I wanted to love A Dark and Wild Wood, but the romance was not doing it for me here. A Dark and Wild Wood is promising and I loved the Bluebeard vibe to it. Keep reading this book review of A Dark and Wild Wood for my full thoughts.
Summary
Ever since she was a child, Salomé has been plagued by visions of spirits and dangerous powers she can’t control. After watching her foster mother burn as a witch, she and her beloved sister Rochelle are raised together in a convent, a grim and dreary existence. Until one day, Rochelle vanishes.
Determined to find a way to save her, Salomé runs: first to a brothel, and then, after a terrible accident, away from the village and into the woods. Deep amongst the trees of the wild Black Forest, she comes face-to-face with Lord Death.
Rather than taking her life, he brings her to his home at the heart of the woods, a strange manor full of locked rooms and mysterious corridors, crumbling one moment, magnificent the next. He promises to make her his apprentice and teach her how to harness her mind and magic. His words are as seductive as his presence—but should one trust Death?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I loved the vibes of A Dark and Wild Wood. The idea of a Death figure it always my kryptonite. But here I needed a bit more from the Death figure. There was this alluring Bluebeard vibe to the book, but it needed to materialize into more than just smoke. I loved the angle of learning magic, but I had a hard time falling in love with the characters and their romance. It was a situation where, logically, I understood the characters motivations, but didn’t really feel compelling. They didn’t sweep me away. A Dark and Wild Wood is a book I connected with more intellectually than emotionally, but when the romance started developing it lost me.
I wanted to connect more, to see the ways in which the world discounts women, and how it’s this learning arc. But I didn’t get this drawing factor of their connection and it introduced this element that felt hollow to me. That being said, if you like the vibes of Bluebeard, magical woods, and learning magic this could still be for you. The romance arc just totally lost me and felt a bit uncomfortable.
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Find A Dark and Wild Wood on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.