The Wolf and the Girl, by Aster Glenn Gray

[sophia_sol]

An absolutely lovely novella, a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in the early 1900's. The first half takes place in rural Russia pre-revolution and the second half in the French silent film industry. Definite f/f vibes which I'm pretty sure are intentional but it never explicitly ships the two leads. I really like the note it ends on, where Masha and Raisa make it clear how important they are to each other but the line between platonic/romantic is not relevant. I want to know more about what happens next but it also ends perfectly. Nicely done, author!

Also this book is really great at setting a mood/feel/tone, kind of quiet and meditative and sure of itself, which I loved too.

Having now read two of Aster Glenn Gray's books, both of which are thoughtful fairy tale retellings firmly situated into a very specific historical context with queer people, I can confidently say I Am A Fan. This is my jam.

The author has one other published book out but it seems a very different kind of thing than the two I've read and I feel unsure about whether it's enough my thing to enjoy it, but I do trust this author to do things well so maybe I ought to give it a try at some point.

Comments

[skygiants]

I haven't read the other book either, but -- speaking of romance novels -- Aster Glenn Gray conveniently does have a new romance novella coming out in a few days which I am definitely going to preorder!

[sophia_sol]

YESSSS thank you for this very important information, I just put in a preorder myself and I'm excited!

I thought you had read the other book though - the one about intense preteens who meet again when they're older? I distinctly recall you writing about it.....

[skygiants]

OH no I did, I forgot about that book but it was good!! She also has another book that to my understanding is a cute coffeeshop romance (and on my list) that I have not read, but it might be under a different pen name actually ...

[sophia_sol]

there's definitely no coffeeshop romances on her author page on amazon so it must be a different pen name, let me know if you know what it is so I can look it up!

[skygiants]

I found them! There are more than I remembered!

[chestnut_pod]

Oh, thanks for letting us know about her other pen name!

[sophia_sol]

Excellent, thank you!

[chestnut_pod]

Is the "very different kind of" book Ashlin and Olivia? If so, I can definitely vouch for its quality. It's rather more intense than Briarley, but really honest and also really good at setting up its atmosphere.

[sophia_sol]

Yeah, that's the one! Intense is part of what I'm worried about tbh, and the genre is less my jam so I don't have the same incentive to try it anyway. We'll see if I'm brave enough to make the attempt.

[cat_i_th_adage]

Thanks for the rec - this looks like something I'd enjoy.

[sophia_sol]

Yay, I hope you like it!