Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf is a dazzling summer fantasy must-read

Every so often, a book you’ve really been looking forward to not only turns to not only be an enjoyable read but something so deeply excellent that it turns you into a strange sort of literary carnival barker, trying to shove a particular title into the hands of everyone you know and blindly tweeting recommendations at strangers. Such is my experience with Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf, a dark, thrilling reimagining of “Little Red Riding Hood” that deserves to be at the absolute top of your must-read lists this summer.

Whitten’s debut fantasy novel is enchanting from beginning to end, mixing folktale, horror, and fairytale elements to create something that feels entirely brand new. It features complicated female characters, a charming if prickly romance, and rich, thoughtful worldbuilding. And once you start reading, it’s almost impossible to put down. (Confession time: I finished this book in just a little over a day.)

The story is set in the kingdom of Valleyda, which sits at the edge of the Wilderwood, a magic forest that holds back the monsters of the Shadowlands. But that protection comes with a price – a human life. Every Second Daughter of the Valleydan royal family is sacrificed to the Wolf of the Wood, sent into the forest as payment for the kingdom’s continued safety. And Redarys is a Second Daughter approaching her twentieth birthday, the designated date at which she’ll be offered up to the Wolf.

But Red has known the truth of her future for all her life – and even thinks it might be for the best, given the strange earth-based magic she seems to have acquired from a single night in which she and her sister Nevedrah tried to fight back against destiny, and saw several men die in the process. The guilt she carries from this incident has made her both afraid and resentful of her abilities, and on some level, it feels as though she might believe it’s the reason she deserves her fate.

For the Wolf is a wholly original mix of folklore, fairytales, and horror.

When Redarys arrives in the Wilderwood, she finds that it’s full of bloodthirsty trees (literally, there’s a whole lot of palm slicing and purposeful bleeding in this book), creeping shadows,  and the Wolf – who is actually a near-immortal man called Eammon. The two form a tentative – and ultimately tender – connection as Red learns the history of the forest, explores her connection to it, and helps Eammon try to stop the decay and rot that threaten the homeland she left behind.

While Red and Eammon’s evolving relationship forms the beating heart of the story – sometimes literally, at various points – there are plenty of interludes that fill us in on what’s going on back in the Valleydan royal court, where Red’s sister is struggling to let go of the sister she lost to a religious tradition she doesn’t fully believe in. As Neve fights to find a way to bring Red home, she takes aim at the Wilderwood, without knowing that in doing so she might harm the sister she’s so desperate to save in the process.

Complex themes of sacrifice, loyalty, love, and duty twine together to form something simultaneously beautiful, strange, and vaguely terrifying at times. Whitten’s prose is lush and immersive, her storytelling skills propulsive enough to make the occasionally familiar beats of the story feel fresh and original.

Truly, this novel one of the best things I’ve read in 2021 thus far, and given what happens at the end, For the Wolf’s sequel – titled For the Throne – may well exceed it. I know I can’t wait to find out.

For the Wolf is available now. Let us know if you plan to check it out!