Reviews with content warning for Child death - A Far Wilder Magic

Wow, wow, wow I really loved this book. I truly did not want it to end, and I will be reading all of Allison Saft’s other books. I honestly think this would make a perfect Studio Ghibli movie—it’s so atmospheric and the characters are lovable. The only reason I haven’t rated this book 5 stars is because it becomes kind of clear while reading that their world is analogous of our own. The religions are sloppily painted over versions of Protestantism, Judaism, and Catholicism and the result was kind of jarring to read. Not only was it confusing, but it was also a little frustrating that the mental labor was put on me as the reader to fall back on my own knowledge of world religions instead of on her as the author to create a world that was unique to the story. That being said, I understand what she was trying to say about anti-immigrant and antisemitism in America and I can appreciate it. It’s easy to forgive when the rest of this book was an absolute delight.

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kristinallard's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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alexijai98's review

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Solid YA romantasy! Give me more stories with a scary girl and her sad wet bf!

Be warned, this is definitely a ROMANtasy. The fantasy aspects are throughout the whole book, but the action mostly revolves around the protagonists’ romance - which I didn’t mind because I loved them both! Reading this made me feel fuzzy inside, the way it felt to read a stunning fanfiction back in 2014 (you know the ones with the titles in all lowercase, don’t pretend not to!). There is also some heavy-hitting Mommy Issue content in here that had my feeling some kind of way, so keep that in mind!

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mpbookreviews's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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wilybooklover's review

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

4.0

Note: I don't ordinarily read YA these days so please read this review with that in mind.

The writing in this was absolutely gorgeous. So lyrical — poetic, almost — and atmospheric. I highly recommend reading this in autumn because it has perfect spooky, gothic vibes. Margaret and Wes's slow-burn romance was so romantic and tender and full of pining. They both felt like fully fleshed-out characters with realistic flaws and issues. I also enjoyed that they were both poor; usually fantasy romances will have at least one of the pair be royalty or aristocratic or blindingly rich, and that was refreshingly not the case here.

This is a very character-driven and introspective book, and while I loved that aspect, I do wish there had been a little bit more focus on the hala and the hunt. It's mostly squashed into the last 10% and it felt a bit anticlimactic and rushed given the build-up of the previous 90% of the book.

The worldbuilding was also a little bit shaky for me. It's very clearly based on 1920s New England with direct parallels in terms of religion, ethnicity, real-world events and tensions, etc. but then there are some more modern concepts and theories mentioned as well. I know it's fantasy but I think it was too close to the real world to work in terms of cohesion. I think it would have flowed better for me if the world had been a bit more distinctly its own thing or if there were a few more magical/fantastical elements outside of the alchemy and the hala.

Overall, though, this was a lovely heartfelt fantasy romance with some deftly explored themes of loneliness, persecution, trauma, and religion.

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ka_ke's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

It’s very mediocre, if I put it down, i found it took a lot to pick it back up and start reading again.

It’s got good alchemy lore but oddly a significant amount of walmart brand christianity? I guess maybe it’s the authors way of recovering from some religious trauma.

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