BOOKS | Review: A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

Name: A Far Wilder Magic

Author: Allison Saft

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Date published: March 2022

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 375

Rating: 4/5

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.

- From Goodreads.

The story felt something like a Studio Ghibli movie, whimsical, creative and adventurous, with a bit of a darker more intense side too.

It had a unique, inventive world with a lot of details that made it feel full of depth and like a real world we were being immersed into. The way the magic worked and the history, it was all fascinating to learn about.

I would warn anyone who might be upset by it that there is animal hunting in the story. Of course I went in knowing that they were hunting the mythical fox but there is an element of normal fox hunting too. It is not a flaw of the book of course, just a part of the setting, but it is just something to be aware of. 

I did enjoy the plot, although I did wonder if there was more of a twist coming and that did not end up happening, but it still ended in a satisfying way and all of the story's questions were answered by the end. I found towards the end I had a similar feeling that I did when I read Down Comes the Night, in that there was a bit of back and forth in the characters' decision making, especially with Margaret this time. It seemed like she had already come to her big revelation and the culmination of her character arc, but because the climax of the story had not happened yet she went back a step and doubted the decision she had already made until she made the decision again. It was a little frustrating to read but it was not too drawn out and it resolved well so it did not really ruin the enjoyment of the story too much for me.

I liked that Margaret and Wes had quite strong journeys of personal discovery over the course of the book. You begin thinking the story is about the hunt but it becomes about so much more than that. It also showed that they were a good fit together because they helped each other face the difficult things and brought out the best in each other. I really liked how their romance was written and how they slowly came to understand and care for each other.

This was another good book by Allison Saft and it makes me excited to read more of her work and see what other creative story ideas she comes up with.

BOOKS | Review: Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

Name: Down Comes the Night

Author: Allison Saft

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Date published: March 2021

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance, gothic, mystery

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5

He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend - the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

- From Goodreads.

The author built a very interesting world to set this book in. It felt very atmospheric and every scene was described in such detail that it really came alive on the page. I could really imagine everything the main character described and all the different places she visited. The best place of course was Colwick Hall, I really felt how haunted and cold the mansion seemed to the characters and how unsafe they felt there.

I really liked the relationship between the main character and her love interest, I think they had such an interesting dynamic and I really liked how things slowly built between them. I thought that it was good that Wren was allowed to feel emotional and Hal made sure she knew that and did not make her feel weak for feeling anything, and he really appreciated her kindness. Not a lot of books have this because in fantasy worlds where there is war or other difficult things to face, characters are often made to feel like their kindness or other "soft" emotions will make them weak in a tough world and the idea that acts of kindness could actually help is dismissed as unrealistic, but Wren was allowed to be kind and emotional and make things right in the end and help change things with her kindness and without loosing her emotional side. This idea and theme was not always done perfectly throughout the book, but mostly I really liked it and was glad it was included.

Although I enjoyed the plot and thought it was captivating to follow the mystery through to the end, I think it could have been made into a more concise story. Towards the end it felt like the plot was going back and forth a few times, making the same point a couple of times over, which I felt was down to the main character being indecisive and unsure when it really felt like she should have already come to a decision or realistion about certain things. This led to it feeling like the story could have wrapped up a little sooner, and while I did enjoy how the story ended and what happened in the final few scenes, I think the impact was lost slightly because it felt like the story had been stretched out for the sake of adding a little more angst.

Overall, I did really like this book, I thought it had an intriguing mystery, atmospheric setting, well written characters and a compelling romance. I would recommend it if you liked Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson or The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid.