I've read many of Holmberg's books and there are a couple of overriding comments about why I like her writing.

1- She develops new worlds and doesn't rehash all her old ideas
2- Every magic system in the new world is unique and has a set of rules
3- How the characters don't know how to solve their problems, but they keep going anyhow

One of the strengths in The Will and the Wilds is the relationship Enna has with her father. It feels so genuine the way he is slipping away with dementia and how she guides or misdirects him because of his failing memory. When she discovers the root of his mental problem, I felt like it brought the issue to a new level.

I also enjoyed her relationship with Tennith and Maekallus. In both cases, she is tentative but for different reasons. Tennith is kind and handsome, and the boy she's crushed over, so her hesitancy is believable. Maekallus is a supernatural being with a horn and knife-like tail, so there is no need to describe her hesitancy in this case. Who does she fall for? The good boy or bad monster? The biggest component of the relationship with the possible male romantic lead characters is how Enna's compassion grows. She is multidimensional and takes the reader on a trip through all her emotions as she works out her feelings and problems.

This story was being written at the same time as The Paper Magician. I didn't know this fact until after I'd finished. The awesome thing about this is seeing how different the two worlds are.

If you're a fan of fantasy with a fairytale bent, I think you'll enjoy The Will and the Wilds

The premise of this book sounded fascinating, but I could not connect with the characters and their relationship. It begins with Maekallus manipulating Enna into giving her a piece of his soul through a kiss... and I’m not super into that I guess.

The world building was interesting, taking a fae-like approach, but it seemed kind of generic to me.

I’m sad that this book wasn’t for me, but I’m sure others will enjoy the romantic tension where I could not.

Enna and her father live on the edge of the Wildwood,a forest where mystings can enter the mortal realm and pray on human bodies and souls. But when a group of mystings attacks Enna in search of something very powerful that she possesses, she has no choice but to strike a deal with another mysting,Maekallus, for help. The synopsis got one thing wrong though. It is not the kiss that tied Maekallus to the mortal realm but a curse. The longer he stays the more he suffers and will eventually die. A kiss willingly given can restore his strength but it chips Enna's soul every time they share a kiss. So the plot is really this:Enna and Maekallus try to undo the curse to save both their lives while also trying to figure out what is going on with the other mystings.
I think I'll go with 3.5* for this one. I've read the Paper Magician series by this author and was not a fan of it at all but this book was a pleasant surprise. It had a rich atmosphere to it that I could almost feel. Enna was a good protagonist, strong yet vulnerable and very smart. It was interesting to watch Maekallus slowly change and become more human with each piece of Enna's soul he received. The mystings reminded me a lot of fae.
But essentially this a romance, so there is not much world building or history or politics, and not much background on mystings themselves, only little theories here and there. I wish it was deeper than that. Also,the big bad problem was resolved so easily and quickly that it anticlimactic.
Overall, if you enjoy romances in a fantasy setting I think you will like this one.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book early thanks to #NetGalley!

I love Charlie N. Holmberg! I sped through this book, and enjoyed every minute of it. The world building was fantastic, as was the character development. The different races of Mistings were really interesting. I hope this is a long running series!

Enna has lived her whole life in fear of the mystings that roam the woods near her small village. When one of these monsters breaks into her home and attacks her for the mysterious stone she wears around her wrist, Enna decides to take matters into her own hands. She summons Maekallus, a trickster Narval, to track down the Gobbler who attacked her, but she soon learns his help is not for free. His price? Just one kiss from Enna. The catch? She'll lose her soul.

After the pair strike a deal, Maekallus gets trapped in the mortal world which slowly starts to eat him alive. Only a willing kiss from Enna can help slow the process and save him. Although it's a temporary solution for Maekallus, the more pieces of her soul she offers up, the more he starts to feel emotions he has never felt before. If Enna isn't able to find a way to break the binding spell on Maekallus, he'll be consumed completely taking her soul with him.

I thought the premise of this was really solid, but I didn't fully love the execution. I felt the romance between Enna and Maekallus fully took over the plot, and the mysting army that the pair were supposed to be fighting sort of fell by the wayside. I also didn't feel any chemistry between them, so the romance just didn't seem believable to me. I wish we learned more about the Deep, the land of the mystings, and just more about them in general because all the different varieties seemed so interesting. Despite that, I did think the world was fun to read about and it was definitely very whimsical and a bit dark, I was just hoping for slightly more.

