I wanted to like A Far Wilder Magic a lot more than I did. The story was fine and the characters were interesting enough, but I could not get over the bickering and internal angst. The novel stagnated in Maggie and Wes’s internal, circular monologues for what felt like endless chapters and the constant will-they-won’t-they to their relationship felt distracting to the plot and was just - dull. I did like the magical and religious aspects to the story but that wasn’t quite enough to make me really like the novel. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this. There is some mystery, alchemy, romance, and a hunt for a magical creature. I honestly expected the hunt to take up more of the book but most of the book is about Margaret and Weston figuring out they need to work together (and that they really, really like each other).

I think that would be my main complaint about this book, the middle portion was a bit slow and drawn out. We get a bit too much of our characters' waffling back and forth, running away from each other and then running back.

I loved the alchemy in here and really enjoyed Margaret's sharpshooting. The story has some more complex themes behind it around child abandonment (Margaret's mother has been missing for awhile) and religious discrimination (both Margaret and Weston come from groups of people that are hated for their religious practices in the small town).

This was easy to read and engaging. The small town Margaret lives in really comes alive for the reader. The characters, even side characters, were very well done. I enjoyed the characters of Margaret and Weston, even though they were fairly morally gray, they were complex and intriguing. The story itself is a bit dark and didn't have as much humor or wit as I would have liked.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. The story ends up being more about Margaret and Weston and their lives than about the Halfmoon Hunt and parts are a bit slow. However, I adored the alchemy in here and enjoyed the mystery and politics. I would definitely read more books by Saft, which is good since I just got "A Dark and Drowning Tide" to review. I would recommend it to those interested in a dark, magical, romance of sorts. ( )

This was a story full of so much angst. Margaret Welty is full of it, her father left after her brother died and partially because her mother threw herself into alchemical studies to find the alchemists stone to bring her son back. Margaret basically is browbeaten by her mother and left with very few resources while her mother goes off on long supply discovery trips. Her father was from another people, the Yu'adir and she suffers from racial abuse in her local village. Into her life comes Wes Winters, looking for an apprenticeship with her mother, his family are Banvish (whose Banvish looks suspiciously Irish...)

While this is marketed as YA and both characters are in their late teens this is more a new adult book for me, but the yearning that the two had for each other was quite intense, and they had no idea what they felt for a long time. His family was so dynamic and cared so much about each other and her mother was so standoffish and you could see her mimicking that behaviour. It was a case that they had to complete the quest but I was left with a lot of questions about how they were going to deal with the aftermath both physically and psychologically and what the death of the hala will mean to the world.

It's a good read, took a while to get into it but could barely put it down until it was over. ( )

This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Saft, but I was looking forward to it for a couple months before it actually came out. It seemed to have everything I wanted - a gorgeous cover, a magical Fox-god hunt, and a slow burn sunshine x grumpy romance? Yes please!

This tells the story of Margaret Welty, a 17-year old who is living with her hound, Trouble, in a manor and waiting for her mother to come back in the countryside. Wes Winters comes from a big family of sisters in the city, but because he hasn’t achieved much in his life, he looks for Margaret’s mom to score an alchemy apprenticeship and help provide for his family. He only sees Margaret in the manor, and she lets him stay if he’ll join the hunt with her, so they can both get what they want.

Told in third person present from Margaret and Wes’ POVs. For some reason the writing style made me feel very distant to the characters and like I was watching their story unfold from up above, so to speak, but I didn’t mind it so much and it didn’t cut from my enjoyment. The book is marketed as YA, but with some of the language and themes, I felt it should be edged more toward NA.

What I loved:
—The Characters: I related very much to her mistrust, loneliness, and in a small sense, her strained relationship to her mother. And her decisions and motivations made sense for a 17-year-old. I also enjoyed reading about Wes’ family…I love the support and love they have for each other, and ultimately, for Wes and Margaret. I also liked Annette, as well, and her scenes with Wes. I found her to be sweet yet relatable in her motives.

—The Romance: I love a good slow-burn romance. And this is sloooow. They don’t come together until more than halfway through. But there is so much pining and yearning beforehand! I mostly didn’t understand what was keeping them apart and how them falling in love would risk everything. I felt they made a surprisingly mature teenage couple.

-The magic: Alchemy is the magic system here. Though quite scientific, I still enjoyed reading all about it and I found it so fascinating.

What I liked:
-Wes. I had mixed feelings about him. He came off as a smooth talking flirt who really is insecure deep down. Problem is, I’ve met a lot of men like him in real life, and the vast majority of them are not good guys who just need love to be saved. Perhaps this is my own bias shining through. Despite that, I loved his relationship with his family and how much he cared for them, and how sweet he was to Margaret.

-The Pacing: Again, very slow and this seems to be very character-driven, which is fine. The main event of the book, the fox hunt, starts at 90% and is over in a few pages. I did feel as if a good quarter of the book could be cut out and it wouldn’t change anything. Lots of scenes where nothing is happening for long stretches of time.

-The Prose: I thought her writing was beautiful at times, and borderline purple-prosey at others. But page after page and scene after scene of everything being so extravagantly described made me skim over some scenes.

What I didn’t like:
-The Worldbuilding: I had no clue where the story was taking place or what time period. I know it’s a fantasy town called New Albion, but then it spoke of real-world things like condoms and automobiles. The religions threw me off and I had no idea what Katharist or Yu’adir or Sumic or even Banvish was, and they were thrown around like I was already supposed to know what they were. These seemed to play a big part in the prejudice and forbidden romance aspect but since I had no idea what they were or what it meant, it held very little meaning for me.
Also, the prize money was a lot, according to the characters, but since I had no timeframe to refer to, I didn’t feel that urgency and enthusiasm to win as the characters did. I honestly felt like this could have taken place in early 1900s real world America and it wouldn’t have changed the story at all.

-The Villain: Jaime was a one dimensional, cardboard cutout bully and didn’t seem all that dangerous, just annoying. We get a tiny glimpse into why he behaves the way he does at the very end, but that’s it.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I wish the world was fleshed out way more than it was. ( )

2.5/5

review to come- i wrote one and it is missing now so i have to go again ( )