A review by magpieatelier
A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

man cannot live on vibes alone. while I loved the overall theme and story line I found the fantasy side of things really weak. reading things about a fictional place and religions but having such specific details about real-world versions of those things felt slapdash. I was down for a retelling/storyline of xenophobia but when it was So Obvious (pope, shabbos, mass, (the)mary, rosary, etc etc) it felt like the story was written as a historical fantasy but names had to be changed for copywrite. In this case, there was no need... It would have been a four or even five-star review from me had Allison Saft just leaned into the gothic magical New England.  I also wished Margaret grappled with her mother's treatment of her a bit more it seemed rushed. Oh well. it is YA after all so I will forgive the "safe sex" talk in it. TLDR: too many details that suspended my disbelief and pulled me out.