Celestial | The Wolf and the Woodsman: A Novel
Log in or Sign up
The Wolf and the Woodsman: A Novel
Ava Reid
Save to Your Books
100% of affiliate revenue supports Celestial
In the vein of Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver and Katherine Arden’s national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale, this unforgettable debut— inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology—follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant.
In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.
But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike.
As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression.
However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.
Show more
Get the Bindery app
Posts about this title from Celestial
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 23 2025
who’s your greek godly parent? DEMIGOD BOOK RECS (PART 2)!
who’s your greek godly parent?
DEMIGOD BOOK RECS (PART 2)!
📚 books mentioned: - The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée - The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova - The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
👗💄: - rainbow eyeshadow using the Mírame palette from Aora México @aoramakeup - dress is from @anthropologie (Celandine), rented from @nuuly - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)
#greekgodlyparent #demigod #percyjackson #bookrecs #fantasybooks #magicalrealismbooks #romancebooks #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram @rainbowcratebookbox @atriabooks @harpervoyagerus @harpercollins
3 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 17 2024
adult standalone fantasy book recs!!
i am so pro-standalone reads.
10 books
Posts about this book from across Bindery
chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Mar 24
Join for free
an overly ambitious last-week-of-March TBR
Me: read 0 books last week Also me: yes I can definitely read 7 books this week #booktok #tbr #toberead #fantasybooktok
6 books
Ronnica Reads\ \ Ronnica Fatt\ \ • Mar 17
Join for free
Trans Rights Readathon Starts Today!
17 books
2
chronicallybookish\ \ Kaley\ \ • Aug 24 2025
Join for free
Are these books worth reading yes or no 😭 #booktok #toberead #tbr #sparkoftheeverflame #lucyscore
11 books
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 23 2025
who’s your greek godly parent? DEMIGOD BOOK RECS (PART 2)!
who’s your greek godly parent?
DEMIGOD BOOK RECS (PART 2)!
📚 books mentioned: - The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée - The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova - The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
3 books
Chanterelle Solace\ \ Sabie\ \ • May 23 2025
Join for free
Cozies, Cottagecore-ies & Autumnies, who is joining me in the forest for a lovely day where we frolick, share stories and build a community?🤎
I’m always looking for ways to incorporate all my different aesthetic: cozy, cottagecore, autumnal & gothic and this also reflects my interests in terms of my hobbies in general. Do we have any idea on a word or two that describes all my aesthetic in one go?
What books would you say fit this vibe for you personally?
For me, I’m currently reading all of @avasreid books as I loved her A Study in Drowning and she has 2 books coming out in 2025! Her book The Wolf & the Woodmen absolutely fits this vibe and I’m loving every page of it.
I also currently finished My Throat an Open Grave by @toribovalino and this is more gothic fantasy and I also LOVED every page of it too! This month has been filled with 5 stars read because I’m focusing on the sub-genre that I love more
#gothicfantasybooks #thewolfandthewoodsman #cottagecorevibes
1 book
Daph's Reads 📚✨\ \ Daphne\ \ • Mar 25 2025
Join for free
A guide to Ava Reid books! 📚✨🔮💀⚔️🩸
#booktok #avareid #thewolfandthewoodsman #juniperandthorn #astudyindrowning #fantasybooks #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #fantasybookrecs #fablefortheendoftheworld
5 books
Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • Aug 20 2024
Join for free
Submit your questions for a Q&A with Ava Reid!
# Our next author interview podcast episode is none other than Ava Reid! Author of The Wolf & the Woodsman, Juniper & Thorn, A Study in Drowning, and the just-released Lady Macbeth
4 books
4
Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jun 17 2024
adult standalone fantasy book recs!!
i am so pro-standalone reads.
10 books
Skies Press\ \ Emma\ \ • May 20 2024
Join for free
Mythology/Folklore inspired books
What are some of your favorite mythology/folklore inspired books? I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories, especially when they’re inspired by myths and legends I didn’t grow up with myself.
