Leanne Olson

by Marianna Baer; narrated by Annalyse McCoy

Releasing March 28, 2023 from Tantor Audio

I loved Wolfwood, one of my favourite YA books of the year so far. This book has a fresh voice, a wonderful teen heroine, and a vivid world split between reality and magic.

Indigo Serra is the daughter of famous artist Zoe Serra.  Zoe has been unable to paint for years, and they have been homeless or living in poverty for years.  Now, there’s renewed interest in Zoe’s art: paintings of a violent world she created called Wolfwood.

When Zoe refuses to create new paintings, Indigo takes over, forging her mothers work — and becoming transported into daydreams about Wolfwood that become more and more real the better she gets at painting.  

Indigo is one of my new favourite teen characters. She’s tough and smart but vulnerable and flawed. She really felt like a teen: full of vibrance and yearning, at a turning point between childhood and adulthood, and caught between the responsibility of protecting her mom and resentment (but not bitterness) at how difficult her life has been.  Baer had me rooting for her, feeling her joy at first love and cringing when she made certain decisions.  

Indigo’s emotional journey and striving to pull her family out of poverty, to make friends and do something bigger with her life, had me completely hooked.  The scenes in Wolfwood are creepy and vivid, without pushing fully into horror.  I enjoyed Annalyse McCoy’s narration, which put me completely in Indigo’s head while listening, and the time seemed to fly by.

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for my review copy of this audiobook.