Song of the Dark Wood

Gothic retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with Beauty and the Beast vibes. The story follows Rowan, the next Red Maiden who has spent her life learning how to please the Wolf in the Dark Wood because of a centuries old bargain made between Gods.

Sheila has quickly become one of my favorite authors (hi, can we be besties!?👯). She writes stories that are both beautiful and devastating. Her characters are always so full of personality and substance, it’s easy to love (or hate) them. I also loved the little nods to The Lost God series in the story as well (song of the Storm Prince and his Princess 🥹). Even though this is a stand alone book, it’s part of an interconnected fairytale story and can’t wait to see what other characters we meet.

Narrated by Aoife McMahon; Dermot Magennis - These two did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. 10/10 recommend listening to this one!

~Gothic fairytale vibes
~Bargains between Gods
~Prophecies
~Slow spicy burn 🥵
~She’s mine/Touch her and die

Book is available on Kindle Unlimited and the Audiobook will be released March 18th.

5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Sheila Masterson for a copy of the ALC. All opinions are my own.

4.5⭐️

This was such a fun, dark Red Riding Hood retelling! It had such gothic atmospheric vibes. There were meddling gods and demons and reapers and wraiths. There was heartbreak and sadness. And LOTSSS of spice. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. It was so captivating and I didn’t want to stop listening!

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

This was ok. It kept my attention and wasn’t terribly offensive, but it didn’t knock my socks off. I don’t really get the dark and gothic vibes that were advertised. Also, the whole 20 year old virgin falling for a centuries old being is so beyond overdone. Didn’t really get the feminine rage bit either. The FMC was repressed but also impotent for most of it and never really came into her power in an “oh shit!!” sort of way for me. It felt like a lot of interesting story lines just sort of petered out.

All in all, it was ok. Probably won’t seek out any sequels, but this felt very stand-aloneish to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC in return for an honest review.

Song of the Darkwood was a great way to revisit Sheila's beautiful storytelling. I loved the mythology and the creative music based magic system. Rowan's story addresses topics like purity culture, magical feminism, and holding on to one's autonomy in the face of religious patriarchy. "Nothing was more threatening to a man than a woman who wanted nothing to do with him." Yes, girl! Aoife McMahon and Dermot Magennis take Sheila's work to another level. As if I didn't love this story already, listening to it made me appreciate so much more. Thank you Dreamscape Media and Sheila for the ALC. I can't wait of readers to enjoy this! All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this audio book. I read a physical copy of the book when it was published and I couldn't put it down. I feel like the narrators did a phenomenal job with this story and I am so impressed with how authentic they were. I would definitely list to both the female and male narrators again and Sheila Masterson will always be an autobuy author.

I do not frequently gravitate towards romance books, but when I read this was a fractured blend of Red Riding hood mixed with a bit of dark fairytale, myth, and fierce feminism, I was intrigued.

Rowan knows she has been trained to be next in line to be the Red Maiden. However, when Orla, the current Red Maiden is found dead in the woods, Rowan knows it is her turn to take up the mantle and usher the souls to the Wolf's Keep to pass on into the next world. However, during her time as the maiden, she plans to make a bargain with the Wolf and try to change the stipulations of the contract in order to protect the young Red Maiden who is expected to come after Rowan.

The romantic aspect for me, is a slow burn/ forced proximity situation. Though I've seen some people say it's spicy, I think there are a few scenes which are intense but not all the way in the realm of the spice. I am not going to sit here and say it doesn't exist in the book, I just don't think it was as spicy as what people keep claiming.

It seems as though this will be part of an interconnected series so I am interested to see what the next story may hold.

It is a lot more steamy than the marketing is making you believe

Red maidens are charged with guiding the souls of the dead through the Dark Wood to afterlife. Rowan is about to ascend into the role, when her predecessor gets violently murdered. Vulnerable to the whims of a cultish religion, Rowan must figure out how to find a way forward that ensures her survival..

Sheila Masterson's first in the new Fable Song series was not for me, I will say this up front. But since I can see how it would absolutely land with its niche audience, I decided to give it 3 stars. Song of the Dark Wood is narrated by Aoife McMahon and Dermot Magennis in the audiobook version. I think overall, it was a good audiobook. I had some issues with McMahon's male voice mode but have to admit that Dermot Magennis' voice is quite pleasant if not downright attractive to listen to.

I am having major trouble with the marketing of this book. There are elements of the Red Riding Hood tale (mostly the red hood, the forest and the wolf) but I would probably categorise it more as Court of Thorns and Roses x Red Riding Hood fancfiction. The Hades/Persephone part is a vast stretch for me, something else would probably have done better as a comp.