I have a bunch of these on my shelf but I limited myself to 6 for this stack 😅
• The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid - Hungarian and Jewish folklore (4⭐️)
• The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter - Xhosa mythology (TBR)
• Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel - Indian Mythology (TBR)
• Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek - Polish folklore (4.25⭐️)
• Circe by Madeline Miller - Greek Mythology (4.5⭐️)
• Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - Chinese Mythology (5⭐️)
6 books
Mood Reads\ \ Hannah\ \ • Apr 16 2024
Join for free
BOOKS YOUR LIBRARY ISN’T COMPLETE WITHOUT!
10 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 11 2023
Join for free
the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️
tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂
🎃 books mentioned 🎃
Misc. ↳ rouge ↳ she walks in shadows ↳ silver nitrate
Dark Academia ↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology ↳ vita nostra ↳ plain bad heroines
“Classic” horror ↳ rebecca ↳ interview with a vampire ↳ dark tales
Real World Horror ↳ natural beauty ↳ lakewood ↳ her body and other parties ↳ bad cree ↳ weight of blood
Vampires ↳ vampires of el norte ↳ a dowry of blood ↳ masters of death ↳ house of hunger ↳ the book eaters
Haunted House books ↳ a house with good bones ↳ she is a haunting ↳ the hacienda ↳ just like home
Deathly Retellings ↳ a haunting on the hill ↳ the death i gave him ↳ one for my enemy
Cozy fantasies ↳ legends & lattes ↳ the very secret society of irregular witches ↳ venco ↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries
Fantasies ↳ nettle & bone ↳ gods of jade and shadow ↳ juniper & thorn ↳the wolf & the woodsman ↳ the bone orchard ↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi
Other ↳ my dark vanessa ↳ station eleven ↳ glass hotel ↳ sea of tranquility
socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thisstoryaintover 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover
💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com
faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)
🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!
🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!
40 books
Ezeekat Press\ \ Jaysen\ \ • Jul 21 2023
Join for free
I think I misunderstood… #booktok #books #onthisday
I think I misunderstood… #booktok #books #onthisday
5 books
Ezeekat Press\ \ Jaysen\ \ • Jul 15 2023
Join for free
Thanks for visiting! Have a book. #booktok #books
Thanks for visiting! Have a book. #booktok #books
6 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Apr 26 2023
Join for free
i’ll be chatting with @avasreid tonight on whatnot at 7 pm EST!! sign up for whatnot through my l!nktrèë to get $15 off your first purchase! #juniperandthorn #fantasybooktok #zorannereads
2 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Mar 17 2023
Join for free
Here are some fantasy and sci-fi books that are written by trans, non-binary, and genderqueer authors! 🏳️⚧️🤩
lemme know if you’ve read any of these or have any of your own recommendations!
#transbookrecs #fantasybooks #fantasybookrecommendations #scifibookrecs
13 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Mar 16 2023
Join for free
here are some fantasy and sci-fi book recommendations that are by trans, non-binary, or gender-queer authors! 🏳️⚧️🤩 ##fantasybooktok##queerbookrecs##fantasybookrecommendations##scifibooks
12 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Mar 10 2023
Join for free
this game was so much fun!! how did i do? the filter was made by @johneepixels7 and can be found on his tik tok! 😊
#fantasybookrecs #bookcoverdesign #fantasybooks #bookishreels
11 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Mar 10 2023
Join for free
this was so much fun! 😆 how did i do?! shoutout to @johneepixels7 for this filter! #fantasyrecs #fantasybooktok #zorannereads
11 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Dec 31 2022
Join for free
Today I'll be following in the steps of Daniel Greene and creating a tier list of all of the fantasy books I read in 2022! How do you think I did?
