The Will and the Wilds by Charlie N. Holmberg
ARC received via NetGalley for an honest review.
Publish Date: January 21, 2020
I fell in love with Charlie Holmberg back when I read her Paper Magician series. I have always been a fan of origami so when I read the synopsis that it was about a magical origami I couldn’t pass it up. Instantly I knew that I found a new favorite author. I flew through that series and couldn’t help but want more!!! So when I saw The Will and the Wilds pop up on NetGalley I couldn’t help myself and instantly started smashing the request button. Then to my happy surprise, I was approved!!!! The book gods were looking out for me that day because I could hardly contain my excitement. Now here we are the day before its published out into the world and I finally can tell all my friends to READ THIS BOOK!!!! It was exactly what I was hoping for when I read the description. Dark and twisted yet still in that same feel good Charlie Holmberg fashion, you are left with a happy contented feeling that you just went through quite the adventure and found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
If I could compare this book to anything, I would definitely say that it has a Labyrinth feel. Complete with a forbidden romance and monsters and magic and all the ingredients for a book that you can’t help but devour. It starts off with our main character Enna narrowly avoiding a gobler attack in her home. But what’s strange is that normally the monsters of the wildwood don’t venture close to the people of her village and definitely not past the wards and herbs that are supposed to keep them away. But when she wakes up to find a monster in her home in the middle of the night she knows something is different. It soon becomes clear that the stone her father risked his life to find and give her for protection might be the very thing that is putting her in danger. So Enna takes it upon herself to find a solution, but at what cost? Can she save herself and her father without creating more danger? Has she made a huge mistake? You know that saying that if you’re going through hell, keep going? I think that was probably the mindset our sweet and innocent Enna had to keep to in order to try and right this horrible mess she gets into,.
And of course no story can be complete for me with out some sort of love interest, and one of my favorite tropes lies within these pages… FORBIDDEN ROMANCE! I love when two characters can’t be together but against all odds they fall for each other anyway. This is one ANGSTY love that you are rooting for helplessly throughout and ugh its so good too!!! I loved this love!!!
This book was a wonderful journey through the dangerous wildwood and beyond to the Deep. Full of dark monsters, magic, and love there really isn’t anything that this story lacks. Not to mention it all wraps up neatly within one book. No waiting for the next in the series, no cliffhanger ending. Just pure enjoyment from beginning to end. There weren’t any dull moments, any lags or parts where I was just waiting for something to happen. It was one of those books where every part had meaning and was put there for a reason. Which is why I appreciate Charlie Holmberg so much as an author. She is a wonderful writer that doesn’t get the notice that she deserves because everything she writes is just so damn good!!! If you’re looking for that dark but lovely story to kick off your 2020 look no further, its here!!!
If you liked this book:
Keeping with that labyrinth vibe and the forbidden romance, I think that Wintersong compliments The Will and the Wilds perfectly. Both have that dark but romantic aura as well as plenty of adventure. Wintersong was one of my favorite reads of 2017 and it has a very unique feel to it that I don’t think is very common. There is a fine line that you walk with the dark and romantic that I think can be done right but most definitely can also be done wrong. Wintersong and The Will of the Wilds will satiate that appetite though and leave you feeling like you’ve been wooed by the monster you were told to stay away from all along.
Let’s Discuss
Do you have an underrated author that you tend to love everything they write? Whats your favorite love trope? Have you read either of these books? I’d love to know what you all think!!! Hope your 2020 has been full of amazing reads so far!
