In The Shadow Of The Wolf Queen Review

 Hey ForeverBookers,

I’ve just finished “In The Shadow Of The Wolf Queen,” which I surprisingly really enjoyed. It’s a middle grade quest adventure filled with whimsy and adventure. I got through it in 2 days, so I was certainly captivated. The chapters are really short, which I’m sure helped too!

We follow Ysolda, a young girl who loses her sister to the Wolf Queen after her home is destroyed by the Wolf Queen’s magic. The story is basically at first, a quest to retrieve her sister and destroy the Wolf Queen. Does this happen? You’ll need to read to find out for yourself! 

I read “In The Shadow Of The Wolf Queen” for a few readathons! They were:

Reading Rivalry - Book that is the colour of a character - the theme for October 2024 is Cluedo so the cover has to be primarily one of the Cluedo characters. “In The Shadow Of The Wolf Queen” is green so Reverend Green!

Always Fully Booked Reading Challenge - Read a book with a 6 word title - now, I’m slightly cheating here, but I class at least a 6 letter title to count as well. 

Always Fully Booked Reading Rainbow Challenge - Pattern - I class the sparkly raindrop shapes to be a pattern.  

Spoilers below…

“Up, she thought in her terror, up, and her exhausted, bruised body obeyed, propelling her over ground, along the switchbacks and over the final bluff. She straightened, Nara landing heavily on her forearm, and opened her mouth to call for Hari. But her voice died in her throat. The Rhyg had swallowed their stone home.”

 

This is the first big event of the story. It happens at the end of chapter 4, so not very far into the story at all. As this is a middle grade story, the events need to be swift to keep a reader of that age’s attention, I feel. This is the catalyst for the rest of the story.

Hari, Ysolda’s sister has been taken by the Wolf Queen because she’s special. She’s essentially been kidnapped. It’s Ysolda’s task to get her back! That is until she meets the Wolf Queen, or Seren as she’s known. After she meets the Wolf Queen, she’s not scared of her. 

“Seren did not have wolf’s teeth, or eat raw meat like in the stories. Nor, according to the torch burning in her hand, could she see in the dark. But still, it was strange to know the wolf queen was a woman with a knack for training wolves, not some supernatural beast. She was like Ysolda and her hawk.”

The legends portray Seren as this mean, bestial character when she isn’t either of those things. She’s searching for her daughter, Eira, who’s run away to be difficult. This is another part of the quest, finding Eira. The main quest in “In The Shadow Of The Wolf Queen,” however, is finding the Anchorite, a mystical being, which the evil characters want to get first, of course. Can Ysolda and Seren find them or will it be Thane Boreal, the evil male antagonist? I look toward to reading Geomancer, book 2 hopefully soon to get more answers.