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jane_kelsey's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my goodness, loved this!!! You guys need to read the companion to The wren hunt. it was so good. [full review to follow]
wayfaringbibliomaniac's review against another edition
5.0
I HAVE BEEN AWAITING THIS SINCE I FINISHED READING THE WREN HUNT LAST YEAR!! Set not long after the close of The Wren Hunt, we find a new family has moved to Kilshamble and one of them has stumbled upon a deadly secret. I love everything that is fantasy and set in Ireland, so it was no surprise that I loved this as much as I did. It was equal parts mystical, dark, and beautiful. Chock full of Irish mysticism with a little South African detail!! I highly enjoyed that Mary Watson utilised her own background to develop the main family in this story.
I adored Mary Watson’s writing style in The Wren Hunt and she did not let us down in The Wickerlight! Her ability to invoke such immediacy for the reader has only improved from The Wren Hunt to now. As I started reading, I was completely lost in the world of judges and augurs once again. The world building and character development is (…out of this world? 🤣) unreal – so freaking good! Mary Watson is a writing ninja and I love her!!
I found The Wickerlight to be slightly more interesting only because we get more into the judges and their community, rather than only focusing on the augurs. It nearly felt like the augurs were the villains in this story, but truly villainy nearly always depends on the narrator, doesn’t it? We readers really get a lot more information about the feud, etc. in this companion. Plus, the mystery of the introductory death adds a bit of excitement and enigma to this world that wasn’t quite there in The Wren Hunt.
I highly recommend you pick this beautiful story up with some gin spritzes and read it as soon as you can! Read The Wren Hunt first, though! They’re connected, even if The Wickerlight isn’t a direct sequel. You’ll love Kilshamble and its inhabitants.
I adored Mary Watson’s writing style in The Wren Hunt and she did not let us down in The Wickerlight! Her ability to invoke such immediacy for the reader has only improved from The Wren Hunt to now. As I started reading, I was completely lost in the world of judges and augurs once again. The world building and character development is (…out of this world? 🤣) unreal – so freaking good! Mary Watson is a writing ninja and I love her!!
I found The Wickerlight to be slightly more interesting only because we get more into the judges and their community, rather than only focusing on the augurs. It nearly felt like the augurs were the villains in this story, but truly villainy nearly always depends on the narrator, doesn’t it? We readers really get a lot more information about the feud, etc. in this companion. Plus, the mystery of the introductory death adds a bit of excitement and enigma to this world that wasn’t quite there in The Wren Hunt.
I highly recommend you pick this beautiful story up with some gin spritzes and read it as soon as you can! Read The Wren Hunt first, though! They’re connected, even if The Wickerlight isn’t a direct sequel. You’ll love Kilshamble and its inhabitants.
crookshanks900's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
emalia113's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
readingcaffeinated's review against another edition
4.0
MYSTERY, MURDER AND MAGIC!
The sequel to Wren hunt that can be read as a standalone is captivating.
Following the story of David and Zara, we find the village where we left it at the end of Wren Hunt. Except something has gone wrong and a girl is dead.
I love Irish folklore inspired stories and this is no exception.
It took a few chapters to get over my disappointment of not getting more of Wren and Tarc, but once the mystery of Zara and David took over I was hooked. The slow burn romance is cute and innocent.
The writing style is easy to follow, though the storyline is complex. This tangled web took some unraveling but it was well worth the commitment.
The book is well paced, with a great balance between slow and fast paced chapters, creating a great rhythm to the novel.
All in all a great read.
The sequel to Wren hunt that can be read as a standalone is captivating.
Following the story of David and Zara, we find the village where we left it at the end of Wren Hunt. Except something has gone wrong and a girl is dead.
I love Irish folklore inspired stories and this is no exception.
It took a few chapters to get over my disappointment of not getting more of Wren and Tarc, but once the mystery of Zara and David took over I was hooked. The slow burn romance is cute and innocent.
The writing style is easy to follow, though the storyline is complex. This tangled web took some unraveling but it was well worth the commitment.
The book is well paced, with a great balance between slow and fast paced chapters, creating a great rhythm to the novel.
All in all a great read.
milkteajeon's review against another edition
5.0
07/11/21: there were some really awful moments in this and on reread, the ending wasn't as satisfying as i would've liked but feels in line with how the rest of the book went
4.5; really interesting to read that flip of perspectives - after the end of the wren hunt we're very much left to reconsider everyone's actions. poor david and zara :( but they were so cute together ^^ i really loved david's perspective and also zara's. compared to the wren hunt it was easier to read (less confusing) and also i just connected with them more whereas i didn't really feel anything for tarc lol
overall very enjoyable
4.5; really interesting to read that flip of perspectives - after the end of the wren hunt we're very much left to reconsider everyone's actions. poor david and zara :( but they were so cute together ^^ i really loved david's perspective and also zara's. compared to the wren hunt it was easier to read (less confusing) and also i just connected with them more whereas i didn't really feel anything for tarc lol
overall very enjoyable
story_sanctuary's review against another edition
4.0
In the book THE WREN HUNT, the story follows Wren, a young Augur who’s caught in the middle of the war between her people and the Judges, her enemies. THE WICKERLIGHT is told by two people: one of the Judges who hunted Wren named David (and get ready, because there’s so much more to this guy than you thought there was in the first book!) and an outsider named Zara who simply wants to know what happened to her sister.
I had a much easier time connecting with the story this time through– I think maybe because I was already a bit familiar with the story world. I also LOVED getting to see a whole different side of David, who was in the first book. And seeing the community from an outsider’s perspective also gave the story a lot more intrigue, too. Right off the bat, the reader knows so much more than Zara does, and it added a lot of tension to many of the things she did, because we knew the danger she was placing herself in, even when she didn’t.
Some of the other characters from THE WREN HUNT appear in THE WICKERLIGHT, too. Cassa Harkness, Wren, and Tariq all appear on the page here and there. It was cool to read about them again and find out what had happened to them since the end of the first book.
Would I read a third book in this series? Um. YEAH. Especially after the way THE WICKERLIGHT ends, yes, yes, YES! Please tell me more. I can’t wait to dive back into this really delicious, dark Irish storyworld.
I had a much easier time connecting with the story this time through– I think maybe because I was already a bit familiar with the story world. I also LOVED getting to see a whole different side of David, who was in the first book. And seeing the community from an outsider’s perspective also gave the story a lot more intrigue, too. Right off the bat, the reader knows so much more than Zara does, and it added a lot of tension to many of the things she did, because we knew the danger she was placing herself in, even when she didn’t.
Some of the other characters from THE WREN HUNT appear in THE WICKERLIGHT, too. Cassa Harkness, Wren, and Tariq all appear on the page here and there. It was cool to read about them again and find out what had happened to them since the end of the first book.
Would I read a third book in this series? Um. YEAH. Especially after the way THE WICKERLIGHT ends, yes, yes, YES! Please tell me more. I can’t wait to dive back into this really delicious, dark Irish storyworld.
poppy27's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gonturans's review against another edition
4.0
Weird, wonderful, beautifully written. In conjunction with The Wren Hunt, it’s a great example of how what’s considered good and bad depends on the perspective of the narrator.