The Wolf Gate by Hanna Sandvig, 2021

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My...what big teeth you have…
Have you ever wondered if something was up with your boyfriend? Distant. Moody. Never texts you back. Turns into a wolf at nightfall?
No, just me?
When a wolf chased me through a faerie portal in the forest, the last person I expected to see on the other side was my ex-boyfriend Gavin. Turns out, he’s a fae, and everything I thought I knew about him was a lie. Now we’re on the run from his Alpha, the minion of the Unseelie Queen, through the mountains and forests of Faerie.
But our deadly pursuers may be the least of my worries.
Because the longer I stay in Faerie with Gavin, the harder it is to remember why I’m so mad. I can feel my defenses crumbling, but how can I give him another chance when he’s proven he can break my heart? Am I strong enough to discover if this is true love? And will I survive long enough to find out?

(125 pages)

I read the first book in this series, The Rose Gate, during a reading phase where I was reading nothing but fairytale retellings. I had gotten pretty sick of Beauty & the Beast retellings by that point, but I was glad I tried The Rose Gate because it was a lot of fun and an interesting new take on the story.

That's why I was recently excited to learn that there were a couple other books in the series. My excitement dimmed a bit when I learned they were novellas, but I decided to give them a go anyway. I started with The Wolf Gate because it's the most recent release, and I just finished it. And I have to say that it stays pretty true to form: just like The Rose Gate it's a fun, unique take on a traditional fairytale. I love how modern and independent the protagonist is without being obnoxiously so. She's a teenager who knows her own worth, respects herself and her emotions, and refuses to let anyone treat her poorly. I love how snarky she is throughout the book, too. I also love that she's so assertive about the fact that she won't sleep with anyone before she's married, which is a decision that you don't often see treated so respectfully in novels, though I should put in a content warning that there are a couple conversations about sex and whether or not people had/will have it. So parents might want to keep that in mind if considering this for younger kids.

Obviously things aren't as fleshed out as they would be in a full-length novel. Things move a bit quickly toward the second half of the story, and honestly feel a bit rushed in places. But that's to be expected. I liked seeing the lore of the series being built out, and I was able to follow along with all of the fantasy elements reasonably well despite having forgotten most of it from The Rose Gate. I was disappointed not to catch more glimpses at how the characters from The Rose Gate were doing after that book's events, but since this story is basically taking place at the same time as that one I guess that's kind of inevitable. I did have some issues with the ending (for a pretty sensible girl, Audrey's decision seem very much not thought through). And some unexplained magic convenience. But to be honest I didn't let it get me too frustrated.

All in all this was a fun couple of hours and a great addition to the series. I'll definitely be checking out The Lily Gate very soon, and keeping my eye out for another full-length novel in the future.