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prynne31's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Sexual content and Abandonment
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A FAR WILDER MAGIC is a deliciously slow burn fantasy romance, getting well past the halfway point before the first longing touch; full of indecision, regret, and hope. Maggie needs Wes's help in order to enter the Halfmoon Hunt and bring down the hala, an immortal creature that some religions say is part of god, and others say is a gift from the divine.
The narration is split between Wes and Maggie, and the balance is good. I like them both as narrators. This is definitely a place where the audiobook shines, as the audiobook narrator gives them distinct voices which fit the way their tone is described by the text.
Maggie's relationship with her (currently absent) mother looms large. The reasons for her mother's absence and obsession with alchemy is gradually unfurled as Maggie gets to know Wes and begins to fall for him. Wes's relationships with his sisters and mother are also very important to the story, but as a mostly positive influence. I like Wes's family, they're pretty great and I enjoyed his rapport with them. Maggie's mother is an excellent character and a pretty frustrating person. It takes Maggie a very long time to be able to recognize her mother's treatment of her as neglect and emotional abuse, with Wes calling it out long before Maggie is ready to deal with it on those terms.
The romance is a very slow burn. I've read slower, but only in books longer than this one. Maggie and Wes are great together, but first they have to get out of their own way about a lot of things. Maggie's anxiety felt realistic, and the romance isn't treated as a cure for it.
The worldbuilding is gradual in terms of character backgrounds, but pretty immediate for the town of Wickdon and the manor where Maggie lives. Maggie's background is definitely meant to be that she's this universe's version of half-Jewish, something that's more shown through the particularities of the bigotry against her more than its shown through any cultural or religious practices that I picked up on. She mentions a few things about her father, and most of the cultural touchstones I could recognize happened when she's thinking about him or talking about something he taught her. Wes is some version of Catholic, as best as I can tell, and the bigotry against him echoes the bits of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigotry that I'm aware of as someone who isn't Irish, Catholic, nor Jewish. A major part of Wes's storyline is about figuring out how to navigate the sea of local bigotry which Maggie has grown up in, informed by how he's used to handling it back home. It's very much about him and Maggie figuring out to exist together and what to do about their feelings for each other, but having to deal with bigots is a huge part of the narrative. I'm not in a position to say whether it was done well on a larger level, but I like how it worked in the story and I'm very pleased with how things turn out.
The narration is chock-full of metaphors, usually but not always similes. I didn't mind it, but by the end I was wondering if the characters were going to run out of ways that the color of each other's eyes could be like an entirely different substance, usually a pleasing food or drink. It's done well, I think, but I was starting to notice it each time as I got closer to finishing the story.
I was pleasantly surprised by the pacing. It's several weeks before the hunt begins, and the hunt itself plays out over several weeks because of various ceremonial and preparatory stages. I like the plot and I love the ending.
The narration is split between Wes and Maggie, and the balance is good. I like them both as narrators. This is definitely a place where the audiobook shines, as the audiobook narrator gives them distinct voices which fit the way their tone is described by the text.
Maggie's relationship with her (currently absent) mother looms large. The reasons for her mother's absence and obsession with alchemy is gradually unfurled as Maggie gets to know Wes and begins to fall for him. Wes's relationships with his sisters and mother are also very important to the story, but as a mostly positive influence. I like Wes's family, they're pretty great and I enjoyed his rapport with them. Maggie's mother is an excellent character and a pretty frustrating person. It takes Maggie a very long time to be able to recognize her mother's treatment of her as neglect and emotional abuse, with Wes calling it out long before Maggie is ready to deal with it on those terms.
The romance is a very slow burn. I've read slower, but only in books longer than this one. Maggie and Wes are great together, but first they have to get out of their own way about a lot of things. Maggie's anxiety felt realistic, and the romance isn't treated as a cure for it.
The worldbuilding is gradual in terms of character backgrounds, but pretty immediate for the town of Wickdon and the manor where Maggie lives. Maggie's background is definitely meant to be that she's this universe's version of half-Jewish, something that's more shown through the particularities of the bigotry against her more than its shown through any cultural or religious practices that I picked up on. She mentions a few things about her father, and most of the cultural touchstones I could recognize happened when she's thinking about him or talking about something he taught her. Wes is some version of Catholic, as best as I can tell, and the bigotry against him echoes the bits of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic bigotry that I'm aware of as someone who isn't Irish, Catholic, nor Jewish. A major part of Wes's storyline is about figuring out how to navigate the sea of local bigotry which Maggie has grown up in, informed by how he's used to handling it back home. It's very much about him and Maggie figuring out to exist together and what to do about their feelings for each other, but having to deal with bigots is a huge part of the narrative. I'm not in a position to say whether it was done well on a larger level, but I like how it worked in the story and I'm very pleased with how things turn out.
The narration is chock-full of metaphors, usually but not always similes. I didn't mind it, but by the end I was wondering if the characters were going to run out of ways that the color of each other's eyes could be like an entirely different substance, usually a pleasing food or drink. It's done well, I think, but I was starting to notice it each time as I got closer to finishing the story.
I was pleasantly surprised by the pacing. It's several weeks before the hunt begins, and the hunt itself plays out over several weeks because of various ceremonial and preparatory stages. I like the plot and I love the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
lillianreadsalot's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, and Abandonment
alite428's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content
samsanator's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Beautiful love story, but the world was a little too real to be fantasy, and kept tripping me up because of it. Also, most of the character development happened internally, so there was a lot of telling rather than showing. Sometimes I don’t mind that, but it really slowed things down for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
taynicole2698's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Allison Saft has yet to disappoint. If you want beautuful imagery and characters you can see yourself in, her books are for you. A Far Wilder Magic had me wrapt from page one. The dual pov was one of the best-executed that I’ve ever read. Not to mention the immaculate slow burn. She toes the line between riveting and cozy perfectly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism
bookishflower's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“Besides, dreams don’t always have to be practical. That’s why they’re dreams. And now ours live and die together.”