I'm in love. I get very strong fairy tale vibes from this story which is my (bread, butter, and) jam. We follow Enna, a young woman living in a cottage in the woods with her ailing father. The woods surrounding them are dangerous because they contain mystings, a broad term for different types of monsters/creatures. To protect herself and her father from a relentless attack, she strikes a deal with a mysting that looks very much human. This was the angsty romantic fairy tale that I needed.

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this title.

**I was provided an electronic ARC by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Charlie Holmberg's The Will and the Wilds is part fairytale, part love story, and all adventure. Readers follow Enna, a budding herbalist who has learned about the creatures of the wildwood (mystings) from her grandmother. When Enna strikes a bargain with mysting Maekallus, she becomes bound to him, and he to the mortal world. They then must aim to sever the binding before it is too late.

I very much enjoyed the concepts Holmberg presented in the mystings. They came across as fae/monster blends, and the lore she introduced surrounding them was very interesting and refreshing. I honestly could have just read the encyclopedia of mystings and would have been happy with that.

I wasn't super fond of Enna as a main character, as she seemed to personify the YA female MC trope sort of situation. That being said, I did like her devotion to her father, even if she bailed on him whenever was convenient for her and regularly used his memory loss to her advantage. I liked Maekallus, but he kind of personified the roguish sort of lad that I'm prone to liking anyhow.

Holmberg's strength, therefore, was in the world-building glimpses that she provided and in the whimsical writing style that lent itself well to the setting she created.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel and would read more from Holmberg in the future.

Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Enna is living with her sick father on the outskirts of the Wildwood. There is an increase in Mystings which alarms Enna when they evade her barriers and break into her home. She takes it upon herself to make a deal with a mysting in exchange for dealing with these creatures. Things do not go as planned thus begins our adventure.

The mysting Enna calls upon is called, Maekallus, a Narval from the Deep. I enjoyed this character a ton. From the way he is described to his mischievous sass. I really loved seeing him grow and change due to Enna’s soul.

My only complaint is the lack of a strong antagonist. The antagonist was promising and I was expecting an epic showdown but there was nothing like that. It was very anticlimactic.

Overall, I enjoyed the characters – would love to know more about this world and the Wildwood and its inhabitants.

Holmberg’s stories continue to be an enjoyment.

Enna knows to fear the mystings that roam the wildwood near her home. When one tries to kill her to obtain an enchanted stone, Enna takes a huge risk: fighting back with a mysting of her own.

Maekallus's help isn't free. His price? A kiss. One with the power to steal her soul. But their deal leaves Maekallus bound to the mortal realm, which begins eating him alive. Only Enna's kiss, given willingly, can save him from immediate destruction. It's a temporary salvation for Maekallus and a lingering doom for Enna. Part of her soul now burns bright inside Maekallus, making him feel for the first time.

Enna shares Maekallus's suffering, but her small sacrifice won't last long. If she and Maekallus can't break the spell binding him to the mortal realm, Maekallus will be consumed completely--and Enna's soul with him.

My Thoughts:
So imaginative, and entrancing!! I loved the magic and the monsters and the characters!! Enna and Maekallus' relationship is to die for!! There is banter, action, and of course romance. As well as lies, trickery, and heartbreak!! The twists were subtle but spectacularly done!! It was completely un put down-able and I loved every word of this fast paced, romantic story!! Totally recommend to fans of her other writing, as well as V. E. Schwab, Sara Dennard, etc.

Enna has been taught to fear the mystings that visit the wildwood near her home, but she is fascinated by them at the same time. When a mysting attacks her for an enchanted stone she possesses, Enna uses her knowledge of the demons to bargain with another mysting for protection.

The mysting Enna summons, named Maekallus, agrees to the deal she offers, but can not complete his task before he becomes trapped in the mortal world, a place that is deadly to mystings that linger within its borders too long. The unfinished deal binds Enna’s fate to that of Maekallus, forcing her to help him to free herself.

Maekallus requires a kiss, freely given, to heal himself and buy them time, a kiss that instead of stealing Enna’s soul, only takes a portion of it, giving him human emotions for the first time, and forcing Enna to experience Maekallus’ suffering. The exchange is only a temporary fix and the two must now work together to free themselves before the realm devours them both.

I’ve been a fan of Charlie N. Holmberg since the first novel in her Paper Magician series. I love the quirkiness and depth of the worlds she creates, and this new novel is full of both of these things. The characters are written with flaws and realistic motivations and qualities that a make them jump off of the page. She weaves a sustainable world around those characters and quietly brings them to life within the story line. The plot is intriguing and grasps a reader’s interest right from the beginning and stays interesting throughout the novel. All of these things blend together to fashion a unique and delightful book that is easy to get lost within

Reading this book was like falling into a dream world: mesmerizing, beautiful, and magical. It's the kind of story that retains its essence of magic even after you've finished, like somehow this book sitting on your shelf is truly a porthole to another world.

