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Reviewed by:
  • The Wolf’s Curse by Jessica Vitalis
  • Quinita Balderson
Vitalis, Jessica The Wolf’s Curse. Greenwillow, 2021 [336p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9780063067417 $16.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9780063067431 $8.99
Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 4-6

Twelve-year-old Gauge has spent the last five years hidden from his fellow villagers, because the Lord Mayor Vulpine convinced the residents that the boy is a Voyant, who can compel an invisible wolf to kill (the explanation for his wife’s curious death). The Great White Wolf is in fact real; she’s invisible to all but Gauge; her duty, into which she was tricked centuries ago, is to collect dead souls; and she’s searching for someone to take her place. A rare encounter with a sensible family in the panic-stricken village provides Gauge with new companion in Roux, whose father is soon collected by the wolf, and together the two work to prove Gauge’s innocence. This extraordinary fantasy debut is told from the perspective of the [End Page 36] Wolf herself, a woman who became the soul courier after the devastating loss of her daughter, and while Gauge is a sympathetic hero, the narrator steals the show with her witty and prickly sidebar commentary. The story is an emotional rollercoaster with all the feels, and Gauge is surrounded by characters who cling to superstitions tighter than morals (and there’s a tasty revelation waiting about the Lord Mayor). Readers will be relieved that order is eventually restored and there is a glimpse into the future where the wolf’s curse transforms into a beautiful, selfless gift.

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