Bad Wolf

This blog is not about Doctor Who, but much love to all my fellow Whovians who thought, based on the title, that it might be.  You are beyond cool! Perhaps next time, but this time it’s about The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis and the Blackeye Roasting Co. where I had the most amazing coffee drink called Bad Larry.  So even if you are sad this is not about Doctor Who, I hope you will keep reading! ❤

The Blackeye Roasting Co. has two locations. I went to the one in South Minneapolis on the corner of 38th and Chicago.  The location is in an up-and-coming area. You have new shops mixed with old staples.  When you walk in it’s wide open, benches along one side, larger communal table in the middle, bar seating along another wall, and large windows covering the front of the store.  It’s gorgeous with gray and muted blues and pops of black.

This place is unique in that it has coffee and cold drinks on tap.  It features ten tap lines of non-alcoholic beverages: Blackeye’s nitro cold brew coffee, homemade Horchata, Prohibition Kombucha and draft cocktails. My girlfriend and I tried a couple of their cold brews. I had a drink called Bad Larry (nitro cold brew, chocolate milk, lavender syrup).  I know I rave about a lot of coffees … but Oh MY… if I could have ordered this is a growler, I would have! SO GOOD! Amber ordered a drink of her own concoction, which I will call The Amber (nitro cold brew, vanilla syrup, lavender syrup, cream). (Side note: if you go in there and order The Amber they will likely look at you strangely, but could be fun!) It too was AMAZING!

I don’t know if the coffee they use is just that outstanding, or the baristas just know their way around a cup of coffee, but either way, it’s become one of my Top 5 favorite places in Minneapolis.

I could go on about this place, but I should get to the book because it too is discussion worthy!

It did take me a little bit to get into because the dialect was so different than what I’m used to.  Also, the story itself is something I wouldn’t normally pick up, but I’m trying to expand my horizons, and this was definitely the book to do that with. Set in a dark, post-apocalyptic world where you are alone even when with someone and Mother Nature can be unforgiving, the novel is beautifully written and sucks you into this world completely.

The story starts with seven-year-old Elka, lost in a storm and found by a man she calls Trapper.  He teaches her to hunt, trap, and survive in a world where everything and every man is out for themselves it seems.  Trapper and Elka live in this manner until she is about 17 years old, and she finds out who Trapper really is.  To escape this evil she sets out on her own across a wild and bitter landscape. Elka tries to find her way north as she is chased by Trapper, and Lyon, the law woman out to catch them both. She encounters all types of beast and people, and the journey that ensues is incredible.

Elka’s story is a wild one, and the characters and surroundings are given great depth.  The backdrop is a character all on its own.  This book, while beautiful, was also thrilling, violent, and sorrowful.  Even in the peaceful moments Elka has, you are tense in your seat because nothing in this world remains that way for long.  It is a story that will stick with me for some time and one that I’m still processing.

My only negative about this book is the prolog. Part of me understands why the author went this route, but part of a good suspense plot is knowing without actually knowing.  We know just based on the build-up that Elka and Trapper are destined to meet again, but part of the thrill is the when and how. It did take a little away from story for me, but overall I still love how it played out.

While this book isn’t my typical read, I am glad I read it and will be recommending it! The book combined with this coffee house is a little bizarre – – one bright, open, and welcoming – – while the other was fierce, dark, and full of moral struggles – – but trust me, when a book gets kind of heavy, a cup of coffee in an inviting environment isn’t a bad thing 🙂

I received an advanced copy of this book from Blogging for Books/Penguin Random House/The Crown Publishing Group.  Many thanks to them!!!

GoodReads: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis ✰✰✰✰

Blackeye Roasting Co. ✰✰✰✰✰