I’ve been having a lot of luck with reading amazing middle grade books this year and I just added a new on to that list. Today is my spot on the tour for A Wolf for a Spell hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours. I’ll be reviewing the book and showing you a few of my favorite quotes from this book. Keep on reading to find out more!

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc to read and review.

A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publishing Date: December 1, 2020

The Girl Who Drank the Moon meets Pax in this fantastical tale of a wolf who forms an unlikely alliance with Baba Yaga to save the forest from a wicked tsar.

Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans—especially witches—but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf’s keen nose for a secret plan she’s brewing… Before Zima knows what’s happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga’s hut—and Baba Yaga’s body!

Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch’s help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga’s form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.

Book Links

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Review

A Wolf for a Spell was my first time reading a Baba Yaga retelling and I highly enjoyed this book. It’s clear this book has been influence by Russian fairy tales and I loved how everything comes together. Karah Sutton created a world I really enjoyed and could really see as I was reading the book. I really appreciated the 3 POVs in this story. For me it really help keep the story going and me wondering how they were all going to come together.

In A Wolf for a Spell we follow Zima (a wolf), Nadya and the witch Baba Yaga. All three of these characters are stronger than they realize and plan on fighting for what they believe in. None of them plan on sitting around doing nothing. My favorite thing about middle grade books are the lessons we often find in them. I really believe A Wolf for a Spell shows us to believe in ourselves and family isn’t always blood. In the end our main characters come together to fight evil and it shows that not all is what it seems. Wolves, witches and humans can come together to make everything right.

For me A Wolf for a Spell was a magical adventure that I’ll definitely revisit in the future. I really hope Karah Sutton writes more magical middle grade books. Her writing style and imagination made this book a great read. Add some really nice illustrations throughout this book and I was a happy bookworm. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by this author.

Favorite Quotes

“Now that she had tasted the possibility of belonging somewhere, she couldn’t let it go.”

“Nadya has never considered that the witch could feel threatened. That her power and magic weren’t enough to make her feel safe.”

“She liked how Oksana had things like singing and hugging to bring joy to cold winter nights.”

“Of all the evils in the world, the greatest was the temptation of the easy path over the right one.”

Tour Schedule

There are a lot of amazing bloggers and bookstagrammers participating in this tour. You should check out their posts and can find them on the tour schedule here.

About the Author

Karah Sutton has loved Baba Yaga, ballet, and blini ever since she had to do a research project on her Russian heritage in the third grade. Her hunger for adventure inspired her to move from Kentucky to New Zealand, where it was rumored she would find talking trees and the occasional wood elf. Karah spent four years as a bookseller before she turned to writing her own fiction. A Wolf For a A Spell is her first novel.

Author Links

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Goodreads

Karah Sutton has definitely become an author to watch out for! If you enjoy middle grade retellings, I definitely recommend checking this one out.