Essentially a fantasy fairy tale with an equally fantastic and folkloric quality, its romantic and wild, woodsy and lyrical, with a little bit of Jim Henson's Labyrinth and Guillermo del Toro* (Pans Labyrinth) vibe: there's a darkness that's alluring and beautiful too. Its too easy to say this is a take on "Beauty and the Beast", because it is definitely its own story, richly drawn and evoking a magic all its own; but yes we do have a maiden, and an unusual beast of a man (deftly created and easy to picture from the point of his deadly tail to the tip of his spiraling horn) along with curses, magic, and plenty of creepy goblin-like underlings of the nether world.

For me this one is an instant classic, one I will happily re-read in years to come, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik's Uprooted, Margaret Rogerson's An Enchantment of Ravens, and Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy.

*With her careful crafting of the Mystings and their various castes I couldn't help but think of Guillermo's eerie animalistic creations in both Pan's Labyrinth and The Golden Army (Hellboy 2)

Thank you once again Net Galley for the ARC of this book! (in exchange for my fair review and honest opinion)

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an absolutely delightful fairy tale. Enna and Maekullus are on otp worthy duo.

Their relationship begins with one attempting to use the other and it blossoms into a heady romance.

Charlie does it again! Another zippy, binge-able YA fantasy with moving passages and fully formed main characters.

3.5 stars rounded down.

A new stand-alone book from Holmberg with magic, monsters, and love story all mixed together. I liked this book but it never really grabbed me in a way that made me excited to finish the story. Something about it just left me feeling uninspired although I can’t really put into words what was missing about it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a charming little story. Obvious parallels to something like beauty and the beast can be made but I think it’s distinct enough with the magical aspect to be a more engaging read for YA looking for something in a fantasy genre. I think the story was just a little too short to develop the characters enough that they felt fully rounded, but on the whole it was fun to read.

“ What is a soul if not an extension of the heart”!

This great quote of the book and Paper Magician series author’s attempt to retell Beauty and Beast made me buy new dancing shoes and work on a new happy dance moves to celebrate it! (This time I went back to retro and added some figures of Vanilla Ice and Janet Jackson to my choreography!)

Just a small kiss could determine the souls’ paths between life and death! This book is capturing you from its first page, enchanting you with those magical, well-rounded, likable characters and you want to read more, learn more about their well depicted, lyrical, outstanding stories.

Maekallus is tempting, charismatic, red-yellow eyed beast steals your heart and you also easily resonate with the narrator, our young, beautiful heroine Enna Ryder.

It was a fast, heart throbbing, exciting and interesting reading and I enjoyed the romance parts but I think it failed with the fantasy parts. I wanted to learn more about Deep and mystical creatures walking around at the Wildwood. But they cut short and book is mainly focused on characters’ forbidden, impossible love story.

We have a hero a.k.a. monster who wants to eat the heroine’s soul and we have a gold-hearted heroine who sacrifices herself to protect her father, accepting the bargain with the beast. I enjoyed their enemies to lovers kind of dynamics but the malicious antihero, Scroud is barely seen in the book.

Actually he had an important role to create obstacles and cliffhanger of the story. But most of the time I felt like he was just an extra of the story with no proper back story. I wish I could learn more about his motives, his schemes, his vengeful acts.

So my 3.5 starts eventually rounded up to 4 for the love of leading characters and world building. But I’m sure this book could be better with its powerful potentials and the magical Wildwood theme.

Special thanks to Netgalley and 47North for sharing this intriguing ARC COPY in exchange my honest review.

(4/5) Beware of the mysting and beware of the Deep.

Enna is considered an outcast by her village because of her papa. Few remember that he was called upon for the war when an army of mystings—monsters—threatened the human realm. Fewer still know that Enna’s mother died at the hands of gobblers, monsters from the Deep, and that her father had to cut her from her mother’s belly. To keep Enna safe—so that she would never suffer like her mother—Enna’s father found a way into the monster realm where he rescues a Telling stone that will allow Enna to sense the presence of mystings and avoid them to stay safe.

