riding Hood homages going on here, but at the core of it this is a "cursed wood" story. You know, when the forest corrupts people, spawns monsters, has an agenda and a mind of its own, and constantly encroaches on everything around it.

Adele finds out when she's sixteen that she is one of a long line of women with special werewolf powers, whose destiny is to protect small French villages from the evil forest and the monsters within. At the beginning, her constant shock and befuddlement at the turn her life takes gets a little annoying. There is sort of a love triangle later on, but it's actually NOT annoying.

Then, the ending goes totally off the wall nutso.

There's a theme present throughout the book of Adele coming to grips with the hard choices she has to make as village protector. Is it mercy to spare the infected, or kill them before they can infect more people? Is it more vital to keep her own secrets, thus allowing her to protect more down the line, or help one person right now? "It takes a monster" to be a guardian, she is told.

At the end, "being a monster" takes the form of, instead of being the one willing to kill monsters and the infected, being willing to seemingly off as many random members of her village as it takes to keep her own secrets. She does something dumb, and puts herself in the position of killing like three innocents and maiming another in order to protect two of the infected.

I get how everything cascaded to that point, and it seems like Adele might even be right about whitewulfs not being inherently evil. But it DEFINITELY seems like she made a wild, impulsive choice without really thinking it through. It also strikes a jarring, awkward note for the story to end with her putting crossbow bolts through her own hapless friends, who just came looking to see if she was okay.

More of a "what was THAT mess?" feeling, rather than an empowering crescendo.

I thought this was a very imaginative take on Little Red Riding Hood. Adele was a likeable character and the situations and decisions she makes are really nuanced. I did not love the situation with Grainger. Their interaction through the story just didn't feel complete to me. I would have liked to see more progression, so that the ending didn't feel like such a sudden turn. Adele also had to make a lot of difficult decisions and some that she made really irked me. I feel like she did exactly to Grainger what she feared would be done to her. I get her reasoning, but I still don't like it.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this book. It was a very fast paced and interesting read. It was pretty dark, but intriguing, all the same. I was fond of the author's writing style and it made it easy to read through this one quickly.

Given the ending, I'm really hoping this a series and not a standalone!

Red Wolf has been one of my favorite reads of the year so far. I did feel that the middle could have moved a bit quicker but I was not expecting the twists and turns that the end of the book brought and that more than made up for it! I would have also loved to see more of Adele in her wolf form. The end was abrupt but left me wanting more of these characters and this world - I hope we see more of this setting in the future if not a direct follow-up!

There are A LOT of Little Red Riding Hood retellings out there. This one stood out to me.
Adele has plans of marrying her childhood sweetheart, working in her mother's bakery, and raising her children next door to her best friend. But all that gets turned upside down when she discovers a different fate awaits her.
Adele must learn to make difficult decisions-protect the village or her family?
This book digs into what makes a monster?
It is dark and somewhat unexpected.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy for review.

Deliciously dark and imaginative, Red Wolf was unexpected. Fast paced, entirely enchanting, and more than anything else, it had me hooked. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. There were times I held my breath, sigh in relief and gasped in shock. I truly couldn't of asked for a better read. It had all the classic feel to the original story and all the twists and turns I love in a truly well thought out story that will stand out and stand all on it's own.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the eARC!

I cannot begin to express my feelings for this stunning book! I was hooked from the very beginning to the end. I was not at all dissappointed by reading this. I loved reading Adele's journey to accepting herself and doing all she can to protect her village and family. I really loved this retelling! But oh my what was that ending? It killed me!
4 stars for this gorgeous book!💖

I'm conflicted on this book. I loved the writing and the concept was unique, new, and exciting but overall it fell flat for me at the end. Adele was an incredibly strong heroine and one that I wanted to root for, but near the end, her decisions were not ones I could get behind. She claimed to have spent her entire life loving Grainger but what she let happen to him felt inexcusable. I get what the book was trying to say about making tough choices and at times having to be a monster, but I felt like she let that side of her make too many decisions and ultimately ended up hurting the village more than she was protecting it.

So overall my rating is based on the fact that this book was interesting and unique, but ultimately left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

This retelling of Little Red Riding Hood has a twist, what if the main character was also connected to the Big Bad Wolf? Vincent does an incredible job of retelling a familiar tale but keeping it fresh enough to warrant its own novel.

