A review by wordwilderness
Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn

emotional sad 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

4.5

 

4.5/5 Stars

Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn is a lyrically written fantasy novel inspired by the American Wild West. Honestly, I didn't expect to be dazzled by this book. I'm more interested in dragons and sword fights than horses and gunfights; but Chorn made me fall in love with her colorful fantasy world. She writes with such emotional awareness and knowledge. I knew I had to add more of her books to my TBR after finishing Of Honey and Wildfires.

Writing Style

The plotline follows 3 main characters during two main time periods, which worked well with the lyrical writing style. The missing pieces of the story created an air of mystery surrounding the characters. This type of storytelling can get confusing, but it was executed perfectly. I always had just enough details to keep me interested and guessing at what the author would reveal next.

The only issue I had with the writing (and the book as a whole) was it sometimes distracted me from the actual story. At times I wish the book focused less on the prose and more on what the characters were doing.

Worldbuilding

Surprisingly, the worldbuilding ended up being one of my favorite parts of this book. Worldbuilding isn't usually my favorite part of fantasy, but the magic system in Of Honey and Wildfires is one of my favorites of all time. Chorn seamlessly wove shine oil into her Old West setting while making subtle jabs at American capitalism. I can absolutely believe an addictive miracle medicine would be exploited by the rich at the expense of everyone else. Without being obvious or preachy, Chorn showed how shine oil was used to control the population of Shine Territory. It's obvious that the author put a lot of thought into her magic system and what it would say about the world.

Characters

The characters were all beautifully written and complex. I loved how the author framed violence, love, forgiveness, and grief through them. Lots of books I read have violence without really facing the ugly truth, but Chorn doesn't shy away from addressing all the messy conflict and emotions that go with it.

Recommendation

Overall this was a fantastic read. I'd recommend it to any fan of fantasy, especially someone who loves unconventional worldbuilding and lyrical prose.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Chronic illness, Grief, and Addiction

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Deadnaming, and Child death

Further details on DEADNAMING content warning:

The trans character (Arlen) is deadnamed when another character demands to know what he was called before he named himself Arlen (trying to figure out his identity). The character also points out Arlen's breasts and lack of facial hair. The character does not continue to deadname the trans character and does not question the trans character's gender. The deadname is mentioned again when Arlen comes across the grave his parents gave him when they believed died as a baby