When monsters from the realm of the Deep begin appearing in the wildwood beside Enna’s home, each in search of Enna’s precious Telling Stone, she uses magic from her grandmother’s journal and summons a mysting of her own to protect her. Maekallus is different than what Enna suspected as a mysting. He’s more human, with a sense of humor and a trickster personality. Soon they are tied together, and the fate of Enna’s soul rests within Maekallus—literally. With each fragment of Enna’s soul that Maekallus is forced to consume to stay alive, he becomes more human, more like Enna. With each kiss, she breaks off a part of her. And so blossoms a budding romance. But Enna and Maekallus are in danger, and if they do not free Maekallus from the human realm that binds him, they will both parish.

“The mortal realm will devour a mysting body. The monster realm will destroy a human’s mind.”

This is a beautiful story of change, new love, and sacrifice. It has all the right fairy tale vibes and moves quickly enough to keep you turning pages. I found myself crying by the end. Overall, I’m quite happy with how it ended.

In terms of technicality, this was an easy read—a plus for me. However, I think this story would have been more enjoyable had it been presented in past tense. I find present tense awkward to read, but that’s just me. The majority of The Will and the Wilds was presented in first person present, while the point of view of Mikallus was always presented in third person present. It took some time getting used to switching from present first to present third. However, after I got past that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I also felt some of the world building could have been hashed out in greater detail. It is for those reasons that I have given it four instead of five stars.

The Will and the Wilds is a definite must-read if you like fairy tales, monster inspired creatures, portals to another realm, magic, and fantasy inspired love stories.

I would like to thank NetGally and 47North for the opportunity to read an advanced review copy, and have offered this as my honest review in exchange.

Truthfully, I have seen her previous work, The Paper Magician, all over the internet but I have not read it yet. But, after reading The Will and the Wilds, I really think I am going to have to check it out. I mainly picked this book because I thought the summary sounded interesting, and, I will not lie to you all, I really liked the cover. I am not ashamed to admit that I may have been influenced by the beautiful illustration.

All that aside, I want to jump right into what this book is about and my thoughts.

Truthfully, when I started reading this book, I was a bit taken aback by the writing. I have never read anything written like this, the way the author tells her story is dated, but from a time you can’t quite recall. The writing in and of itself feels like world-building and I am not sure that makes much sense until you read it but I found it amazing. Essentially, it feels like otherworldly historical fiction in a sense but isn’t written like historical fiction in the way that the author forces clunky words, instead it just gives off the vibe of a different era.

I think the world-building of this novel is absolutely fantastic and I really loved it. I have nothing but good things to say about this novel and it was another one of those that when you get really into it, you binge it incredibly quickly.

This book is unlike a lot of things I’ve read. The author mentions that this book idea came from a dream and it’s just wild enough that I believe her. Truly, I can’t wait to check out more of this author’s works because I feel that her writing style is incredibly unique.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “The Will and the Wilds” by Charlie N. Holmberg. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy of this book when it releases. I inhaled this book! It reminded me of “An Enchantment of Ravens” by Margaret Rogerson and I adore that book.

Enna lives near a wildwood filled with mystings which are somewhat fae-like creatures varying in form but all lethal to humans. Despite the mystings brings responsible for Enna’s mother’s untimely death, Enna studies the variety of creatures and keeps meticulous notes about her findings in the hopes of being taken serious as a scholar. Enna’s father, a former warrior, once braved the mysting realm and returned with a stone for Enna that allows her to sense the presence of mystings.

After mystings attack Enna and her father in their own home, Enna summons a more powerful mysting named Maekallus to protect them. The two strike a bargain, but all isn’t what it seems with their deal. Prolonged exposure to the human realm is fatal for mystings and the terms of the bargain chip away at Enna’s soul as Maekallus consumes it to heal himself.

I loved Enna so much. She was very relatable in wanting to use her knowledge of mystings to help others even when people don’t take her seriously. She had such heart and fought for what she believed in.

Maekallus was such a cool character. He’s a narval type of mysting which makes him look human but with some interesting features. I have no artistic talent but someone needs to draw him- he deserves it. I enjoyed his journey throughout the story as he interacts with Enna.

All in all such a lovely book. My heart hurts in the best way.

5/5 stars

I love kissing books and this one will make your toes curl!

Maekallus is a Narval, a humanoid yet horned mysting creature who steals human souls with a kiss. Enna is a human who summons him to kill another magical creature who hunts her.

They are bound together by their deal - without her kiss he’ll die, but every time she kisses him she loses a piece of her soul.

A unique love story with wonderful world-building and soul-steaming kisses! Highly recommended for fantasy and romance fans alike.