I could go on and on about what makes this novel so amazing but I'll try to keep it short and sweet, if that's even possible!
This novel is among my favorite pieces of literature and I'm really glad I found it.

Ookami to Koushinryou is basically a novel that is mostly directed at adults, however I'm not saying that younger people can't enjoy it. It's just that the themes it deals with, such as loneliness, trustworthiness, realizing how your life is shaping itself, will appeal a lot more to people approaching Lawrence's age (~25ish), at least in my opinion. Throughout the novel, we watch how gradually Lawrence and Holo develop their own distinct personalities based on their experiences together.

Economics plays a major role in the series, but from my point of view they are not the most crucial part. As a person that likes economics, I thoroughly enjoyed them and found most of the happenings pretty accurate as well. The author obviously did a fair amount of research on medieval economics and it shows. However, the driving force behind the story is the interaction between Holo and Lawrence. An interaction that is very hard to find elsewhere, because it's just that good. The two main characters have dialogues full of quizzical declarations, deep thought analysis, teasing, and mutual understanding and support. The dialogues are incredibly well written and there's a high chance you'll need to read some of them more than once to fully comprehend the hidden meanings behind them. I won't say more on this part because you'll have to discover it yourself.

The story is nicely summed up in the synopsis so I have nothing to add, but I'll say this to any potential reader: Sometimes it's the journey that matters the most, not the destination. Meaning, I suggest you enjoy and make the most out of every single page, rather than rushing to find out how this turns out. Trust me, it'll feel much more natural and better this way.

Moving on to the characters, the series has a nice roster of side characters with almost all getting a respectable degree of development. It helps that the author has also written a few short side stories that cover crucial parts of their lives. Those stories are almost as enjoyable as the main story, and after reading them you'll understand why they ended up interacting with Holo and Lawrence the way they did. As for the main characters, the depth they reach is obvious considering what I wrote a couple paragraphs above regarding their interactions.

The art is gorgeous, to say the least. The illustrations are nicely drawn and, making the inevitable comparison to the anime adaptation, they are way, WAY better. I watched the anime first and after beginning to read the novels I realised how much of Holo's and Lawrence's character was killed off in the anime, simply because of their badly adapted portraits. Every major(or major-side) character gets their own illustration in the novel, which is a nice plus.

Overall, I'd recommend this novel to any person who likes deep character development and interactions, and a long and marvelous story, while also being completely original. Granted, if dialogues lasting half a dozen or more pages are not your cup of tea, you'll probably find this boring. However, there's a whole bunch of action too, in case you were wondering. Repeating what I said in the start of this review, this is among my favorite pieces of literature and I consider it an amazing adventure.