Introduction
The Will and the Wilds by Charlie N. Holmberg was published in Jan 2020 under her publisher 47North. This standalone novel asks you to enter a world of viscous beasts known as mystings and follow a forbidden romance between a mysting and a human.
A Summary
Enna and her father are outcast from her village, barely able to get by since her father’s memory problems began. Enna knows what he sacrificed to get her the enchanted stone she wears everyday, which is why when a mysting tries to kill her, she has to fight back. She makes a deal with a mysting of her own, but Maekallus’ help is far from free. When the deal goes horribly awry, Enna has to ask herself how much of herself she is willing to give to save Maekallus. And as the days they spend together blend, she finds herself wondering if she could ever love a mysting.
Writing Style
The Will and the Wilds follows two, third-person POV’s - Enna and Maekallus’. This back-and-forth helps you feel closer to both characters, and the differences in their perceptions. As is typical with Holmberg, the story spends plenty of its time with the description of places, people and things, which makes the reading experience either move quickly or slowly depending on your preferences.
What I Loved
Charlie N. Holmberg’s classical way of telling a story lends the reader to a visually inclined experience, which it most definitely was. I could picture every character extremely well, as well as the - few - settings. I also adored the trip that Enna took to the library in a neighbouring town, as it allowed me to further get to grips with the world this was set in, and also get a look into Enna’s character outside of her usual confines. The love story itself was beautiful, and I was engrossed in the character’s, as they learned to tolerate (and then love) one another. It’s nothing, if not, heartwarming.
What I Didn’t Love
I went into this book wanting that classical Holmberg fantasy feel that drew me in and didn’t let me go until it was finished. But, unfortunately, I just could not get into this book. This book feels like an old fairytale romance, but if you take a moment to think about world building, character development or plot itself, the story falls apart. It feels like a back and forth constantly as the MC just goes from the wildwoods to her house and back again, lacking the depth that it would have if it had a concrete world that the story settled into.
The side characters fall flatter than the worldbuilding though, with even the man ‘baddie’ seemingly only being evil because of a talisman that Enna has. There is no deep lore that is weaved into the story compared to Charlie N. Holmberg’s usual novels.
Also, in my opinion, the end confrontation with the mystings was incredibly anticlimactic. Overall, a beautiful love story, but that is all it is.
Recommendation
If you want a book that is a palette cleanser, without heavy lore but still something to grind your teeth into, then this may be for you. But this book is simply a love story with a vaguely fantasy setting, so do not read it if you want to be truly awed.
Songs
Songs that I find reminiscent of the book:
Anything by Adrienne Lenker
Linger by The Cranberries
I Know You by Faye Webster
Hartebeest by Yaelokre
(P.S. We made them links so feel free to click on them and get teleported straight into the vibes.)
