The Wolf and the Water by Josie Jaffrey
First off a huge thank you to the lovely author for sending me an incribed (my frist ever!) physical arc of this gorgeous book. Which i was delighted to hear was self published as it made me want to support the author by promoting the shit out of this book even more! Admittantly i didnt know much about this story before i agreed to apart of The Write Reads blog tour and was completely sucked in my that amazing cover. I assumed this would be a light hearted YA fantasy read, oh boy was i wrong!
The Wolf and the Water is an ancient greek inspired high fantasy adult novel that follows the story of Kala. Kala is the daughter of Glauks which is one of the ten important houses in this society. When Kalas father dies under suspicious circumstances, Kalas mother Charis is ordered to remarry straight away as is customary in this world that Jaffrey has so wonderfully crafted. When Charis chooses to marry the suitor from Lykos who is a very cruel man Kala immediatley fears for her life. The suitor from Lykos is called Nikos and he has two children, Leon and Eulalia. At the beginning of the story someone tries to poison Kala in the same way her father was murdered which instantly makes her question everyone around her and their motives.
Kala lives with a disability from a childhood illness and walks with a cane as a result, she has spent the majority of her life being looked down on as vulnerable and weak, she ultimately fears that her new step father will murder her as to not be shamed by her.
This book has what most adult fantasy lacks, both disability and LGBT rep. I cant really speak for the disability rep but i did like how Kala didnt hide from it and it didnt hold her back from how badass she was in protecting herself and the people she cared about. I really loved the sapphic romance in this book and how both Melissa and Kala were bonded from such a young age, it gave me Priory of the Orange Tree vibes. I wasnt the biggest fan of the relationship with Leon as it all felt a bit sudden, there was no slow burn or build up. They met, spend a fracture of time together and then he is declaring his love her her which also didnt really make sense that he was calling her sister when they first met. It just wasnt overly believeable to me.
I thought the world building was a little under developed and hope to see more of this in the next book, the world sounds so rich and i really wanted to immerse myself in it. I would also like to see more about the politics of each house and their motivations or desire for power. I would have loved to see more of that and less on the romance side of things.
Overall this is a really great read, it reads very quick even though the chapters are a little on the long side. Its very reminiscent of early Brandon Sanderson which is what made me fall for it and keep reading. I enjoyed the cliffhanger that this book ended on and it made me very excited to carry on the story. Hoping the next book has an equally gorgeous cover!
There is a full page of trigger warnings included in the back of the arc so please do check that out before you read it as there are a few triggering themes in this book.
Please look into this book and support the author:
Release date: 8th October 2020
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