Book Review – The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell

“Fairy tale and history merge seamlessly” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in this enchanting and lyrical novel about love and resilience from the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winner, Katherine Rundell.

Feo’s life is extraordinary. Her mother trains domesticated wolves to be able to fend for themselves in the snowy wilderness of Russia, and Feo is following in her footsteps to become a wolf wilder. She loves taking care of the wolves, especially the three who stay at the house because they refuse to leave Feo, even though they’ve already been wilded. But not everyone is enamored with the wolves, or with the fact that Feo and her mother are turning them wild. And when her mother is taken captive, Feo must travel through the cold, harsh woods to save her—and learn from her wolves how to survive.

***

  4/5 Stars

A strong 4 stars for this super cute middle grade read! I have to say, when I finished it, I just hugged the book a little (got an odd look from dude next to me on the train lol 😂) as it’s so cute.

Feo and her mum are wolf wilders, and live a very rural lifestyle. Feo is young and under socialised, and very naive, which. Is both endearing and sometimes a little annoying. However, I loved her naivety and bravery. Even if she’s trusting people she really shouldn’t!

And Ilya, my little ballet dancing soldier boy 💙💙💙. Enough said there really! I also love the friends she makes along the way.

The wolves are great, with individual little traits, but they are a little unbelievably tame, especially since they’re supposed to be getting wilder.

And then there’s the premise and the villain. It’s all a little overdone to be honest. But I do love kids running off on an adventure (or rescue, in this case). And I do like a good villain, a person to properly hate. So I’m letting that slide a little.

All in, it’s a little twee and too nicely wrapped up for me, but it is middle grade, so I’ve forgiven it in favour of the lovely magical feel of the world and the writing.