I did not enjoy one thing from this novel. The writing style is eerily reminiscent of the one I had in sixth grade when I attempted to write a novel myself. Not to say that it’s a bad sign, but this book definitely belongs to middle-grade/upper middle-grade books and not to the stories about 17-year-olds.
Mckenna is not a good protagonist: she’s childish, impulsive, disrespectful, and downright spiteful. When she and her friend Nissa have to sneak on board a ship (without passports or tickets, mind you), Mckenna uses her telepathic powers to sense that the ship’s attendant is having a crisis. What does she do? For some reason, she manages to get the adults she had just met to agree to get them on board illegally by bullying the attendant into a mental breakdown.
The other characters too are really what make the story laughable as a young adult novel. Every adult is childish, speaking, and behaving as no adult ever does. Not only that, K. T. Anglehart bases everyone on a certain stereotype, that she disregards whenever it fits the plot. For example, Mckenna’s mother Abby is a manic pixie dream girl, who has no personality beyond that description.
There’s also a disconnect between Mckenna and her abilities. Every time Anglehart described her feeling all sorts of weird and magical it felt inorganic, as if it came out of nowhere.

The Wise One is a great urban fantasy novel sent amongst the The Troubles, a time of rebellion and conflict in Northern Ireland in the last 20th century. This was the most engrossing aspect of the novel, as main character Mckenna has to navigate her way through a tangled web of personal and generational history, along with her best friend Nissa essentially having to do the same thing.

Set in a time before the events of 9/11, it's amazing to see what one could get away with back in the day, such as crossing international borders with no passport! She truly was living my travel dream.

The use of historical Irish witch figures created a magical story of identity, family, and betrayal set amongst a turbulent backdrop of political conflict that tugs at your heart and makes you want to experience the moors and meadows of the wonderful Irish isles, betwixt the faerie magicke that just around every corner. I can't wait for the second book!

I received an eBook copy from the author/publisher in return for an honest review.

Anglehart takes you inside the newly self-discovered witch, McKenna, who travels to Ireland to find her mom and a reason for all of the odd events happening to her.

I have always been fascinated with Irish and Scottish culture, especially lore. I enjoyed the historical fiction element to this book. Anglehart describes real landmarks and towns and adds the mystic twist of witches and magic.

I also appreciated the accepting nature of LGBTQ families and also the sympathetic attitude towards foster children. The reader can tell that these aspects are important to the author, who does a fantastic job incorporating them into the story.

Great read for young adults and fans of lore.

The Wise One is an urban fantasy that incorporates Celtic folklore to create a world in which McKenna, the main character, journeys to discover who or what she is. While the novel begins in Massachusetts, it quickly shifts to a trip to Ireland with someone who just happens to be going that way. Oddly enough, everything seems to fall magically into place…as if something or someone is ensuring she arrives at her destination. (Hmm…)

I moved quickly through the book because I wanted to know who or what the wise one was and wasn't disappointed at the reveal. The reveal and the events surrounding it were probably the best parts of the novel. While the story moves rather quickly, don't expect to see an abundance of magic or magical creatures. There are only appearances here and there because the novel is more of a beginning, setting up the books that will follow. The infusion of politics and the environment will make this an interesting series. The story kept me turning pages but with a lack of character development, I found this book to be just slightly better than average. I look forward to the next installment. (3.5 stars, rounded to 4)

I really wound up enjoying The Wise One! It started a bit slow for me but eventually picked up and then I was entranced in the mysticism and lore of my own Scots-Irish heritage. I do believe my favorite characters were the oldest ones as they seemed to have more character, until things started coming to light about The Wise One. I look forward to reading the next book.

✨The Wise One✨

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and K.T. Anglehart for providing an e-arc.

