Don’t Call the Wolf is – I freely admit – a book I chose 100% for the cover. I walked in entirely blind … and was pleasantly surprised by how things worked out.
Dragons, zombies, and cursed forests? Oh my!
What’s it about?
Once upon a time, there was a magical wonderful amazing fairy tale kingdom in the middle of the woods.
… then the monsters came.
Twenty years later, the kingdom has collapsed; human and animal life is on the brink; and the forest’s curse is threatening to spread across the lands.
Lukasz is a Wolf Lord: a wild man from the mountains, who – as a child – fled from the dragon along with his nine elder brothers. Though far from home, Lukasz is happy: he and his brothers have attained fame and fortune as dragon slayers, and he has no desire to return to his hardly-remembered home.
… until his brothers start vanishing. One by one.
After his ninth brother disappears, Lukasz decides to return home in a vain attempt to locate him. Shortly upon entering the woods, he becomes entangled with Ren: the self-proclaimed Queen of the Forest, who can transform into a lynx.
Who is desperate to save her forest from the dragon and it’s evil.
First lines:
A white castle once stood in the forest, with spires that soared to the lower floors of heaven and dungeons that stretch ever downward, or so the legend went, to brush the very chimney stacks of hell. To the villagers who prospered in its shadow, the castle encompassed the entire expanse of earthly life.
Highs and Lows:
✔️ The secondary characters. Lukasz and Ren were … well, fine as main characters. They were likeable and experienced some good growth, and the dynamic between them worked well enough. But the stars of the show? The secondary characters. They were flawed, interesting, and oh-so-human.
✔️ The writing. Sigh. Pretty words. Ross can write.
✔️ Kozmar’s ending. Kozmar – the grumpy, tag-along soldier – was one of my favourite characters. His ending … was not at all what I expected, and broke my heart a little.
❌ The ending / twist / pacing. It wasn’t what I was hoping for. The twist didn’t work out as I had hoped, and felt a too tidy (and too deus ex machina) for the otherwise-atmospheric story. It also happened really fast … after a savoury build, it was over just like that.
❌ The flashbacks. This was also my issue with recent-read Talon. There are lots of flashbacks interspersed across the book: one for each of Lukasz’s brothers. But, we already know about these characters through Lukasz; and they were often placed where they interrupted the pace. I skipped most of them.
Thoughts:
Would I buy a copy for my shelf? Probably not. But am I glad I read it? For sure. Don’t Call the Wolf was a lot of fun … if you define “fun” as dark, solemn, and atmospheric. If you want something a bit whimsical and different than your typical Western European fairy tale, this one is for you!
The details:
- The series: Don’t Call the Wolf
- Author: Aleksandra Ross
- My copy: Public library
- Read dates: April 2021
- Rating/5: 🐺🐺🐺🐺
The Geeky Jock 
Pretty covers!! And it sounds fun, I like dark fairytale-esque books!
This one is definitely on the darker side – though, not blood-drinking fairy dark 😉 I liked the addition of Slavic elements!