Review Detail

A FAR WILDER MAGIC is an intriguing YA fantasy about family, prejudice, romance, and finding your own path. Maggie lives in the house where her family once resided. With her brother dead, father gone, and mother frequently on trips for indeterminate amounts of time, Maggie is left to take care of the house by herself. Even in a small town, this can be isolating - also because many of the townspeople spurn her for being half Yu'adir.

When a young man, Weston, shows up seeking her mother's apprenticeship as an alchemist, Maggie easily turns him away. For Weston, this potential apprenticeship is his last chance to become an alchemist. As only alchemists can be politicians and he wants to change the world, this seems like the only path for him. As a Banvish-Sumic, his family lives in near-poverty in the large city of Wickdon. With labor practices at the factories leaving his father dead, his sisters and his mother have to work harder to keep food on the table. This last chance is everything to him, so he lays it on the line to convince Maggie to allow him to stay.

Maggie does relent, and as the two spend time together, she can't help but be infuriated by his quirks and grateful for the company. After the dangerous beast, the hala, is spotted around the town, the hunt will be on - with a great prize that Maggie hopes will bring her mother back and Wes hopes will set his family on a better financial path - and secure the apprenticeship for him. The dangerous hunt is seen as a national pastime, and the townspeople are upset when Maggie and Weston decide to enter - how could they allow a Yu'adir and Banvish-Sumic pair to win?

What I loved: This is a slower paced read than I expected with the hunt not occurring until the end, leaving this as a very character-driven read. Both Maggie and Wes have been somewhat adrift in their goals and considerations for their futures. When their paths collide, they begin to help the other (sometimes inadvertently) take stock of their lives, their futures, and what is really important. Each grows quite a lot as characters during the story, and their inner dialogues are just as important as the ones they have together. The romance is equally slow as they collide and fight and circle and consider, changing from begrudging housemates into something altogether different. The character development here is really commanding and well-written.

Other major themes around family and related issues, prejudice and nationalism, bullying, wealth disparity, loneliness, politics and power, and treatment of immigrants were really thought-provoking. In particular, the prejudices/bullying is a theme throughout, as well as the best response to such actions and the ways other people around should/do react when someone is being bullied. Even though Maggie (and Wes to an extent) is primarily bullied by a few characters, there are many other bystanders and their guilt is discussed. Taking the high road may be the best choice, even when the lower would feel much better, but the discussions around such actions were also intriguing.

In this world where alchemy is a type of transformative magic, alchemists are the only politicians. Once in power, they do not enact change and live in their insulated spheres. As observed by others, poor factory/labor practices and dangerous working conditions are no longer their concern. The questions of who should govern, the morality of having such power, and what should be done with that power make for some interesting questions to discuss in the context of the story as well as more broadly. This would make a great book club pick.

The romance was also lovely and creeps up on you throughout the story, much as it seems to do for the characters themselves. With the focus on the characters themselves and their relationship, this was a slower and more consuming read. Outside of the romantic relationship, the familial relationships are quite intriguing, with both characters having been shaped by very different families in different ways. Family expectations weigh heavily on each of them, and this plays into their decisions - which they eventually realize need to be more self-driven.

What left me wanting more: As a small thing, there are some logic gaps here and there that I hope will be corrected in final versions, but it takes the reader out of the story a bit (they are pretty rare). I also was expecting more of the actual hunt from the synopsis, but it was really more of a small thing at the end. I think it would help to know that going in (this is not a fast-paced, dangerous hunt book - there's only a couple scenes from there).

Final verdict: A consuming character-driven read, A FAR WILDER MAGIC is an enchanting YA fantasy romance about family, finding yourself, and falling in love. Highly recommend for fans of COLD THE NIGHT, FAST THE WOLVES and THE WHITE STAG.