A review by rockin_reads
Song of the Dark Wood by Sheila Masterson

4.0

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.

If youโ€™re looking for a standalone gothic romance to add to your Fall reading, I highly recommend Song of the Dark Wood (dark Red Riding Hood vibes).

๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜บ. ๐˜ˆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ต.

For centuries, Red Maidens have been sacrificed to the god of death to feed his power. Ripped from their families at a young age, forced to lead a sheltered life with no guaranteed future. But Rowan refuses to go down in history as another submissive Red Maiden devoured by the Wolf. Torn between her duty, protecting those she loves, and fighting for her survival, Rowan embraces her magic and finds the strength to fight for whatโ€™s right.

๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ.

There was so much to love about this story! A magical/haunted forest ๐ŸŒฒ, grumpy MMC who falls first and HARD ๐Ÿซ , the steamy scenes were on point โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿ”ฅ, there was a musical twist ๐ŸŽถ that I found quite unique, and the illustrations scattered throughout enhanced the reading experience. 

I went into this thinking it was a shifter romance, so I think itโ€™s important to mention that Conor stays in human form throughout. My understanding is that heโ€™s called the Wolf because way back when he appeared to others in that form (part of his power is being able to mimic the worst fear of the beholder). This is why I think the description of Red Riding Hood โ€œvibesโ€ vs โ€œretellingโ€ is more accurate.