"Do you know what kinds of words come to mind when thinking of Wolfsbane?" is the first sentence of the novel, and it's not just a sentence, it's a question.
It's asking you directly if you know what it means.
We don't know who is talking yet.
We don't have context.
All we have is their (narrator? author?) own definition : "Corruption, poison, death." 
Then follows a warning : "In other terms, beware. I can become all those things. I will become all those things. That's a promise." 

Then the story begins. 

This is not a post meant to spoil the book. 

It is rather a starting point of a larger discussion about labels in our society. A discussion to which I have no definitive answer and am no sociological expert to give any to - I'm just a person who struggles to sleep and thinks a lot about everything. At times all this thinking has to go somewhere, and that somewhere, in this case, was this book. 

We've created this need to label people and indentities (since the dawn of time, probably? But maybe not?) that has expanded significantly in the last fifteen-twenty years as a mean to affirm one's identity and own 'brand' of uniqueness in a world that's mass-producing trends and drowning sub-cultures and true identity. 

While that's been extremely positive in terms of making marginalised groups feel safe and seen and valid, I can't shake the feeling that these very same labels (meant to heal and help us identify ourselves and find who we are) keep creating boxes and divisions and expectations.

Labels are meant to be chosen, personal, something we can identify to or in, but which I've noticed have become more of a 'badge' to strive to to be perceived a certain way to be accepted. 

In a way, to some, it's become an aesthetic rather than voice. It's become a trend to find as many labels as possible to fit yourself in to be accepted rather than finding comfort and safety and identity in one. To me, that has dreadful consequences in society: we're not seen as a unique person anymore, rather as a series of labels that define us to others and which others can decide for us.
For example, saying 'I'm queer' should be liberating, should build community (and in many cases, fortunately, it still does) but it some cases what it does is create a series of rules of what it means to be 'queer' and then people will speculate on if you're 'queer enough' to even claim so. That or for example telling bisexual women in a relationship with men that they are 'fake bisexuals' or 'not real bisexuals' just because of their relationship, pushing a general definition of a label onto a person and denying their own right to claim it based on ... what? Made up rules that define bisexuality? This goes even beyond sexual preference labels, think of how many mixed people are told they're not 'white enough' or 'dark enough' to be considered of a certain heritage BY OTHER PEOPLE. Think of how society labels music : adding a 'K' in front of pop in music award categories is a box to keep certain artists confined to it under the pretense of 'making space' for them in the industry. Labels are identity, yes. When you've chosen it. Otherwise they're chains, a box to shove certain people in to avoid distrubing a 'general public'. 

My question, my thoughts are, should we claim those boxes, those labels, despite how they're being used against us, or should we just ... stop relying on them ? Is there even a middle ground here, and can it be found when everything since our very birth is there to categorize us ? I don't have an answer. 

What I do have is a novel that explores these themes in a way that I could try and make my point, or at least try and reach a sort of answer - at least in fiction. 

That's where Wolfsbane comes from: what happends when you don't yet know yourself and others have already branded you, labelled you, and you're left with a choice - accept it and the expectations that come from it, or make your own definition of it. 

Malicia is born Hollow, without powers in a bloodlines of wickedlings. That is already a label: being Hollow comes with a certain role, a certain place to keep, lines not to cross. You're Hollow, so you have wickedling blood that's precious and necessary to continue the bloodline, but you're not born with Flame, which gives you power, so you're not allowed to have a magical education.
But she is also wickedling, and to non-magical folk, all wickedlings are the same, hollow or not. So even with 'normal' people, there's a label. There's missconceptions, legends, fear. 

Malicia is different not because "she's not like other girls" but because in both facets of society, there is a label to brand her as different. A label she did not choose. When her older sister dies under mysterious circumstances and she inherings her Flame, her magic, Malicia becomes something more. Not better or worse, but another label outside of her control is added: Wolfsbane. 

 I'll let you discover what that means on your own.