A review by thebookrealmguide
The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was such a fun, action-packed, fast paced, bingeable dystopian romantasy. There is nothing revolutionary about it. Just a standard cliche new adult urban fantasy read, in a good way. Just enjoyed it for what it is.

I read this as a read along, and I honestly think that made it more fun. Just a bunch of girls enjoying a fun book. Reading this book in a silo wouldn’t have been as great of a time. 

I also chose to do immersion reading with the audiobook and ebook. Stephanie Németh-Parker does a fantastic job narrating the story. Her ability to make each character feel individual was impeccable. This provided so much ambiance to enhance my reading experience. 

This book had one of my new favorite troupes - found family. I loved Kierse’s devotion and love for her friends, Gen and Ethan. This needed more developing though. It’s one of the better elements of the story. There is a reveal about them at the end and it is something I hope Book Two explores more. 

I also find the magic system to be intriguing. It needs a lot more fleshing out in Book Two, but it has the makings to be something interesting to explore and unravel. 

I wished the romance built up more seamlessly between the main characters. They are suppose to be fated, but I wish we saw more of them falling in love on the page. They make more sense as mentor/mentee, so the jump into a physical relationship was abrupt. They go from simply thinking each other is hot to “you are my person” too fast for how little they interacted outside of their heist training and planning. 

I don’t love the relationship histories of the characters, especially Graves. It doesn’t fit for how particular and orderly he is for his love life to be all over the place. Literally everyone hate him and they are his enemies. He seems to be too by the book for that to be the case. It would have made more sense if he kept to himself and didn’t pursue relationships at all. 

One thing I do hope for is that this doesn’t become a love triangle. It’s hinted at here and there, but selfishly I would prefer the main characters figured out their trust issues and differences and pushed forward together. 

I also could have done with less monsters. I couldn’t keep up, but that just might be a me thing. I prefer to stick to one or two magical creatures per book/series. Since it is clear in the blurb, I didn’t factor this into my rating. 

I do wish we had more consequences in the book. Whether it is villains, deaths, betrayals, etc, all is forgiven and forgotten rather quickly. It would be more impactful to the story if the decisions made altered the trajectory of the main characters’ journey more. Mostly things are glossed over.

Just as an aside, one person wrote that this reads like a CW show, and I would agree. I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing, I do love a good CW show. Just don’t expect too much from it and enjoy the ride. 

Overall, I will keep reading and I’m looking forward to Book Two. 

What to expect:
🗡️ Dystopian Romantasy
❤️‍🔥 Beauty and The Beast Retelling
🗡️ Celtic Mythology
❤️‍🔥Forced Proximity
🗡️Heist
❤️‍🔥Touch Her and 💀
🗡️Now You Work for Me
❤️‍🔥Spicy
🗡️Magical Monsters in NYC
❤️‍🔥Found Family

Thank you Entangled Publishing for my complimentary copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.