Adele's family has a reputation in her village. Her family is whispered about because of their red hair, and their matriarch Emmaline's preference to live in the Dark Wood instead of in town. Everyone knows the Dark Wood is full of monsters and predatory vegetation. Surely only a witch would live in such a horrible place?

Adele has her entire life planned out: a marriage to Grainger, and living next door to her best friend Elena. Little does she know, one fateful trip to her grandmother's house will change her life forever.

What if the Big Bad Wolf wasn't who you thought? What makes a wolf bad?

All of these questions are explored in Red Wolf. While, understandably as a retelling, this book is stand alone, I was left hoping for a sequel.

The only critique I can provide is I found Adele's choices to be questionable and at times almost irritating, but what 16 year old girl hasn't made questionable choices?

Amazing story! The writing was very accessible and the plot moved right along. I loved the retelling of the Red Riding Hood story line. I can not wait for the next book!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who walked through the dark woods to grandmother's house. Oh, you've heard this story before? I guarantee you haven't heard this version of the story, for you see—in this story, the little girl is the wolf.

This was such a lush and spellbinding version of Little Red Riding Hood. A dark, deep wood encompasses the village, barely kept at bay by those who live there. Only the careful eye of the watch who stand guard with torches keep the threatening woods from encroaching further, or so they believe. There's another watcher in the woods, however. Adele thought she has her life all planned out until she discovers her true fate and everything she thought she knew changes overnight. Thrilling, pulse-pounding danger awaits Adele in the woods and she is uniquely equipped to meet it. Risks and uncertainly await Adele every day and she's forced to make decisions that change her destiny and those of the villagers.

Blood and savagery are about and it's not only the wood's monsters who are fearfully made. Rachel Vincent has crafted an environment where deviating from the norm is dangerous, and where secrets must be kept to survive. This is witch-burning territory and it only takes a word to incite the villagers viciously into action. Like the dark woods, Vincent's world is perilous and full of wonder. This is a tale of fur and teeth, haunting and harrowing.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book--the beginning was a little simple (girl turns 16 and finds out she has a secret destiny oh nooo) and the red riding hood tie-in a bit obvious, so I had reservations about where it was going to go. But as it went on, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the nuance of the decisions Adele was grappling with. It was much darker than I expected it to be, though the reason I rated it three stars (probably closer to 3.5 really) instead of 4 is that Adele's morality felt a little confused. She forgets about Grainger very easily once it's clear he's not going to forgive her, and she bends over backwards to save the pups but doesn't worry too much about the realization that she's going to have to kill townspeople to protect their secret. Which it IS a complicated issue and there ISN'T really a right answer, which I like, but I wanted her to grapple a little more with if she really was doing the right thing saving the pups.

Overall, an easy, enjoyable read! There were some questions with the world left unanswered, but with this kind of story, I think that's okay. The cast of characters were all distinct and interesting, which I can always appreciate. Left me wanting some apple tart though.

This felt like a fresh, fun take on the fairytale retelling genre. I really enjoyed what Vincent did with the classic story. I felt like this was not 100% predictable like so many other retellings can be because of the liberties and creative additions that Vincent added in. Overall, I really enjoyed this one!

A fantastic book by a very imaginative author who has transformed the tale of Little Red Riding Hood into an amazing retelling! I was totally immersed in this story and could not put it down. It was full of adventure and it was very unpredictable. Whenever I thought I knew what was going to happen, the author tricked me and kept me interested and intrigued. The book is exceptionally well written and the characters felt realistic and alive on the pages. I love a good book with a strong female lead and although there were some elements of romance, it is not the main theme and does not overshadow the action of the story. If you have previously enjoyed books by Kelley Armstrong, I would highly recommend this author.

This is the review I left on Instagram (@bookshelfofjess):

Thank you @harperteen @harpercollins and @netgalley for this ARC! I don’t normally rate books with star ratings but for ARCs I do! I would give this beauty a solid four stars. It’s a great teen or young adult book and I think a lot of younger people will love this story! I’m obsessed with retellings and this is the first retelling of Little Red Riding Hood I’ve read and I enjoyed it!

- I loved the feminism and female power represented
- The only thing I didn’t love was the style of writing, it seemed very basic to me but it is a teen and young adult book
- The ending left me wanting more, and I love when authors do that

This releases July 20, 2021! I can’t wait to see what everyone things of it!

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