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guessgreenleaf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, and Death of parent
visorforavisor's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
5.0
A Far Wilder Magic is incredible. Allison Saft flawlessly weaves diaspora experiences, light fantasy, and late-1920s America together in this gripping adventure featuring two young adults.
Maggie Welty is the fantasy equivalent of Jewish, and Wes Winters is the fantasy equivalent of an Irish-diaspora Catholic. The way these religions, and the sectarianism imposed on them in early-20-th-century America, are blended into the exciting hunt plot is truly exceptional. The power held by the “White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant” types is evidenced here beautifully.
I’m Irish, and I speak the language pretty well. As such, I think my favourite detail of this book may be the impeccable integration of (correctly grammared, which is rare in American books) Irish-language terms into the text. Wes’s mother refers to him as “a thaisce” and “a leanbh”, Wes himself thinks about the aos sí, and so on. I particularly found interesting (and accurate) the naming of Wes’s family. His mother is Aoife, and he and his siblings are Madeline, Christine, Weston, Colleen, and Edie (I think I have the order right). His mother’s name is much more Irish, while the children have more Anglicised names (especially Colleen, whose name is an Anglicisation of the Irish word for “girl”). The Irish history of famine and the like was also not skimmed over.
I’m not Jewish and I don’t know a huge amount about Judaism, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of its portrayal in this book, but I loved how the fantasy elements were woven into the beliefs of the various religions represented in the story.
I don’t know whether it was deliberate, but Maggie was pretty explicitly coded as autistic, and Wes as ADHD and dyslexic. I loved this very much and found the writing of this aspect both amusing and true-to-life.
Would recommend to everyone.
Maggie Welty is the fantasy equivalent of Jewish, and Wes Winters is the fantasy equivalent of an Irish-diaspora Catholic. The way these religions, and the sectarianism imposed on them in early-20-th-century America, are blended into the exciting hunt plot is truly exceptional. The power held by the “White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant” types is evidenced here beautifully.
I’m Irish, and I speak the language pretty well. As such, I think my favourite detail of this book may be the impeccable integration of (correctly grammared, which is rare in American books) Irish-language terms into the text. Wes’s mother refers to him as “a thaisce” and “a leanbh”, Wes himself thinks about the aos sí, and so on. I particularly found interesting (and accurate) the naming of Wes’s family. His mother is Aoife, and he and his siblings are Madeline, Christine, Weston, Colleen, and Edie (I think I have the order right). His mother’s name is much more Irish, while the children have more Anglicised names (especially Colleen, whose name is an Anglicisation of the Irish word for “girl”). The Irish history of famine and the like was also not skimmed over.
I’m not Jewish and I don’t know a huge amount about Judaism, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of its portrayal in this book, but I loved how the fantasy elements were woven into the beliefs of the various religions represented in the story.
I don’t know whether it was deliberate, but Maggie was pretty explicitly coded as autistic, and Wes as ADHD and dyslexic. I loved this very much and found the writing of this aspect both amusing and true-to-life.
Would recommend to everyone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Racism
raptorq's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Hate crime, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Violence
Minor: Colonisation
not_another_ana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
4.25
4.25/5
Since her childhood, the hunt has been nothing but a blood-soaked myth. The fare of true New Albian heroes, not country girls with Yu'adir fathers. It's never been real. But now it's here. Close enough to register. Close enough to win.
In New Albian, where alchemy is common and mythical beasts still roam about, Margaret Welty is stuck in a town that hates her waiting for her mother to return from her travels. She's resigned to an unexciting life when the hala, a supernatural violent creature resembling a fox, is spotted in her neck of the woods bringing the Halfmoon Hunt to her little town. Whoever can kill the hala will get riches and fame and Maggie is ready to take on the challenge. There's just one little problem, only pairs (consisting of a hunter and an alchemist) can enter the hunt. Enter Weston Winters, a wannabe alchemist who comes looking for Margaret's mother to hopefully become her apprentice. Together they're an unlikely pair, but they might just have what it takes to win.
If you want to read this book because the hunt and the alchemy sounded interesting then put it back down. The Halfmoon Hunt doesn't really being until 80% or so of the book. It isn't plot driven, it's propelled by the characters. The hala is only there to get the two protagonist to meet and spend time together. This is why I'm rating it 4 stars and not 5, even though I loved it. The action did not deliver and was more of an afterthought.
Here's what this book is really about: a slow burn romance that hinges on the understanding between these two characters that outwordly seem wildly different yet, on the inside, are both longing to belong. It is beautifully written, I lost count of how many lines of this I highlighted. The protagonists inner worlds are so well constructed and carefully layered that you deeply feel for them. The book also deals with a lot of religious discrimination and xenophobia, with Maggie and Wes both being religious minorities and having to face a lot of bigotry in the midst of their romance. If the action had been set up correctly this would have been an easy 5 stars to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Violence, Classism, and Bullying
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Abandonment
Minor: Child death
robin_reads'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
4.75
This is a pretty unusual type of YA fantasy, though I'd say it's definitely upper YA if not New Adult.
An Irish Catholic boy and a Jewish girl--though the names of the religions are different in this book. A lot of their story is about the hatred directed at them for where they come from/the beliefs associated with that. There is magic and alchemy (which felt a lot like Fullmetal Alchemist btw) and a horrible mother.
It was way more emotional and hit much closer to home than I expected.
All in all, this was very enjoyable! Do check CW/TW
An Irish Catholic boy and a Jewish girl--though the names of the religions are different in this book. A lot of their story is about the hatred directed at them for where they come from/the beliefs associated with that. There is magic and alchemy (which felt a lot like Fullmetal Alchemist btw) and a horrible mother.
It was way more emotional and hit much closer to home than I expected.
