PD: November 26th 2019
I was fully prepared to dive into The Wickerlight, having just finished The Wren Hunt and I ended up liking this one even more. An unusual thing when it comes to sequels. I found the concept of an outsider perspective in Zara and a voice to Wren’s nemesis, David provided a much better balance and understanding of the story this time around. The Wren Hunt had a lot of internal struggles between the judges and the augurs that was so rooted over generations that it made somewhat difficult to follow, it was as if you needed to be ‘in’ on the information yourself which isn’t possible for a reader. But The Wickerlight brought an outsider looking in which I found made it easier to read and follow because it was more relatable to the reader. The mysterious death of her sister, Laila provided a new look into this world of magic and showed that it’s not just two kinds of people who can get hurt. This is no longer a fight exclusive to augurs and judges!
“Having hung out with the Drama crowd for years, I recognize the exaggeration, the voice intonations, the careful facial expressions. John Canty is one of those people, the ones who are always performing. The world is their stage, everyone their audience.”
It didn’t hurt either that Zara was actually clever when it came to tackling her sister’s mysterious death. She thought rationally when put into dangerous situations (which there were a lot of) and she had the guts to confront a world that only became stranger as she investigated. No back up, nothing and yet her tenacity to solve the mystery always put her smack in the middle. She was genuine and clever in every scene which made me incredibly happy because nothing makes a book worse than when the heroine is dumb. And I mean dumb, dumb, like stupid girls in horror movies who always end up dead dumb. Zara is not that girl, thank god!
__________
“I ease her phone from her hand, as she watches me, I save my number under Handyman. More like handsy man.'
“You want me to call you? She looks at the phone and laughs. ‘Handyman sounds like a hammer-wielding maniac from B-grade horror.’
‘That’s probably about right.’ I’m grinning like a fool as she gives me her number.”
__________
I found the romance between Zara and David developed smoother than Wren and Tarc’s and I ultimately ended up liking David much more in this one. He has a dark edge which we saw in the first novel but here we see that he’s not as evil as Wren had us believe. There are many instances where appearances can be deceiving and even a seasoned reader like me who loves mysteries was left stumped! Nothing is up front in these books and I found that to be a really good quality to this eerily atmospheric read. The amount of twists and turns is definitely the hidden gems for this series. Watch out for betrayal because that will happen! A lot! And the scariest part of all? Is how unpredictable it is, every time!
“We never, ever give our words away. We need them to form laws because that’s how our magic works.”
One thing that still bothers me, even now when I’ve had a day to mull things over, is the whole concept of judges and the importance they put on words. I didn’t get it the whole time I was reading and unfortunately I still don’t now. This whole quote confuses the hell out of me and it seemed really weird to read, every time this sort of stuff was mentioned. It could just be me but you’ve been warned!
“Here’s the thing about monsters in my world: they’re normal people living at a knife’s edge, poised between decent and depraved.”
I think the highlight of this novel is David’s character. He was on the outskirts of the story in The Wren Hunt and he only appeared to antagonize and terrorize Wren. He had a negative connation to his character from the beginning and then in here he becomes something else. And by the end he is redeemed. I was hesitant and unsure in the beginning having no idea how the story was headed upon realizing the change in characters but it turned it out really well. There’s an eeriness that matches so well with the atmosphere and the Irish lore that makes these books extremely addictive!
I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers at Bloomsbury for this opportunity to review an early copy of Mary Watson's companion novel, The Wickerlight.