I've wanted to read this book for years and finally managed to get a copy through my local bookstore so that I could read it. I had a blast going on this adventure with Reynard and the various other animals at the court of Gent. It's a special kind of eerie to see the origins of the tropes and character traits of animals acting as humans that are carried through to stories today. It was like looking into a mirror backward in time to see early furry fiction at times. Reynard's story is one of outwitting the nobles and finding a way to persevere and come out on top despite the odds that are stacked against him. Perhaps that is why it has been retold and re-translated for so many years. Anne Louise-Avery has done a marvelous job in this translation as I was able to follow along with the prose without getting hung up on the old king's English. There is a glossary of terms and words that are used occasionally in the back of the book but I was able to piece context clues together for all the words I wasn't 100% sure about. Still a nice thing to have for reference! There were also abundant footnotes in the bottoms of the pages and those helped to explain a lot of what I was unfamiliar with.

My biggest complaint about the story is that about halfway through it feels as though it begins to form a predictable pattern of: Reynard is accused of a crime, he goes to court after some shenanigans, finds a way to get out of trouble. The ways in which he gets out of trouble are where the story keeps your interest, but once I noticed this pattern a lot of the tension was removed. My biggest compliment I can give to this book is that I got extremely excited about a footnote for a recipe for Reynard's favorite stuffed eggs that I am going to make eventually. They sound absolutely scrumptious!