To start I have to preface this review by going back to The City of Ruin by Charissa Weaks, the second book in the Witch Walker series.
I needed to get my greedy little hands on The Wolf and the Witch immediately because of the ending of the previous book, and ending that shook me to the core and just completely blew this story up. All of this to say that I couldn’t wait to dive into The Wolf and the Witch.
A couple things to start about this book. First of all, it’s a novella so I didn’t really know what to expect entirely, though the name did give me a clue as to who it would likely be about and follow. Although a tad beside myself figuring this meant it likely wouldn’t proceed with the overarching larger story (it did but only to a point) I was still quite excited to get more insight into the pair that were the main focus of this story, Nephele and Neri, as they have been two characters that I have desperately been wanting more of. Nephele I have enjoyed since the first book when she and Raina reunite, whereas Neri has been impossible to resist with the way he antagonizes Nephele. Which, yes, he continues to do all throughout this novella.
Now, something about myself, I’m not typically big on novellas. Due to the fact that they are usually written as an aside to the main story, more often than not I will skip them because I just don’t feel the need to read them. This novella was so, so different. It is very necessary to the greater storyline and it never felt like it was just a filler like I found most novellas so. It bridges the gap from book two to book four with storyline that feels like it will be significant later on, as well as giving background on characters that were previously less main characters, and hinting at the fact that they are likely to start playing a much bigger role in the greater storyline. This means the reader has an opportunity to get to know these characters better and develop a greater bond with them that will be crucial going into the next books (or so I assume).
The Wolf and the Witch made me want the next book even more desperately than I did before, and I cannot wait to dive back into this world with the fourth book.
