You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.

And the wolf is angry.

Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.

Elana K. Arnold, National Book Award finalist and author of the Printz Honor book Damsel, returns with a dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of the familiar threats to female power—and one girl’s journey to regain it.

Thank you so much to Edelwiess for this eARC! I saw the cover and the title and was automatically drawn in, expecting a Red Riding Hood retelling. There are bits and pieces of that story here, but it is a beast all its own. What I found inside these pages was one of the most empowering stories I’ve had the pleasure to read, and it was so different than many things I’ve encountered as it was mostly told in second person. This alone made it unique and created a deeper connection with the story and its characters. The author means for you to find yourself in Bisou, and to know that her strength is your strength.

When we meet Bisou, she is with her boyfriend James. Things are quickly getting serious between the two of them– until she unexpectedly gets her period. Embarrassed, she runs into the woods and encounters a wolf. The two tussle but Bisou comes out the victor, and she promptly escapes to the confines of her grandmother’s house, who she has been living with since birth. The next day, she learns that one of her classmates was found dead in the same woods she had been in the night before, and after some investigating put together that what she thought was a wolf had been a boy.

I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone, so in that vein I’ll just say that with help from her grandmother, female classmates, and James and his friends, Bisou navigates her way through becoming a woman and what that means for her because of her family history. She learns that not all wolves are boys, but all boys are wolves in their own way. She is taught what a powerful tool her menses is, and that it’s not something to be ashamed of. I would recommend this book for any female reader who needs a bit of a boost, because it is a constant reminder of how women are able to rise up against whatever obstacles they find in their way; even wolves. While it does speak the truth on the danger some men hold towards women, it also speaks to the powerful allies that some men can be. Bisou’s boyfriend James has her back at all times, but does not overshadow her in any way. He allows her to be her own person.

This book also deals with tradition and family. Bisou’s grandmother is a stunning maternal force, and the absence of a male presence in their lives may be felt, but it is not missed. We are also given two strong female friends who accompany Bisou on her journey, each who have had their own run in with a wolf. There are so many stories that are told here. Ones that have heavy roots planted in our own reality. It’s comforting to see these words down on a page, knowing that so many women are having their stories told and have a chance to be heard. It is a triggering and difficult read at times, but it is incredibly raw and real and gives us a Red Riding Hood to look up to. She never needed the woodsman to save her because she WAS the woodsman.

Anyway, I loved the supernatural feel of this read but applaud how the story managed to keep its feet firmly on the ground. I think Elana chose the perfect perspective to write in because seeing ‘you’ splattered across the page kept me thinking, kept me chained to the narrative. Sometimes it’s easy to forget your own power, and to succumb to the forces around you, begging you to give up so they can drink you down like they’re quicksand. It takes little reminders like this to wake you up, and give you hope. If you’re looking for a little light in this dark world, Elana K. Arnold is ready to give it to you.

5/5 stars