Blacktail by Scott Hawkins
Crown (September 1, 2026)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool
Welcome to Blacktail, a dark fantasy, magical realism story.
Blacktail is a wolf out for revenge. His mate, a house dog, is killed by the “two legs.” He has not only lost her but their puppies, too, and he takes vengeance on the humans. There will be more bloodshed, and the two legs must fall. 
Blacktail is faithful to the Forest God, but in times like this, faith is not enough. Drawn to his fury, a feline witch makes him an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race altogether? First, he must find and wake the Forest God, and with the woods dwindling, he has no other choice.
I am a HUGE animal lover. I name all the wild animals outside and build lives for them with silly conversations, making up stories about them. So, when I realized that Blacktail is told from the point of view of various animals, I thought: YES, YES, YES!!!
I really appreciated how Blacktail was able to communicate with one particular human. It was genius and certainly not what I expected. You will have to read this to understand what I am talking about, but I enjoyed this part. I will also side-eye coyotes a bit more moving forward.
What I enjoyed the most about Blacktail was how the author brings the reader into the animal world, showing how they communicate, how they view their surroundings, whether it is the cars on the roads that now split their territories with pavement and danger, or how predators and prey sometimes resign to their fates or work together to try and bring forth a different future.
I did feel certain parts dragged a bit, and the ending didn’t quite wow me the way I expected after the journey I went on with Blacktail and the other animals. However, I had a lot of fun with this read.
A very unique story that you should add to your to-be-read pile immediately.
