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A review by lizbethandthelifeinbetween
Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
There hasn't been a true revenge novel since <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i>, but this came close, then went off a cliff. I'm having trouble putting all my thoughts into a good order, so I will go as they appear in the book.
I've been waiting for this book since Stealing Snow. I loved Paige's other works and adored how they put a fresh spin on old tales with enough originality to feel new and exciting. I have not completely changed my schedule and done nothing but read for an entire day for the pure reason that I was excited to finish a book in a long time, but I sat myself down for seven hours today to finish this before the semester fully kicks into full gear because I had to know what happens. For the first 3/4ths of this book, I was in love. This was going to be my read of the YEAR. Watering the first part of this book down to a "Cinderella Retelling" is doing the amount of worldbuilding Paige did a disservice. This was a fantasy novel in its own right, completely original with some interesting ideas that were at times underexplored, but serviced their parts in the story. Many interesting story elements here have nothing to do with Cinderella, and knowing it's a retelling removes some of the suspension because you know at some point, all of the MC's plans are going to fail and she's going to send Cinderella to the ball.
I have a thing for a lot of the names in this book... Farrow and Mather are the worst offenders, but some of the Entente had some bad ones too, but they did not show up that often. I liked South, but I was expecting it to have more meaning, especially when we figure out who his family is and how North, West, East, and South play roles in some classics and fairytales (though avoiding it services to keep this book from feeling too much like [book:Dorothy Must Die|18053060], which is mute by the end). Since this is set up for the series, maybe it will have some payoff. This really bugs me with all the Entente. The Fates felt like they had meaningful names, being from legend, but the rest of the sisterhood had weird and inconsistent names. The magic system isn't the most developed, and linking what the sisters do to their names would have been something to make it a bit more interesting as it is definitely the weak link.
In the end, I think this book fails to go all the way. This never should have been a series. We have a girl, who watched her entire family die, a group known as the Entente who are something more than human, the only people who would truly understand him. She finds out that not only has she lost them, but she lost her powers as well, the thing that connects her to her past. Gone. All of it, in one day, and she had been powerless to stop it as their love for her kept her safe. She spends the rest of her time becoming a Shadow, hoping that this would let her into the palace so that she can FINALLY get revenge on the Queen, which goes against everything she has ever been taught about being Entente. This book explores themes of witch-hunting, revenge, class, and more. The change from the Entente being helpful to the Queendoms (this whole world is matriarchal, a breath of fresh air) to becoming a new thing, a watch, a bad thing. That part of the book was chilling. Farrow was severed from everything she had ever been and wanted revenge. She was a compelling character. Everything was set up for this to be the best book I read this year and maybe become one of my favourites. A revenge story.
Instead, it's the start of the series. The ending is not satisfying, and it will never be. I am worried that the series now will feel too much like <i>Dorothy Must Die</i> and there were many elements like the Rooks that were not needed for the story but will make good fodder for the next books in the series. I was craving a revenge story and did not get that.
I will give credit that this book continued to have good themes into the last 4th of the book, dealing with changed moralities, growing distant from your family, and not seeing everyone in the "other" group as the same. It could have delved into these more, but unfortunately, there were a lot of things going on that served no purpose except to set up concepts for the rest of the series to explore :(.
I don't think I've ever wished for a series to be one book before, but I feel that here. I will be reading the next book, of course. But I still feel cheated from a 5-star read.
I've been waiting for this book since Stealing Snow. I loved Paige's other works and adored how they put a fresh spin on old tales with enough originality to feel new and exciting. I have not completely changed my schedule and done nothing but read for an entire day for the pure reason that I was excited to finish a book in a long time, but I sat myself down for seven hours today to finish this before the semester fully kicks into full gear because I had to know what happens. For the first 3/4ths of this book, I was in love. This was going to be my read of the YEAR. Watering the first part of this book down to a "Cinderella Retelling" is doing the amount of worldbuilding Paige did a disservice. This was a fantasy novel in its own right, completely original with some interesting ideas that were at times underexplored, but serviced their parts in the story. Many interesting story elements here have nothing to do with Cinderella, and knowing it's a retelling removes some of the suspension because you know at some point, all of the MC's plans are going to fail and she's going to send Cinderella to the ball.
I have a thing for a lot of the names in this book... Farrow and Mather are the worst offenders, but some of the Entente had some bad ones too, but they did not show up that often. I liked South, but I was expecting it to have more meaning, especially when we figure out who his family is and how North, West, East, and South play roles in some classics and fairytales (though avoiding it services to keep this book from feeling too much like [book:Dorothy Must Die|18053060], which is mute by the end). Since this is set up for the series, maybe it will have some payoff. This really bugs me with all the Entente. The Fates felt like they had meaningful names, being from legend, but the rest of the sisterhood had weird and inconsistent names. The magic system isn't the most developed, and linking what the sisters do to their names would have been something to make it a bit more interesting as it is definitely the weak link.
In the end, I think this book fails to go all the way. This never should have been a series. We have a girl, who watched her entire family die, a group known as the Entente who are something more than human, the only people who would truly understand him. She finds out that not only has she lost them, but she lost her powers as well, the thing that connects her to her past. Gone. All of it, in one day, and she had been powerless to stop it as their love for her kept her safe. She spends the rest of her time becoming a Shadow, hoping that this would let her into the palace so that she can FINALLY get revenge on the Queen, which goes against everything she has ever been taught about being Entente. This book explores themes of witch-hunting, revenge, class, and more. The change from the Entente being helpful to the Queendoms (this whole world is matriarchal, a breath of fresh air) to becoming a new thing, a watch, a bad thing. That part of the book was chilling. Farrow was severed from everything she had ever been and wanted revenge. She was a compelling character. Everything was set up for this to be the best book I read this year and maybe become one of my favourites. A revenge story.
Instead, it's the start of the series. The ending is not satisfying, and it will never be. I am worried that the series now will feel too much like <i>Dorothy Must Die</i> and there were many elements like the Rooks that were not needed for the story but will make good fodder for the next books in the series. I was craving a revenge story and did not get that.
I will give credit that this book continued to have good themes into the last 4th of the book, dealing with changed moralities, growing distant from your family, and not seeing everyone in the "other" group as the same. It could have delved into these more, but unfortunately, there were a lot of things going on that served no purpose except to set up concepts for the rest of the series to explore :(.
I don't think I've ever wished for a series to be one book before, but I feel that here. I will be reading the next book, of course. But I still feel cheated from a 5-star read.