Book Review: A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

  • Source: I received an advance copy of this book on NetGalley

  • My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (see my review on Goodreads)

You know when you read and love a book, but have a hard time describing your experience? That's what's going on with me and A Far Wilder Magic. Let me try to show you how much I enjoyed this book.

It has plenty of hooks for me: alchemy, woods, a lonely manor house, mysteries, a sort of enemies-to-lovers romance thing going on. I got to experience each of these pretty in depth. The exploration of alchemy was interesting and fresh to me, certainly with familiar themes like equivalent exchange, a sense of magic, and the potential for big danger. The way it was woven into everyday life for the inhabitants of this world made it come alive for me as a reader. Something I didn't expect from this book was the sense of prejudice, racism, and bigotry that the townspeople expressed toward Margaret and Wes. This added another layer to their characters and made me love them even more -- and built my anger/frustration/exhausted irritation with the townspeople. It was beautiful to discover the genuine goodness inside the hearts of our two main characters, and how that caused so much strife for them (relatable). The romance between Margaret and Wes? Loved it. Of course we get moments of tension and frustration, and moments when someone made a bad decision, but it never felt over-the-top, and by the end it was so satisfying.

I don't think I'm doing a good job of expressing myself here. My experience with A Far Wilder Magic was soft and full of wonder, painful but satisfying, curious and contemplative. Like sitting around a campfire at night, listening to fantastical stories, drinking cozy beverages, and seeing magic in the sky above.

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