Red Wolf

May 24, 2021
In this refreshing “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling, the woods surrounding the isolated village of Oakvale teem with monsters and voices of the long dead, including 16-year-old Adele Duval’s father. With only watchmen and a ring of torches to protect them, the villagers sneer at Adele and her baker mother, “redheaded witches” who can enter the woods to visit Adele’s grandmother each full moon. Adele hopes to marry her sweetheart, Grainger, but her first solo trip to her grandmother’s house ends with the teen killing a whitewulf—a werewolf that eats human flesh—and learning of her matrilineal legacy: to protect a village as a redwulf. Adele’s guardian training becomes complicated when she discovers her arranged marriage to carpenter Maxime Bertrand, son of a redwulf. And as Adele considers both Grainger and Max, she questions her decision to shelter a boy she found abandoned in the woods. Blending fairy tale elements with the atmospheric horror of M. Night Shyamalan films, Vincent’s (Strange New World) swift pacing builds palpable tension in the first two-thirds of the novel. Though the tempo slows when Adele’s identity is tested by threats to the village, the character’s strong voice and presence resonate throughout. Ages 14–up. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House.

June 1, 2021

Gr 10 Up-Adele and her mother live in a village surrounded by a monster-filled wood; her werewolf-bitten father was burned alive before he could become a monster himself. Engaged to watchman Grainger, Adele cannot understand why her mother objects until learning that she, like all her female relatives, can shape-shift into a red wolf. Although "redwulf" are guardians who protect people from monsters, watchmen believe anyone sorcerous, and their families, must be burned alive to protect the village. Adele also learns she was betrothed at birth to another guardian's son, Max, and that his village's future depends on her bearing him daughters. However, Adele won't forsake Grainger and refuses to accept that, for the sake of her village, she must kill anyone-however innocent-who learns their secret. How can she accept that she must become a monster herself? This fast-paced dark fantasy features strong worldbuilding, distinctive characters, and evocative sensory details, but may be too disturbing for some readers. Adele is forced to make excruciating ethical choices, as she must decide-about people she's known forever-who to kill, who to betray, who to save, and who to marry. The results are often shocking, and bloody. Characters' ethnicities are not mentioned, though Adele has red hair and freckles. VERDICT Hand this Little Red Riding Hood-inspired tale to dark-fantasy fans who relish disturbing ethical decisions, and are unfazed by blood and gore.-Rebecca Moore, The Overlake Sch., Redmond, WA

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2021
A red-cloaked girl encounters (were)wolves. Born and raised in Oakvale, a small town surrounded by a beast-riddled and ever encroaching dark wood, 16-year-old Adele Duval enjoys her provincial life. She hopes to wed and raise children with Grainger Colbert, spend time with her sister and mother, and overcome rumors of the Duval family curse. However, on a trip to see her Gran in the wood, Adele unexpectedly transforms into a redwulf and learns she is now a lycanthropic guardian like her mother and grandmother. To her dismay, Adele also learns that she's long been betrothed to Maxime Bernard, a handsome carpenter from Ashborne who is privy to her secret superpowers. Tasked with protecting villagers and travelers against the other monsters of the dark wood, Adele relishes her new powers but struggles with her new responsibilities and romantic prospects. The beasts in the woods--often heard rather than seen, per the best horror conventions--may eat people, but faced with hard decisions and hard-line villagers, Adele discovers that humans can be equally dangerous, particularly to independent and unconventional women. Pivoting from her contemporary thrillers, Vincent offers a richly detailed, old-fashioned fantasy with a dash of horror set in a pre-industrial Francophone European countryside populated by White characters. Vincent's contemplation and dissection of monstrosity elevates this retelling above a crowded field but dilutes its insights with regrettably generic tropes. A dark and intriguing fairy-tale adaptation. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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