Summary: Mckenna has always been different and on her 17th birthday a nightmare of being burned at the stake awakens her dormant abilities, abilities that her two dads knew about but didn’t tell her. Mckenna is forced to confront her abilities and is forced to set off to find her mysterious mother. Mckenna has to face some harsh realities all the while trying to harness her powers, will she be able to find her mother and avoid the one who wishes to harm her?
✨
Rating (out of 5)
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Adventure: 🧭🧭🧭🧭
Fantasy: 🧙🏻‍♀️🧙🏻‍♀️🧙🏻‍♀️.5

Review: This is the first book in the new, young adult urban fantasy series, the Scottish Scrolls. Set in the 1990s, the journey starts in Massachusetts and very quickly progresses to a tour of Ireland with a final stop in the Isle of Man.

Whilst the MC has mystical powers, I found the fantasy elements a little overshadowed by the more environmental and political elements. I would love to see it more at the forefront in the rest of the books.

I liked the diversity with Mckenna having been raised by a gay couple in a time that was definitely less accepting, it was refreshing to see. However, Sean’s bi-sexuality could’ve been represented a lot better as there seemed to be some bi-erasure.

Overall, it’s a cute Celtic urban fantasy that is fairly fast paced and enjoyable whilst reading, I hope to see more emphasis on the fantasy side of things in the books to come and hopefully some of the issues are ironed out

this was a really strong start to a series, I enjoyed the Scottish elements that helped in the scifi elements. The characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this series.

This review will appear on my blog https://reviewsofyabooks.blogspot.com/ and on my Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/16121236-sibella on October 28, 2020.

Introduction

There's something wrong with McKenna, she's always thought so, but after her 17th birthday, things start getting even weirder. She's having vivid dreams, and seems to be influencing things and doing all sorts of other impossible things. When she goes to her fathers for answers, they are forced to tell her the truth. Her birth mother, a mystic, left to protect her, and she is a Wise One.

They don't offer any other details, so McKenna knows that she must find her mother to to get the whole story. So, she ventures out to across Ireland, knowing that going back to living half in the dark about who is no longer an option.

McKenna

McKenna was an extremely annoying protagonist with very childish tendencies. She was written more like a fourteen year old than someone that just turned seventeen. Everything she does is done without thinking, literally at all. She had no plan for her trip to Ireland, or how she was going to find her mom when she got there, she didn't consider how her parents would feel and she didn't spend a second thinking about the consequences of any of her actions.

McKenna's Journey

I know this is a fantasy novel, but McKenna's journey, both to and around Ireland, was painfully unrealistic, and also painfully irresponsible. First, McKenna leaves without her parents knowing (with, I might add, all their savings stolen from a safe.) She has absolutely no plan. She drags a person she barely knows with her. Neither of them have passports, and they still manage to get to Ireland, in a way that is so completely out of the realm of possibility that it actually baffled me when I read it, even with McKenna's abilities.

It was also outrageously irresponsible for her to agree to a ride from Cillian, and even more ridiculous that Nissa was the one that suggested it. Neither one of them were a poster child for rational thinking.

To me, everything just seemed like it worked out too perfectly, too much of the time. No obstacle stayed an obstacle, as everything just conveniently fell into place all of the time. I know parts of it were planted that way, but because so much just worked out on it's own, by the end, I knew that everything would work out fine, because that's how it went throughout the entire book. This made the conflicts much less interesting to read.

Pace

This wasn't a long book, but unfortunately, there was a lot of time that felt like nothing was happening that was relevant to the story. There was a lot of filler on the road with Cillian that added nothing to plot.

Nissa

I didn't mind Nissa, and I liked her journey throughout the book, but it felt like Nissa was a part of the story most of the time just to be a quirky sidekick to balance McKenna out, and although I didn't mind Nissa's story/journry throughout the book, it was no more realistic than McKenna's was

Cillian

I liked Cillian's character and his role in the book, although I didn't care much for the feelings that were growing between McKenna and him. It didn't feel like it was based on anything, they didn't know very much about each other on a personal level, so unless McKenna's Wise One influence was working it's mojo on Cillian, there just seemed to be no reason why they would like each other, so to me, it wasn't a very interesting aspect of the story.

Ending

The last 30 pages or so are about the most exciting part of the the whole book. It's the only part of the book where it actually feels like things are moving along at a good pace.

Conclusion

I was not a fan of this book, even though I so badly wanted to be. I even posted my very first Waiting on Wednesday for it, specifically stating how excited I was to get my hands on this book, but it really missed the mark for me. I liked the ending, but I don't think I will be continuing on with this series.