The Fantasy & Frens Book Club will begin reading A BROKEN BLADE by Melissa Blair in January! Join us and read along through the link below!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS! 📖 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/39913560-zoranne-host 📸 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoranne\_/ 🎵 tiktok: http://tiktok.com/@zoranne\_ 🐦 twitter: http://twitter.com/zoranne\_ ☕️ buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/zoranne\_ ✨shop my favorite books: https://amzn.to/3Z3Nty8
JOIN THE FANTASY & FRENS COMMUNITY! 📚fable book club: http://l.fable.co/zoranne 👾discord: https://discord.gg/A3MPX5vEHX
BUSINESS INQUIRIES 💌 zoranne.host@gmail.com
*Some of these links are affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase a product from one the links!*
47 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Nov 1 2022
Join for free
✨my october wrap up!✨
i was planning to make an ✨aesthetic✨ looking reel featuring all of the books i read in october but i came to the conclusion that it was too much work because i don’t know how to do those cool transitions. i’m much better at screaming at my camera ❤️ so here’s what i read w/ ratings :)
- the wolf and the woodsman - 4/5 - last of the talons (ARC) - 4/5 - into the riverlands (ARC) - 4.5/5 - funny you should ask - 4/5 - gideon the ninth - 4.5/5 - her soul to take - 🥵 /5
this was a lot less than i usually read per month but i really liked everything!! 🙂 what was your fav read of october?!
#octoberwrapup #readinglist #monthlywrapup #fantasybookstagram #fantasyandfrens #fantasybookseries
3 books
Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Oct 5 2022
Join for free
all 149 books i own but haven't read.... 📚🙈 YET | 😳 my ENTIRE physical TBR 😳
I've done this video once before back in 2019 and I thought it was time for a refresher—here are all 149 books on my physical tbr! My hope with this video is that I'll be able to look back on it and check off all the books I've read in the future. Hope you enjoy!
The 2019 version of this video: https://youtu.be/TrGojZ8sHy0
📚 join my book club 📚 read books by BIPOC each month and join me during monthly liveshows to discuss! 🤍 announcement Video: https://youtu.be/u-aI8tD1RcQ 🤍 discuss on Fable: https://l.fable.co/readincolour 🤍 discuss on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readincolourbookclub/ 🤍 discuss on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReadinColorClub
socials 🤍 instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisstoryaintover/ 🤍 twitter: https://twitter.com/jananiekvelu 🤍 tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisstoryaintover?lang=en 🤍 goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thisstoryaintover
other places to find me 🤍 my website: https://www.jananiekvelu.com/ 🤍 my series # EpicBookRecs on the Epic Reads Channel: https://bit.ly/2XziOfz
discount codes 🤍 get one month FREE on Skillshare using my link: https://skl.sh/MKR96 🤍 use my code STORY to get your first Book of the Month box for only $9.99 https://www.bookofthemonth.com/?utm\_source=youtube&utm\_medium=video&utm\_campaign=This\_Story\_Ain%27t\_Over
💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com
faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)
🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!
🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!
97 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Oct 4 2022
Join for free
a very late reading update 😅😅😅 #readingupdate #gideontheninth #fantasybooktok #fantasyrecs
a very late reading update 😅😅😅 #readingupdate #gideontheninth #fantasybooktok #fantasyrecs
4 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Sep 26 2022
Join for free
i can’t believe y’all still want these 🤣😭 #readingupdate #fantasybooktok #amerrylittlemeetcute #defendthedawn #fantasybookrecs #thebloodtrials #Inverted
5 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Sep 18 2022
Join for free
a very spicy reading update 🥵 #readingupdatetime #spicybookrecs #sierrasimonebooks #smutemberbooks
a very spicy reading update 🥵 #readingupdatetime #spicybookrecs #sierrasimonebooks #smutemberbooks
7 books
Fantasy & Frens\ \ Zoranne\ \ • Sep 6 2022
Join for free
THE SEPTEMBER PICK FOR THE FANTASY & FRENS BOOK CLUB IS…THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN by @avasreid!! we’re reading it for ✨standalone september✨(i made it up hehe)
In her forest-veiled pagan village, Evike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline--her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.
But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman-he's the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.
As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all. - join fantasy & frens on @fable using the link in my bio! 🤍✨i’m so excited to jump into this one!!
1 book