#wolf's red

[bookishly-andy]

“Wolf’s Red” by Samantha L. Eno

*made by me, but not my pictures*

[bookishly-andy]

“Your naïveté will be your downfall...” —Wolf's Red

[bookishly-andy]

Because of the title and cover, I had the slight impression that this was going to be a “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling of some sort, but actually, there’s barely any resemblance there other than a couple of easter eggs like the MCs cape or the great grandma living in a cabin in the forest. The book is a completely new concept of what the inspiration source could have been.

The story follows a big set of characters (we read through 7.5 different characters’ perspectives), which makes it hard to pinpoint who the real main character is supposed to be. Going by the cover, we could assume that Rosella is supposed to be the most central of them. And so we follow along as she tries to shed her ignorance cultivated by the many years lived away from the “real world”, motivated by her mother’s overprotective nature and fear of the unknown. It’s exactly this ignorance that makes Rosella the target of bullying, which results in some unnecessary cruelty from her classmates. There’s trauma galore in this book; there’s barely any light in any of these characters.

Later we discover some dark creatures looming in from the deepest parts of the forest, entangling the story between the cruelty of the real world, and the dark mysteries that the forest holds, with evil little creatures ready to take over. With the help of her wolf friend, and the wisdom of her great-grandmother, Rosella will venture into the unknown to take back the hope that they stole from her.

The book is written in a particular style that makes its characters behave in a way fitting of an anime show, with over-dramatic dialogue that, paired with the dark topics at hand, makes the characters seem unearthly cartoonish.

There were moments where I felt it could have been trimmed a little bit, since we get extra information that doesn’t seem valuable enough to point out (like a long explanation of how the fabric of a hoodie is fresh but also warm, and its soft and cute and the brand), but that’s more of a personal preference of mine.

Some of the ***trigger warnings*** are looser than others, but they’re definitely worth looking into before reading. There are many different traumas that are lightly discussed here and there, not necessarily adding to the plot in any way, but some of them may be upsetting to other readers.

[rtisticwriter]

Snippets from the prologue of "Wolf's Red", my upcoming New Adult novel in my dark fantasy/horror NA/Adult series, "Hollow's Vessels".

"Wolf's Red" will be 15-16+.

In this snippet, Chloe Bloom and her daughter Rosella are attending the private funeral of loving husband and father Benjamin Bloom.

One bloom out of three having wilted, two now remain. Drained of life from the inside out, he kept fighting the curse for his family, until he couldn't anymore.