Rating: 87% | B+ | ★★★★
Synopsis (from NetGalley): When Margaret Welty spots the legendary hala, the last living mythical creature, she knows the Halfmoon Hunt will soon follow. Whoever is able to kill the hala will earn fame and riches, and unlock an ancient magical secret. If Margaret wins the hunt, it may finally bring her mother home. While Margaret is the best sharpshooter in town, only teams of two can register, and she needs an alchemist. Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist--yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her. Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it's like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt - if they survive that long. Non-Spoiler Review: A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft is a gritty low fantasy that starts slow before picking up in the last 2/3 of the novel. It was a struggle to keep reading during the growing pains of the beginning, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. The protagonists, Margaret and Wes, are wonderfully rich and human, and they faithfully carry the story to its magical, triumphant end. Saft writes wisely and poetically, creating beautiful imagery and utterly heartbreaking emotions. While the book is shelved as YA, the themes it discusses are complicated and dark. This novel straddles the line between teen and adult, and is sure to captivate both age groups. The world building involved in the novel was tricky to understand and was the primary culprit in my lack of interest in the beginning, but I now appreciate its complexity and Saft's dedication to it. I still believe more time could have been given to explaining the politics of the novel's world and to drawing more concrete boundaries around the novel's precise time period, but the analogies that Saft constructs are meaningful and avoid being overly didactic. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ReviewsThe Ice Swan
For the Wolf Must Love Books People We Meet on Vacation The Spanish Love Deception The Dating Game One Night Only We Are the Brennans A Letter to Three Witches It Ends with Us When Sparks Fly A Far Wilder Magic Bad Luck Bridesmaid Always, in December Kingdom of the Cursed Bibliophile: Diverse Spines Five Tuesdays in Winter The Ex Hex An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire How to Love Your Neighbor On a Night Like This Birds of California Beautiful World, Where Are You The Rebound The Best Books of 2021 |