Reviews

The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel

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websterworks's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

generalalarm's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Literary fiction with a smidge of horror, "The Wild Hunt" follows Leigh, who returns to her small Scottish island post-WWII for her father's funeral. Leigh's mother abandoned the family when she was 10, and her brother, Sam, is a "mainlander" who is far more concerned with his work than his family.

One of the island's most important traditions is annually enduring the presence of sluagh, Scottish mythological figures said to ferry the dead. In this instance, they take the form of crows that pick at islanders, destroy their homes, and occasionally kill small animals (and, rumor has it, people.)

When one of the local boys goes missing, Leigh teams up with returned RAF officer Iain to find him. As a result of the increasing severity of the sluagh's attacks, mainlanders consider abandoning the island once and for all, despite it being a historic homeland to all of the families that currently reside there.

If you're interested in a haunting, atmospheric but not necessarily fast-paced plot, "The Wild Hunt" juxtapositions the families and post-WWII weariness against the mystery of the sluagh and the atmosphere of death. Many of the island's families have lost sons to the war, and Leigh is constantly telling people they can't pretend their way through grief.

For me, I would have preferred something a bit more fast paced, especially as readers draw closer to the end where the horror and mythological elements really started to seep in. A story called "The Wild Hunt" made me instinctively think of other pieces of mythology, so I was surprised when a similar storyline wasn't included.