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.

—Little Red Riding Hood but make it dark-ish

—virgin sacrifice

—wolf but is it wolf but he's kinda wolf but he's kinda not but

Heat Index: 7/10

The Basics:

Rowan is set to begin her time as the Red Maiden, a term in which ferries souls to the God of Death, The Wolf; and while she could theoretically make it through her term alive, many maidens, including her direct predecessor, have not. Her only hope may lie in "pleasing" him, a task she's been prepared to execute her entire life. But just as she discovers there may be more to The Wolf than meets the eye, Rowan is offered the chance to free herself—and potentially future maidens—from this fate. Is she willing to make one final sacrifice?

The Review:

This got off to a great start. There's no doubt that Masterson knows how to write, and she describes a vivid fantasy world, full of weird rituals (veils!), creepy grooming, culty fundamentalism, and that classic "we worship a goddess yet we somehow manage to be massive misogynists" practice upheld by so many men.

One thing this did from the start, and managed to carry through, was add an air of creepiness while remaining a romance. A lot of "darker fantasy" romances out right now try this and don't really hit it. Masterson is committed to atmosphere, and aside from the occasional turn of phrase that I felt betrayed it—"I'm crazy about you", for example—overall I felt it worked.

And I did like the chemistry between Rowan and The Wolf, even if I wasn't a huge fan of the fact that he had like, a normal guy name. I don't want him to be Just A Guy, but I guess it's easier than calling him The Wolf the whole time. I'm still going to call him that throughout this review for the sake of consistency.

Anyway, there's the classic wolfy "SHE SMELLS SO GOOD" dilemma, and by God, it was so refreshing and such a good choice to have The Wolf's perspective as well as Rowan's. I loved his obsessive desire to have her, the death entangled in this orld.

But... This back and forth started, and it never really stopped. To me, Rowan and The Wolf needed a degree of trust or none at all. It felt like it was established somewhat quickly, then it was betrayed, then they got it back, then it was betrayed. It felt as if Masterson was afraid of committing one way or the other. And the thing is that Rowan in particular felt so easily manipulated! I get it, she's very sheltered, but her inability to read a room caused so many problems.

To be clear, I'm not against problems. These problems were just... contrived. They kept me from believing that Rowan was ever truly emotionally with The Wolf, and if she wasn't there, then how could she possibly fall for him?

Nonetheless, because the writing quality was good and I enjoyed the story, I was willing to brush some things aside... But at about the 75% mark, we got a move and an argument that did not feel at all like something of the world Masterson had been writing. It felt... like something an immortal death god would not say. It felt, really, like I was suddenly reading about a pretty young contemporary couple. I got snapped out of the story.

While the book wrapped up well, I couldn't really shake that blowup. It took me out of what felt like, until then, something of a fairy tale.

The Sex:

I really loved the concept of a Little Red Riding Hood being prepared to PLEASE the wolf, as opposed to simply being a sacrifice that would lie there on an altar waiting. It added to the eeriness and Rowan's conflict over her agency. That being said, Connor did a lot of like... educating her about consent and sexuality at one point, to the degree that I again felt sort of pulled from the story. I was like "Okay dude, you are supposed to be a threatening death god, you're being feminist boyfriend right now". I get the sentiment, but it was a little much.

That said, the sex scenes themselves were really good. And I did love that at one point, Rowan was like "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST BE A DEATH WOLF GOD GUY AND RAVISH ME". Same, girl.

Conclusion:

I think I'm a bit more bugged than I would've been if this was just straight-up mediocre. Because there's a lot I like here! It just kind of fell apart. There was some piecing back together, and I do think that it's pretty good for what it is. I just thought what it is was... more?

All that being said, very good audio narration on both sides!

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love love loved this. Completely obsessed. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time and because of that, I'm glad it didn't end on a cliffhanger (considering it says it's a series--though I am curious what book 2 will be about). I was worried I'd be stressed about it until the second book is announced, so fortunately that's not an issue.

The only thing I didn't love was Aiofe's death (I listened to the entire book so I believe that's how her name is spelled, but I'm not 100% certain). I know Rowan needed to go on her rampage, but I hate that this was the catalyst for that.

I'm sure this book has flaws, as every book does, but I don't care. I loved it.

Song of the Dark Wood is a clever twist on the classic Little Red Riding Hood. I repeatedly had a-ha moments of how things tied to the original story. It points out the dangers of strict patriarchal societies and how power can be twisted and used for personal gain and lack of accountability. Consent was discussed in such an interesting way. I loved Connor and Rowan and can't wait to see what happens with other characters in this world. I am obsessed!

The audiobook is dual narrator. Both narrators have wonderful accents that fit the story so well. Even though the accents are not what it ear is used to, I was still able to speed it up to 2x+ without issue (a definite win). This audio version is perfect!

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ALC of this audiobook for an honest review.

Rowan Cleary has been preparing since the age of five to die. She was chosen to be a red maiden which is a girl chosen to take souls through the Dark Wood to the God of the Dead who is also known as the Wolf. To start. I enjoyed the audiobook. The narration was very well done.
The story was a very dark twist on red riding hood where the red maiden are trained to ferry souls and also service the wolf in the bedroom. There are elements of this that I really enjoyed especially the magic. Rowan being able to sing to the forest was very interesting and her walks through the forest felt very high stakes. The areas I struggled with was the highly sexual nature of the red maiden in general and them being trained up starting at five. This was very difficult for me to process especially because the wolf knows how they are trained and doesn't put a stop to any of it. I feel like he allowed the priests to get away with a lot until he started to have feelings for Rowan and then started to put his foot down. This story was definitely a wild ride and i am looking forward to the next in the series but had some issues as well.

As far as this being a unique retelling of Red Riding Hood, it had a good premise. The execution consisted of weak female characters, insta-lust, and centered around virginity and sex rather than an actual storyline. Just not what I wanted from this story, especially with such a great cover.

Female rage where? Weak feeble fmc who hands over her power to a f*ck boy. Sick of that sh*t already.

Underdeveloped characters. One dimensional. Heard this is like For the Wolf which I avoided so if you enjoyed that one maybe this will be your jam.

Too bad bc this cover is stunning and I was hoping to love it. Full review in just a bit (#100 for NetGalley 🍾)

❤️Dual POV
❤️Forced Proximity
🐺Little Red Riding Hood Re-Telling
❤️Dark, Gothic Romantasy
❤️Slow Burn
❤️Feminine Rage
❤️Sentient Forest
❤️Strong FMC

Expected Pub Date - 03/18/25


Many thanks to Dreamscape Media for the last minute advanced audio copy, all thoughts are my own. 💐