jporterfield99 's review for:

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

2.0

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I had pretty high hopes for this book, being a fan of Mr. Meloy's work with the Decemberists. While he has a lively imagination and a pretty good feel for creating characters and writing dialogue, he leans a bit heavily on familiar fantasy tropes. I could look past that were it not for his use of the English language. Meloy's a smart guy and he knows a lot of words. Unfortunately, he tries to fit them all into this book, sometimes in structures that simply don't work. For instance, the use of the phrase "vastly dominant" to describe an army on the cusp of victory, or a main character falling into an "immediate slumber." Usages like that are strewn throughout the book and were nearly enough to make me put it down unfinished. Vivid descriptions are great, but in many cases he just clogs the text with adjectives and adverbs that do little more than slow the pace. I probably won't seek out the rest of the series.