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For the Wolf  By  cover art

For the Wolf

By: Hannah Whitten
Narrated by: Inés del Castillo
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Publisher's summary

The first daughter is for the Throne.

The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose - to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood - and her world - whole.

©2021 Hannah Whitten (P)2021 Orbit

Featured Article: The Best Fairy Tale Retelling Audiobooks


Fairy tales, mythology, and folklore have provided an endless fount of inspiration and imagination for writers for centuries. So, it’s no surprise that as sensibilities shift and these tales are revisited with a modern lens, creators feel the pull to reinvent, reimagine, and refocus. Here, we’ve gathered the best fairy and folk tale retellings of all time, from both new and best-selling writers alike. What magic will you discover within?

What listeners say about For the Wolf

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Performance makes the book!

For The Wolf is a completely different reframing of a mix of tales- red riding hood, beauty and the beast, snow white, etc.

The story includes fantasy, horror, romance, and a splash of comic relief. I may be getting too old, but I wasn’t sold on the falling for her warden component.

The performance is excellent, despite the reviews blasting Castillo for an accent that is very common in the South West of the US. I think the reviewer who was overly dramatic about Castillo’s lack of hard t’s in words like “written” needs to check their implicit bias. A good portion of the US has this dialect and it is no worse or better than regions where r’s become ah’s.

Castillo doesn’t just give each character a voice, she also reads with the pace and emotion of the story. She cleverly keeps track of the view points even when there is no dialogue. I don’t think I would be as skilled reading on my own in print form, so her voice acting and performance are much appreciated.

I will look for more stories narrated by this voice actor.

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t listen

It may sound nitpicky, but I was so distracted by the narrator’s unwillingness to say the letter ‘t’ in words like written or smitten (she says “wri’ en” or ”smi’ en”) I gave up about 5 minutes in. It sounded oddly contrived and just really took me out of the story. I will return it and read the print version.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Only good thing about this book is the coverart

I am not even sure where to begin because I just want this experience to end.

-Honestly, if you re-write this to a short story children's book, it would've been LOADS better. I would've love to see this in an artful big book, maybe that would give any amount of effort to save this trash that I just willingly and wincingly consumed.

Red is...good. She makes the team. If you ever need a CIA spy or detective, recruit Redaris. She can spot every small detail like a legit robot or serial killer and talk about it FOR HOURS. She has good intention of being who she was meant to be and then there's this:

"...His amber eyes. His torso. His long Stallion pony mane, his amber eyes burned, his green vine eyes, his wide amber eyes, his eyes low, his eyes high, his eyes medium, his eyes venti, his eyes grande, his eyes tall, his low wanna be wolf growl, his eyes, his Amber eyes, his one eye, his AMBER one eye, AmbeR eye one, one amBer eye..."

By the saints, we know about the fucking eyes. WE KNOW!
What we don't know is half of the lore that makes the backbones, the foundation for this story and it's reasoning and logic. Maybe that was the point of this book? That is makes no sense?
Everyone keeps talking of:

"...It's a spin on Beauty and the Beast, it's a spin on Red Riding Hood..."

It's a spin alright, and it made me sick. Not reminiscent of classic GOOD fairytales.

These characters in the story are confused as the readers of the story. The five kings are coming back.
Why?
The daughters have to be separated.
Why?
The "Wolf" has to do all the work, all the "brooding", (more like pouting)
What's up with the magic?
There seems to be some pretty powerful magic in here and no one has gotten control of it in...how long?
Why?
The five kings seem to know what was up, maybe that's why they are coming to back to let everyone in their little cult know that they have all been living a lie and sacrificing innocent girls to murder trees and weird whispery voices who think they fulfill the definition of menacing but don't?
This must be why Geralt from The Witcher was so worried about Threshy, because that seems to be the main villain in this book. But not in a villain way. More

"...don't go outside, you'll die, we're not sure why, maybe the trees are mad and we have all this magic but no one knows what to do with it. The five kings know, but they're gone and we love them".

..like....what? What else is hard to believe is I own a copy of this book...go me.

This book was definitely hard for me to finish. I wanted to DNF a lot, but I kept hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. Just turn around. There's no light and the tunnel is boring.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

lacking substance and depth

Struggled to finish, kept hoping for more than just needing to bleed for sacrifice, there was no build up between the characters, or substance to the story.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I personally was not impressed

I’ve never had such a problem imagining and picturing what was happening in the book. I didn’t not like the voice of the narrator and the way things were described just didn’t do it for me either. The book was such a slow start and it seemed like alot of actions didn’t come with common sense. I don’t think I will continue the series.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic story, performed beautifully

Truly enjoyed every minute of this book! Red and Amon are both incredibly compelling and I found myself surprised by plot twists multiple times (a rarity for me.) Castillo’s narration is also excellent! Can’t wait for the sequel and definitely looking up more books narrated by Castillo.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

beautiful

this book was so beautifully written. loved the works and the characters. I can't wait for the next book!!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Quite a lot going on, but overall good

A twist between a Red Riding Hood and Beauty and thr Beast, though more the latter than the former.

The story drags a bit as it reveals why a second daughter of the royal family must be sent into the Wilderwood for the wolf. Though the wolf is really a man, he has been bound to the Wood for as long as the wood has been cursed. The wolf is responsible for keeping the shadows out of the woods, but there are dark forces that make the Wood weaken, allowing for the shadows to gain power.

The story is told from the viewpoints of both Red and her sister Neve, which helps to understand better what is causing the Wood to weaken and how each sister is tied to it and each other. The villains were quite flat, though one had a redeeming quality that looks to be a large part of the next book coming out.

Overall I did enjoy it. It was slow at first, but the second half made up for it. I will listen to the next book when it becomes available.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Imaginative World

Imaginative tale with beautiful world building. However I would have liked to know more of the wolf's motivations/history. And at times the story lagged. Part of this may be due to me not having read a lot of fantasy. But sometimes I felt overwhelmed with trying to keep up with all the characters. Still I wanted to know how the story ended.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A dark tale, heroines lead the way,gods,evil and so much love

I enjoyed this book, a rare story writer!maybe there were lines with to many words and feelings that didn’t require the depth of explanation,but it’s still a rich & different story of love, the different types of ties that bind us How far would you go to save someone?when does that saving obsession become selfish not selfless? I would have liked a little more background for supporting characters,you only get a little & only when it’s unavoidable to the situation involving the main characters I think I’ll take a breather before reading the sequel there is a lot of heavy dark emotions in this book I need a rest from but I will read it soon!Also I think one day I’ll actually read the books instead of listening there’s a lot of imagery I think will translate better. Any sex is tastefully written, age appropriate but there are many areas of emotional manipulation not related to sexual relationshipsI think this writer will improve exponentially and she’s already damn good, Loved the narration- almost didn’t buy because of a review on the Wolfs voice,so glad I did & think he was interpreted very well actually one of the best “voice”of a male done by a female I’ve heard out of many.

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2 people found this helpful