“It’s you and me against the world, Margaret.”
Firstly, it needs to be said that that cover is so incredibly beautiful and captures the atmosphere of this book perfectly! (The perfect autumnal book to read with a blanket and cup of tea!)
A Far Wilder Magic follows the life-weary, headstrong Margaret and the flirtatiously optimistic Wes in their quest to win the mythical half-moon hunt as begrudgingly allies for her to win the favour of her mother and for him to gain the magical training he needs to make a difference in the world.
This ya stand-alone fantasy romance is such an effortless intricately crafted book from it’s gorgeous writing style and bewitching world building.
The scientific-based magic system, Jewish and Irish myth influence, and alternative 1920s America setting of this book is one that feels fresh and unique, a flawless blend of dark academia, whimsy and heart that I haven’t felt since Sorcery of Thorns.
The slow-burn grumpy x sunshine romance won me over straight away, the pining, character development and I-definitely-still-hate-your-face-even-if-I’m-staring vibes! Ahhh!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC of this book.
Maggie wants nothing more than to live a safe and simple life with her alchemist mother--who is never home. Wes dreams of becoming an alchemist politician to make the world a better place, and to do that, he needs to become Maggie's mother's apprentice. But since her mother isn't home, Maggie and Wes concoct a plan to catch a magical creature during the Halfmoon Hunt to impress Evelyn.
This book is a little bit The Scorpio Races, a little bit Shadow & Bone. I really liked the plot and found the world building and magic systems very interesting. I was not a big fan of the characters or relationship. I had issues with some of the things that happened in the romance between Maggie and Wes. Nothing so bad it would ruin the book but definitely knocked it down a peg in my mind. Characters are really important to me in a story, so even though I loved this plot, the lack-luster character building hurt this for my rating.
Maggie wants nothing more than to live a safe and simple life with her alchemist mother--who is never home. Wes dreams of becoming an alchemist politician to make the world a better place, and to do that, he needs to become Maggie's mother's apprentice. But since her mother isn't home, Maggie and Wes concoct a plan to catch a magical creature during the Halfmoon Hunt to impress Evelyn.
This book is a little bit The Scorpio Races, a little bit Shadow & Bone. I really liked the plot and found the world building and magic systems very interesting. I was not a big fan of the characters or relationship. I had issues with some of the things that happened in the romance between Maggie and Wes. Nothing so bad it would ruin the book but definitely knocked it down a peg in my mind. Characters are really important to me in a story, so even though I loved this plot, the lack-luster character building hurt this for my rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
abookishwasp's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A very unique setting and very unique magic. Lots of alchemy involved in the story too which is not something I see often.
I liked that the book discussed some important themes such as immigration and racial/religious prejudice. Also i'd say TW for that.
The book is generally slow, it focuses on both plot and characters and there's some character growth. The romance was adorable and I rooted for both characters, which are clearly flawed but also very loveable in their own way.
The setting in the book is also quite vivid and aesthetically pleasing, it painted a sort of 20s inspired with a bit of steam punk and alchemy heavy world.
Lastly, I wouldn't exactly call this a YA book, I'd say more like NA or just very upper scale YA.
I liked that the book discussed some important themes such as immigration and racial/religious prejudice. Also i'd say TW for that.
The book is generally slow, it focuses on both plot and characters and there's some character growth. The romance was adorable and I rooted for both characters, which are clearly flawed but also very loveable in their own way.
The setting in the book is also quite vivid and aesthetically pleasing, it painted a sort of 20s inspired with a bit of steam punk and alchemy heavy world.
Lastly, I wouldn't exactly call this a YA book, I'd say more like NA or just very upper scale YA.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Hate crime and Racism
enasbookshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Many thanks to the author Allison Saft for giving me an eARC as part of her street team. My conversation with Allison about how this book came to be is up on my blog!
AFWM was one of those books I tried to start, put down after the first page, then finished in one sitting the next time. By the time I was ten pages into this romantic fantasy, I knew I was not going to return to the real world until I had reached the very end of the story. By the time I was ten chapters in, I’d fallen completely in love with the underdog characters Margaret and Wes. They were utterly imperfect, and thus so utterly real. Their respective journeys were made all the more engrossing with the author’s descriptive, immersive storytelling: autumn is a nonexistent phenomenon in my corner of the planet, but even I felt every stray sunbeam, every gust of wind, every scent of wild animal.
The book was very rich in detail about alchemy, hunting, different religious denominations. It had a lot to say in the romance aspect, but it had just as much to say on family, identity, and belonging. What an honor it’s been to hype this book to the rest of the world!
AFWM was one of those books I tried to start, put down after the first page, then finished in one sitting the next time. By the time I was ten pages into this romantic fantasy, I knew I was not going to return to the real world until I had reached the very end of the story. By the time I was ten chapters in, I’d fallen completely in love with the underdog characters Margaret and Wes. They were utterly imperfect, and thus so utterly real. Their respective journeys were made all the more engrossing with the author’s descriptive, immersive storytelling: autumn is a nonexistent phenomenon in my corner of the planet, but even I felt every stray sunbeam, every gust of wind, every scent of wild animal.
The book was very rich in detail about alchemy, hunting, different religious denominations. It had a lot to say in the romance aspect, but it had just as much to say on family, identity, and belonging. What an honor it’s been to hype this book to the rest of the world!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry
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