The book centers around some very difficult topics, such as the sexualisation of women, male dominance and cults.
It is interesting how much this book is about things being done against the protagonist's will but the explicit scenes, especially initially, are not only extremely problematic but also absolutely not attractive or nice to read, even once the relationship moves into the realm of consent. As a reader of Ali Hazelwood, the thing she gets spot on is the consensual nature of even more kinky sex scenes. This novel does not.
There is quite a lot of objectivisation happening, especially of the female characters. While some queer representation is included, I think the author is trying to get Smash the Patriarchy to be the central message. Considering that most of her male characters are very one dimensional, she might have damaged her own point there.
To be fully frank, this book's middle portion reminded me of reluctancy pornography, with extensive scenes with sexual content only being briefly interspersed with actual plot. So while I love romantic fantasy or steamy romance, this was too much about the steam and too little about the romance.
To me, this just did not work, as I found myself frequently cringing or yelling at the audiobook. Rowan as a character is quite sweet, a bit naive and is not a solid judge of character.

I think Song of the Dark Wood will work for fans of the romantasy genre, especially of authors like S J Maas and Rebecca Yarros, but not for fans of Madeline Miller or Natalie Hayes.

"I have no power over anything in my life. I’ve never asked you for anything. Please, just let me make this choice for myself. Everything else in my life just happens to me, but this is something I could choose.”

✮ 3.5 out of 4 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the free ARC of this audiobook.
Rowan is the Red Maiden next in line to be sacrificed for the Wolf, the God of Death, to devour. None of the previous maidens have survived their five years of servitude, but Rowan is determined to change the bargain with the god and ensure her own survival; and save Aoife who’s to serve after Rowan.

But the God of Death isn’t what Rowan expected, and slowly Rowan learns how to free herself from others’ expectations. With the lurking pressure from the village as a deadly blight spreads and dark forces slowly growing stronger in the forest, time is running out. But with the growing attraction to the god, Rowan must make the hardest choice yet; to protect the village or to choose love.

The Red Riding Hood and Hades x Persephone theme of this book was one I couldn’t say no to. When I started getting into romantasy a few years back, I picked up For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten, because I loved the Red Riding Hood premise for a love story. It unfortunately disappointed me a lot. I knew that Song of the Dark Wood would be the redemption for the red riding hood love story I wanted, and I knew I had to pick it up.
In many regards, Song of the Dark Wood delivers the exact kind of romantasy story I wanted out of a Red Riding Hood romance. The blend with the Hades and Persephone elements makes this story exquisite to experience, and a lot of the groundwork for an amazing romance is laid out strongly from the beginning. Song of the Dark Wood might not be the most original story; a maiden chosen to be the sacrifice to some powerful man, misogynistic village leaders and a magical dark forest are all known elements, but they are delivered nicely packaged in this book, so I cannot complain; especially because it’s all elements I love when they’re present in a book.

When I reached the last 10% of this book, I did wonder how all of the things happening had been squeezed into this book. There was simply too many elements that the story tried to fit in, compared to the length of the book. Polishing the plot a little and removing some of the elements or simplifying them wouldn’t have hurt this book at all. Instead it’s almost drowning in all it’s trying to be, which hurts the enjoyment of the book.
My biggest problem with this story was the sexual assault threats looming around Rowan. In theory I don’t mind when a book presents a nasty older man who’s an absolute unworthy piece of shit as a threat, but the amount of space it took of this book absolutely hurt my enjoyment of it. It didn’t make the bond and trust between Rowan and Connor (the God of Death) seem genuine, and it didn’t feel like a natural progression of their relationship. The book is, however, labelled as dark and I was aware of this when starting this book. This might, however, be someone else’s cup of tea, and if so, this book will deliver.

I did get the audiobook version of this book, so it would feel wrong to not mention the narrators; Aoife McMahon and Dermot Magennis, both of whom did an amazing job with the narration of this book. They both fit their characters nicely, and made it that much easier to immerse myself in the whole story.

If you love a good romantasy story and wants something that feels very classic romantasy, while also presenting some dark elements, then I think this story might be for you.

A big thank you to the author, Sheila Masterson and NetGalley for the chance to listen this ALC!

I give this 3.75 stars. Sheila Masterson has beautifully written this unique and interesting story. It is a dark and spicy little red riding hood retelling with Hades and Persephone vibes. Rowan is a red maiden who’s suppose to seduce the big bad wolf(aka a grumpy God of death named Conner) to save the dying wood and keep the people of Ballybrine safe.