All in all, this was very enjoyable! Do check CW/TW
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
chichisode's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
didn't expect it to have those types of scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Body horror, and Alcohol
neni's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The thing I liked the most about this book was the writing and the imagery. The autumn woods and mysterious sea side town vibes were great, and the writing was quite beautiful and evocative, especially when the author described environments. The character's were okay, I didn't love them, but I didn't hate them, they were a bit cliché in their tropes, but I enjoyed the development of the main character's response to her family trauma, namely in the way she finally recognized her toxic relationship with her mother. Wes was very sweet as a love interest.
I loved Trouble the hound, especially because my own dear dog is of the same breed so I kept picturing her in the book :)
The pacing was a bit all over the place. The first third of the book felt slow and like nothing was happening, the middle was satisfying in that we finally had some progress in both the plot and the relationship between the main character's, but then the ending, while entertaining, was a bit rushed and left quite a few issues that had been brought up either unresolved or fixed so quickly it didn't feel believable.
I must say as well: the fact that the whole character's main thing was being a huntress and loving it, didn't sit quite well with me as I don't agree with hunting for sport. The descriptions of fox killing as a sport (both the magical/mythical type and the plain normal animal) bothered me.
Overall, this was an okay read, especially vibesy for autumn and with some good romance and pining in the middle but not particularly strong either in plot or character complexity.
I loved Trouble the hound, especially because my own dear dog is of the same breed so I kept picturing her in the book :)
The pacing was a bit all over the place. The first third of the book felt slow and like nothing was happening, the middle was satisfying in that we finally had some progress in both the plot and the relationship between the main character's, but then the ending, while entertaining, was a bit rushed and left quite a few issues that had been brought up either unresolved or fixed so quickly it didn't feel believable.
I must say as well: the fact that the whole character's main thing was being a huntress and loving it, didn't sit quite well with me as I don't agree with hunting for sport. The descriptions of fox killing as a sport (both the magical/mythical type and the plain normal animal) bothered me.
Overall, this was an okay read, especially vibesy for autumn and with some good romance and pining in the middle but not particularly strong either in plot or character complexity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Racism, Death, Abandonment, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child abuse, and Violence
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
3.5
This book reminded me a lot of Full Metal Alchemist, but I didn't like this as much as FMA. the main FMA similarity outside of alchemy, is the fact that Margaret's mom wanted to bring back Margs dead brother with the philosopher stone like how Ed and Al tried bringing back their mom . I thought this book was quite slow and I was waiting for the hunt to begin. I expected more action along with the romance that also grew. When the hunt actually started, everything went by too quick with the conflict with Jaime and the take down of the hala. I did enjoy the romance side of it since I did like Wes, Margaret, and Wes' family. And I liked how Margaret grew as a character although I'm not the biggest fan of "a dude's love is the thing that you needed to fix/save you" all the time.
I'm also not a fan of white, raised Christian people writing about marginalized people when they haven't had those experiences. I know the author is LGBT+ and probably has faced prejudice because of it, but the discrimination and oppression one experiences based on religion and race/ethnicity is quite different. I don't like white authors saying that racial and religious minorities need to take the high road to be better than their oppressors like what has been illustrated in this book.
I'm also not a fan of white, raised Christian people writing about marginalized people when they haven't had those experiences. I know the author is LGBT+ and probably has faced prejudice because of it, but the discrimination and oppression one experiences based on religion and race/ethnicity is quite different. I don't like white authors saying that racial and religious minorities need to take the high road to be better than their oppressors like what has been illustrated in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Child death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, Classism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
zoiejanelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
PHENOMENAL BOOK. the romance made my heart flutter, the plot was thrilling, the world building was just my type (surface level, well-explained, implications of deeper lore), and the characters were oh-so-relatable. this should be at the top of all YA fantasy readers’ lists!
a few qualms: and listen, i’m not trying to get cancelled here or make any accusations… but at times i truly felt like some scenes were lifted directly out of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye fanfiction i’ve read. an alchemist and a sharpshooter? the sharpshooter has a mad scientist/absentee parent? the alchemist wants to become a politician? blonde and black hair (actually, their whole physical descriptions honestly)? set in the same fantasy time period? (spoilers) the alchemist’s large family of all sisters/women? the sharpshooter’s loyal dog? the alchemist burns/destroys the dangerous research at the end? she’ll “follow him into hell”? the whole supporting him on his mission to become a politician? and so much more with the lab and the tragic incidents in the house!!! this is one of the reasons i gave it a 4… because i was feeling very Exile by Taylor Swift about the whole thing. if not inspired by FMAB, still super, super odd how similar they are. enough that someone should have caught it in a general “books/shows/movies about alchemy” google search, to be honest.
also i can’t give it a 5 because i don’t think explicit sex scenes should be included in the YA category but i guess i’m the only one who thinks that. yikes.
ANYWAY i loved this book, seriously. it was so well-paced, no major plot holes, the writing was actually GOOD and tasteful, there were clear allegories to current world issues, i loved all the characters and thought they were all believable and enjoyable, and the ending was very satisfying.
a few qualms: and listen, i’m not trying to get cancelled here or make any accusations… but at times i truly felt like some scenes were lifted directly out of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye fanfiction i’ve read. an alchemist and a sharpshooter? the sharpshooter has a mad scientist/absentee parent? the alchemist wants to become a politician? blonde and black hair (actually, their whole physical descriptions honestly)? set in the same fantasy time period? (spoilers)
also i can’t give it a 5 because
ANYWAY i loved this book, seriously. it was so well-paced, no major plot holes, the writing was actually GOOD and tasteful, there were clear allegories to current world issues, i loved all the characters and thought they were all believable and enjoyable, and the ending was very satisfying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
glass_carousel's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Abandonment, and Animal death
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Classism
Minor: Death of parent and Child death