It has a wolf on the cover so I read it. Enough said. Spoilers ahead.
Ysolda is a young girl living in a long-ago, somewhat fantastical version of Great Britain. One day, her sister Hari gets kidnapped by the Wolf Queen, who seeks to use Hari's powers. Ysolda manages to find Hari and the Wolf Queen (who turns out to be named Seren). She strikes a deal with Seren and soon they're off on a quest for magic.
This wasn't a bad book by any means. It has a solid story, overall pretty well-written characters and I really liked the setting and world-building we had going on.
But man, I'd be lying if I said I could truly get into it. And I can pinpoint why that is: I simply did not think Ysolda was a very interesting protagonist to follow. She's not a badly written protagonist by any means, nor is she a bad role model for younger readers. But she just feels kind of...bland, as far as middle grade fantasy protagonists go. She does grow a little and it's all written okay, but I was just constantly hoping for her to become an interesting character, which sadly never really happened, at least not for me. She feels fairly simple and straightforward. And I'm not saying that a character written like this can't be executed well, but Ysolda really didn't do it for me. I sometimes found myself getting a bit bored of the book because I was bored of Ysolda.
There are definitely some good elements in this book, though, don't get me wrong! For one, I thought the journey our characters (Ysolda, Seren and a few others) go on was pretty interesting and it was enough to keep me engaged to the end, even if I found Ysolda herself to be pretty bland and forgettable.
The other characters could also be pretty interesting. The titular Wolf Queen is a prime example of this. I also liked Hari and Aira and heck, even Nara even if she is just mostly there to be the pet to Ysolda.
Another thing I think this book succeeds at is the character relationships. Sure, even if I don't vibe much with Ysolda herself, I did think the relationships between her and the characters around me were rather well-written. A highlight was the one between Ysolda and Seren, but there was also her connection to other characters like Nara, Hari and Aira that were rather engaging. So props to the author for that.
So overall this is a pretty solid book, with strong relationships, good world-building, an engaging journey and some solid side-characters. Just be prepared when going in that the protagonist is not super engaging.
Rating: 3.5/5
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