The narrators for this ALC were Aoife McMahon and Dermot Magennis. I think they done a great job and their voices suited the characters. They were able to capture the personalities and emotions of the characters well. It did feel a bit like listening to someone read a book to a child at times when other characters voices were imitated. But it’s a LRRH hood retelling so 🤔 it also worked. I was able to stay engaged in the story.

The main characters were good strong characters with some growth. The demon, vampire, witchy and god side characters were also great. They were useful and played important parts to the story. The plot was lost a bit at times but, it’s not a complicated fantasy so it was still easy to follow and wasn’t confusing. I would have liked the magic system and lore to have been more in depth. I found those things very interesting and unique. The pace was a little slow to start but, well paced for the rest of the story. I loved the relationship and banter between Rowan and Conner. And the spice… so good! 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I’d recommend this standalone as a good, quick read. If you like dark and spicy fairytale retellings with feminine rage, a unique magic system, angsty romance and a happy ending this is a book for you.

I DNFed this book at about 20% because some of the content had made me a little uncomfortable. Paused to read reviews to see what others had said about the book overall and decided to not continue given that it felt like SA would continue to show up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the cover of this book looked really cool. I’m glad I was able to listen to the audiobook otherwise I don’t think I would have finished.

The book was very odd and disturbing. I definitely think there should have been trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. I won’t be listening to this again.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Sheila and Dreamscape media for the ALC!

Publication Date: March 18 2025
Rating: 🐺

#SongoftheDarkWood
#NetGalley

I can't believe I didn't realise this was a Little Red Riding Hood retelling - it's actually a little embarrassing how long it took me to figure that out, especially considering the girl in a red cloak on the actual cover. So this a fairytale retelling with a darker twist, featuring a strong FMC and a slowburn romance.

I really liked how this was dual POV and I thought that both narrators did a great job in bringing the characters to life. If you have the option to listen to the audiobook, then I'd highly recommend it! (But it's also on kindle unlimited too!)

I saw a review on goodreads that said something about the main character being weak and giving her power to a guy, which honestly, are we even talking about the same book? Rowan, the FMC, is such a strong character - we literally follow her progression from being someone being trodden all over to someone who takes no shit and has so much power. If you also have an issue with men thinking they have power over women and their lives, then you'll feel the same rage that Rowan does and it will make your blood boil. But seeing how they're dealt with makes it all worth it, trust me.

The ending was perfect, particularly the epilogue - it felt right and earned after the events of the book.

I really enjoyed this, and I definitely want to check out more works by the author because I just loved the writing, the worldbuilding and the characters in this.

I fell in love with Rowan and Conor when I read Song of the Dark Wood and absolutely loved hearing their story again with this audiobook!

This book is narrated by Aoife McMahon Dermot Magennia. The casting for Rowan and Conor is perfect! Their voices are exactly how I heard these characters in my head. A well casted audiobook and completely change the feel of the book and these two captured the story perfectly!

Sheila has such a way with words and her writing flows so well. When you add that with the pairing of narrators, you are transported into the story and completely entranced.

The story itself is a little red riding hood retelling but let me tell you, you will definitely want to be caught by this big bad wolf. Conor comes off as dark and brooding and I was all there for his angsty energy. Couple that with Rowan’s rage and they are a formidable pair. Their tension and chemistry is palpable through the book and when it snaps it is absolutely amazing.

This story deals with loss, love and tragedy. There are some difficult topics that Sheila tackles but she does it so well and creates a story layered with intricate characters and a compelling Sorry arc.

DNF at 50%

As this is my first NetGalley review, I’m disappointed I had to stop halfway through.

Song of the Dark Wood is a standalone fantasy story that combines Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Hades & Persophone themes. Rowan’s town uses maidens to guide spirits to the afterlife and to appease the god of death, the Wolf. They blame an evil blight affecting their crops on him, so they want to keep him happy through the maidens. They also deal with demons, crones, reapers, and other monsters.

I think it’s an interesting concept, in theory, but it felt as though the story bit off more than it could chew. There were so many elements that it made the story feel off-kilter. I wish more about their way of life had been explained because a lot of the rules the maidens had to follow felt contradictory to what we previously learned. Also, the magical elements didn’t mesh well with me, and it threw the pacing off. I felt lost for a good bit of it.