The Wise One follows McKenna whose magical abilities awaken on her birthday leading her on a journey to find answers on who she is and find her mother who abandoned her as a baby.

I did not really like how the story was told, it did randomly jump to a different perspective out of nowhere throughout the book and personally I felt like it was unnecessary and that the story should have been told just through McKenna. Although I liked Mckenna and some of the other side characters it was hard to connect to them and the story because the writing style was not for me, it was very descriptive, and I got bored really easily. The plot itself feels more like a road trip story and there was a lot of detail to the setting which I did not mind but I felt like every setting that the characters visited was described in great detail which I did not care about. Honestly, it would have been fine but nothing much happens in the plot – it is very slow and it just has the characters exploring the settings around them and I guess I expected more to happen.

I did like the world building with the faeries and the witches and the concept of the Wise One and how it linked to McKenna’s dreams, it was interesting to read and well explained however I did get confused towards the end on what was happening because things seemed rushed.

2/5

When McKenna turns seventeen, strange things start to happen to her. Birds are communicating with her, she can feel what others are feeling, and she has a compulsion to know her birth mother to help explain everything. She journeys to Ireland and begins to learn about the country, her heritage, and the large role she will play in the future of the world.

This takes place in the 90's, so there are no cell phones and less technology. This is good because McKenna and her friend Nissa are able to sneak aboard a ship and travel to another country without needing passports which is pretty insane. My favorite part of this are the descriptions of Ireland. The land, the history, it's all painted so beautifully. I've been to some of these places and it definitely brought back memories.

The story of the scrolls wasn't elaborated enough for me, I don't entirely understand them or what their purpose is. I also didn't love Sean's parts, especially with Abby. I was worried about Sean falling for Abby again and want him to reunite with Andre. McKenna also isn't super likeable and I'm hoping she'll mature in the next book and not be so rude, especially to her friends.

The ending is so abrupt, it just cuts off all the sudden and I wish it eased into it more. I hope the sequel will give us some answers that we didn't get before and we'll see McKenna come more into herself.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

A perfect read for the spooky festive season this October. This book has witches...what else would I need?

First of all, I loved the plot and the setting in this book. The Wise One takes place in Ireland and whenever places are being mentioned, I couldn't help but feel jealous of the character. The premise sounded whimsical and I was quickly absorbed into the book. It was also definitely because of the good writing. Although it was slow-paced, the writing sucked me in and got me obsessed.

If there was one thing I was slightly disappointed over it might be the characters. Though intriguing, I found myself wanting more from them. I wish they had been more fleshed out and gotten better development.

Overall, this book was a delight and I truly enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book. The storytelling is great, the characters are fun... it was a great trip down memory lane for me to remember what life was like in the 1990s when you actually could hop in a car with a stranger... and travel the world. (Maybe not the smartest thing, but we did it!) The main character Mckenna discovers around her 17th birthday that she is not as "normal" as her two dads have tried to raise her, and her tingling intuition may actually be powers. She meets a new friend, Nissa, who is my kind of girl, free spirited and devoted to saving the earth, and they set forth on a grand adventure to find out about Mckenna's mother and her legacy. It's got great Irish folklore, adventure, fun characters, and is an easy and quick read. I loved the journey to Ireland and the descriptions provided as her friendship grows while she tries to figure out exactly what her legacy is and what it means to be a "Wise One." Stories about a young woman discovering her new powers are always a fun read for me and I appreciated this different take on the witchcraft storyline. The storyline is fast-paced and intriguing and I loved that. I looked forward to reading this each evening and was sad when it ended, but so glad that this is part of a series! Can't wait to see what K.T. Anglehart does with the second book, and I hope it comes soon since this ended leaving some questions I need answered! Overall, I thought it was a great debut book from this author. Thank you #netgalley and the publisher for a review copy.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Wise One was a pretty cute and quick book to dive into. In it, you will meet McKenna who slowly, but surely, discovers more about herself throughout the book. Now I have no idea how I would handle any of the information that she received but I am happy with how she handled everything. Especially with all the secrets that came out in each chapter.