The narrators were the main thing that made me want to keep going. Aoife McMahon and Dermot Magennis bring the characters to life and do a marvelous job of adding to the world-building. I especially enjoyed how much Dermot captured Conor, Charlie, and Rowan’s personalities with minor shifts in this voice. In my opinion, Aoife’s voice for Rowan made her sound much younger than I’m sure was intended, and I had to remind myself that Rowan was 20, not 15. Her voice for Conor sounded more comical than monstrous or mysterious, so it was a challenge to take those dialogues seriously. However, Aoife’s voice set the dark, looming tone well.

One of my favorite characters was Cade, but since I DNFd at 50%, I couldn’t tell you why Rowan’s best friend is a demon. I also liked Charlie. Cade and Charlie provided some lightheartedness that the story needed in those moments.

My main reason for DNF-ing is the content, and I would’ve finished the audiobook for the narrators if the writing was more my style. I take the fall for this, though, because it was all in the book’s summary, and it didn’t register to me what it really meant. Personally, forcing virgins to sexually appease a mysterious god who threatens to murder or r*pe them if they fail just isn’t the kind of story for me.

Although I only listened to 50%, the romance didn’t work for me either. It felt more along the lines of abuse, in my opinion, since she had to seduce him to survive and save her world. It tainted their “romance” scenes and felt more like religious grooming since she’s been training for this since she was 5. I wanted to like Rowan more, but by the time she considered having gumption, those elements were too much for me.

I think the audiobook would’ve benefitted from some content or trigger warnings regarding religious/sexual abuse. If I had those, I wouldn’t have chosen to read this book.

When I read the summary and hear something labeled as “dark,” I assume it’s more about gothic/spooky vibes and monsters. Unfortunately, in this case, the “dark” elements were more about virginity and r*pe threats, and that’s not the kind of book I would seek out.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced listeners copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I have always wanted to read books by Shelia Masterson so i think this will be my gateway!! i had such a fun time with this listen

Thank you so much for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for a review. I love Sheila's books and really enjoyed this adaptation. The accents and performance by the narrators really elevated the material to a new level.

“You know, I would make the whole world dark for you so that you can be the only bright light.”

I loooved the concept of this book! it's giving red riding hood mixed with a handmaid's tale, hades x Persephone, and something else that isn't coming to mind right now. I devoured this book. some parts were a bit frustrating, but it was character building, but overall, I really enjoyed this book, especially the audio. the narrators were phenomenal.

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aoife McMahon and Dermot Magennis were absolute perfection. Their performances elevated this haunting story to new heights.

I finished this book a few hours ago and when I think back on this the first thing that comes to mind is feminine rage. Well-justified feminine rage. Not the whole book but it definitely built up to the crescendo that occurred at the end here. When you read a book where the heroine is constantly put in harm's way and no one helps her and ignores her pleas for help, it turns me away at first. Yes, it helps build her character and she learns to save herself, but man getting to that point is a struggle in my brain.
In this Red Riding Hood "fractured retelling" we follow Rowan who is a red maiden who was chosen to be a sacrifice to the Wolf, the god of death, to keep him happy and this is at the will of the Mother. There is a line of successors to the Reds but most of them die during their 5-year service. The girls wear white until the wolf takes their virtue. The maiden's get their red dress and hood when their virtue is taken, until then she wears white. So, then we have the Wolf, the god of death, he lives in the Dark Wood and he usher's souls to their death with his group of reapers, to the afterlife. The Maiden's job is also to help guide souls to the Wolf. The Wolf refuses to take Rowan to bed because she is different, and he tends to kill the maiden's and he doesn't want to do that. Our story follows the mysterious magical blight killing the land, Rowan who has secret powers who's trying to change the world, and the Wolf who just wants to make it to the next day.
The story itself is kind of a slow-burn...very kind of but it has a lot of really great themes as well, including acceptance, friendship, honesty, speaking up when you see bad things happening, and of course taking back the power that someone tries to steal from you. That power can be a voice, autonomy, or even literal power. This story has a bit of everything, romance, spice, sadness, battles, and unlikely heroes. I was captivated by the mythology created, enraged by the audacity of the elders and townspeople, and I cheered when we got to the feminine rage part. Anyway, if you love a good dark fairy tale retelling this is a good one.

I think this is an okay concept but the execution was too thin. The characters needed a lot more development. There was no real connection between the FMC and MMC. It was close, real close. I felt like the resolution was also too rushed. I think this could have benefited from being a duology.

I'm giving it three stars because I don't feel like my time was wasted but i don't think the execution was quite there. I'm sure lots of people will enjoy it though, would recommend for a weekend read.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio copy. I attest that I am leaving my review honestly and voluntarily.