Even though this book had it's cute moments.. it also had it's boring ones. Maybe it's just me but things felt a bit predictable or underwhelming. For example, when it's revealed that someone knew who she really was the whole time, when we finally meet the big bad villain, or the ending. I also feel like nothing happened for most of this book, unless you count the journey to all the places.

Other than that, I hope that the characters themselves become a bit more interesting in the next book. I want to see some sort of growth for them due to that little cliffhanger.

The wise one follows Mckenna, a girl who just turned seventeen. Almost her entire life she had dreams, weird ones. That, and she lives together with her two dads, not knowing who her mother is. But she wants to know, feeling that could explain her dreams and soon other powers.

Mckenna ends up going on a search for her mother together with Nessa, who doesn’t know both of her parents. There are a handful of characters as well, who slowly get introduced in the book. Even though I liked both these girls, I felt very much they had a selection of emotions and weren’t that complex. While introducing more characters, I think it is there where it got a bit messy for me. A lot of new POV’s got introduced, and for a short time. At some point, there was just too much jumping around for my taste. Even though it gave information a reader needs, I wished the information could have been given in an other way so that it didn’t feel like things were too obvious and more of a mystery that would fit the atmosphere better.

Speaking of characters, I wanted to like the two dads, but as soon as the mother came into the picture, I felt like there was going to be a second storyline that very much is going to feel like the dad versus the mom, since the other dad still gives the impression he likes the mom. Besides that, it is never stated he is bi, only saying he doesn’t like labels, and even though that’s valid, it only adds more to my feeling this is going to be something bigger further into the story.

The story itself goes fast, and sometimes I thought it would better if it slowed down. A lot of things go right, and get an explanation afterwards why it went right. There is barely ant conflict that went out of hand, besides the friends drama, and I do think that’s a missed chance, especially when you introduce folklore into a story.

Overall, it is the classic chosen one story, but it is almost so well hidden I didn’t mind reading about it. The book uses folklore, myths and legends from Ireland and Scotland, but in simple matters, so even people who aren’t too familiar with it would get it. At the end, there is even a list of books for people who are interested in reading more about it. I love the fact so much research came into this book.

Amazing scenery. Fantastic use of language. Characters that you immediately bond with. This book has everything, especially a great way of explaining and describing magic. The only reason my review isn't 5 stars is the cliff hanging ending.

The Wise One is about 17 year old McKenna realizing she has magical abilities, and it follows her journey as she travels to try and find the answers she’s looking for.

I was pretty interested at first; I’m obsessed with Scotland and folklore so I thought it’d be perfect but I was kind of disappointed. While I appreciate a fast paced book, I feel like this one was way too rushed, to the point where I was confused about what was actually happening and why. I just feel like I was missing some piece of the plot though it might be better as the series comes out but I still should be able to follow the plot in the first book.

The characters were kind of flat and everything just seemed a bit too convenient, like perfectly placed keys to the puzzle. It was kind of jarring to see how McKenna and Nissa approached their problems in a way that could be dangerous in real life like trusting complete strangers to help them travel. I’m also really disappointed that I couldn’t see the relationships develop as much I wanted. In the beginning I was excited and hopeful about how McKennas relationships with her dads, nissa and even cillian would grow but that never happened at least not in a realistic way.

This book has great bones and I love the authors immaculate imagery of everything but I wish there was just more explanations of the plot line and character development. I give it a 2.5/5

This young adult novel was a treat to read, as it beautifully written describing Ireland and folklore. Using magic, witches, and fae, the author pushed the ideas friendship, love, and protecting the planet.

The travels of Nissa and McKenna was dangerous at time (a boat with two adult strangers, staying with a young man for 5 nights in Ireland)...which distracted me a bit. But the writing was engaging - a bit slow - but sweet and easy to read.

The Wise One is an adventure-filled story of friendship, family, and magic. We start off seeing 17-year-old Mckenna discovering the truth about her mother who has passed down magical abilities to her along with the mysterious title of the "Wise One". I absolutely loved the witchy, magical atmosphere, and it just gets better as Mckenna and her new friend Nissa travel to Ireland. The backdrop is described beautifully while still being concise. There's also faeries (that are actually cute and not creepy) and overall a very fun and intriguing cast of characters. I would describe this book as having cottage core vibes, which is a huge plus for me.

The pacing was really fast, which was usually nice but could also be slightly disorienting as you jump between characters, times, and settings. I had a lot of fun following Mckenna on this adventure to find her mother, but I still couldn't get super attached to the story and the characters. I think I'll enjoy the sequel a lot more as we dive into the characters, but I didn't love how some of them acted in this book. The romance that's being developed has an age-gap and huge power dynamic gap, which really isn't my thing personally and I just didn't see why they liked each other at all. I'm also on edge about how the bisexual rep (Mckenna has two dads, and her bio dad's relationship with her mother is where it gets iffy) was being handled, but I can see that improving a lot in the sequel. Overall, this was a super fun story with perfect witchy, magical, fall vibes, and all I could ask for is the characters' feelings to be more fleshed out.

Thank you, NetGalley, Kat Biggie Press, and K.T. Anglehart, for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Wise One follows the story of McKenna, a 17 year old teenager who discovers that her mother was not an anonymous surrogate as McKenna believed; she was married to one of McKenna’s dad, Sean, and was a witch. She also starts experiencing magical powers. She then sets out in search of her mother and to know more about her past and her origins.
Overall, I liked the concept of the story. I love stories about coming of age and finding oneself. I liked the sprinkle of Celtic folklore, as well as the fiery character of McKenna. It also had a creative take on modern mysticism with a relevant backdrop of radical environmentalism.
But I had way too many problems with it that triggered me. I feel like the book should be marketed as middle-grade fantasy instead of YA. The story was also too slow-paced for my liking but I did like the things I got to learn a lot about, especially Ireland and its myths. But the characters didn’t actually feel real to me. I didn't feel much when reading this book, but it was still enjoyable, I guess? There were also too many grammatical errors, and even though that may seem petty to some, it was just happening way too much and was putting me off as a reader. I am both a language student as well as literature, so this probably bothered me more so than others. I don't mean the grammar is an important aspect, but maybe just don't make silly mistakes all over the book like calling a "plain" a "plane" instead. There was a little bi-erasure going on too and that disturbed me as well.
I'm probably just pointing out abstract flaws, but I really have mixed feelings about this so it's hard for me to put things into words for this one. I don't mean to demean the author in any way, as I read only the advanced pre-published copy of the book one of her "The Scottish Scrolls" series, so I hope she'll fix the problems. Waiting for the next book, and to know what happens next. Good luck!

McKenna O’Dwyer has always felt “different” somehow. When she wakes up from a vivid dream of a witch burning at the stake on her 17th birthday, her dads are forced to reveal her heritage. Her mother was not an anonymous surrogate as McKenna believed; she was married to Mc Kenna’s dad, Sean, and was a witch. Now, it appears that McKenna also has powers. Her mother, Abby, referred to her as a Wise One.

McKenna discovers an old note from her mother to her father and immediately knows that she must go in search of her mother. She and her new friend, Nissa, get on a bus to Boston, and unbelievably, travel with an older couple on a ship to Ireland. Once they arrive, McKenna and Nissa begin their search and start to discover their true selves.

This book is enjoyable on many different levels. Anglehart’s characters are multidimensional and likable. The friendship between McKenzie and Nissa seems genuine even though they’ve only known each other for a short time. There is also a theme of loving oneself/ others as they are. McKenna’s dads are a bi-racial gay couple and their relationship is just like that of any other long-term partners I especially enjoyed John and Brigit, the couple that McKenna and Nissa sail to Ireland with; they capture the care, exasperation, and give and take that characterize loving partnerships. Then there is the magic that weaves throughout the story and makes The Wise One a must-read.

The Wise One is also a relatively short book that will make the novel accessible to reluctant readers. There is also some swearing and sensuality, but neither is explicit. The book will be a welcome addition to any secondary or public library collection. My only question? When will Book #2 be published?

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.