This was phenomenal. The world building was incredible and truly puts you into a fae world. She does a better job than Sarah j Maas at making a magical world I want to fall into. I couldn't put it down.

Edgewood follows Emeline Lark as she enters the forest of Edgewood in search of her missing grandfather. In the dark forest, she uncovers the fairytales she previously thought were make-believe. Emeline makes a deal with the Wood King, her voice for her grandfather's freedom. Despite the exchange, Emeline must prove herself a seasoned song mage and must partner with the mysterious Hawthorne to earn her spot and keep her grandfather alive.

Edgewood was a beautiful blend of heart and adventure. I really appreciated the relationship between Emeline and her grandfather. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking to see how Emeline must struggle with Pa not remembering who she is while still having so much love for him. There is also a constant theme of memory and loving someone despite them not remembering you, and I thought this was a refreshing and beautiful element for a young adult fantasy.

I also enjoyed Emeline and Hawthorne's relationship as I found their chemistry to be sweet and endearing. However, I did want just a bit more angst and tension between them. I think this would have helped pull off the ending of the book better, and it would have had an even higher emotional impact for the reader. The book never quite dragged for me, but it did feel a little bit longer than necessary and some of the scenes could have been reworked to include more tender moments between Emeline and Hawthorne. I also enjoyed how this was an urban fantasy but, again, I feel like the reader could have used a little bit more context. We start off in the real world and return to it a few more times towards the end of the novel. The mentions of the real world in the middle of the book felt a bit forced, I wished there were more natural integrations of this setting to create a more cohesive tone.

Overall, Edgewood was a delight. I flew through it, and I was constantly thinking about the plot and its characters when I was unable to read it. This was very close to being a 5 star read for me- Edgewood truly captivated me from start to finish (and had me with a few tears in my eyes by the end). Kristen Ciccarelli was able to create such an atmospheric and fantastical young adult standalone, and I would love to read more by her in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The premise was certainly interesting enough but unfortunately it just didn't grab me and I ended up not liking it at all.

Very classic feel to this YA fantasy. It reminds me of how the genre used to feel, when I was growing up and YA, especially paranormal YA, was having its first boom. Didn't love it, and I've grown a bit tired of fantasy's reliance on fae in the past few years, but certainly not bad.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Emeline's grandfather disappears and she takes it upon herself to find him. He had apparently been captured by the Wood King and she needs to collect artifacts to free him.

World building:
The world itself felt underdeveloped. There could have been more description about the magic system and how it functions.

Characters:
Emeline- felt naive and somewhat immature. When it comes to Hawthorne, she falls for him against her better judgement. He shows himself to be untrustworthy, but she gets heart eyes when he looks at her. She also didn't seem to grasp the concept of the mad king actually being mad as in "not well in the head".
Hawthorne- untrustworthy. Emeline might have had heart eyes for him, but I did not. He was creepy. From the naked drawings, to the stealing of memories, to the trying to have a relationship with her after stealing her memories, dude was just an absolute menace.

I was originally drawn to this because the cover is gorgeous and once I read the synopsis, it sounded exactly like something I would love.
Edgewood ended up being an atmospheric read with lush world building, a slow-burn enemies to lovers romance, and creepy woods (always a favorite!). The main issue I remember having when I read this was that there was a lot happening and everything didn’t come together as nicely as I’d hoped. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Emeline, I found her insufferable at times and I would have liked to get to know more about some of the other characters.

I enjoyed this story a lot. The writing was beautiful and romantic. I loved the magic in nature and music. I liked the fae story and its approach to magic in the real world.

More NA than YA as far as I'm concerned, mostly because of one scene.

The world-building was great. I had no trouble visualizing all the fantasy elements, and that's not always true for me.

The main character was not the easiest to like or sympathize with throughout much of the story, but most of the characters around her were. The ending was satisfying enough for me.

Don't want to include spoilers, but it's only fair to say that there will likely be some pain in this one for people whose older loved ones are having certain health problems.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Literally adored the setting and magic, it was beautifully done. Emmeline was also such a unique MC, the way she was forced to sacrifice much of her childhood because of circumstances and she's just such a strong character!

What negatively affected my rating however, was the pacing of this book... it was extremely slow and I found myself bored a lot. Normally when I'm free of work, I can finish a book like this within 1-2 days, but this took me two weeks!

Otherwise this was a somewhat fun book and the vibes going for it were definitely interesting and atmospheric!

Technically a YA book I think, this new addition to the magical realism genre is a beautiful story about a 19 year old woman who leaves home to make it big in the music industry but the magical woods from home keep calling her back.

When her grandfather with Alzheimer’s goes missing, she must return home to try and search for him. But her family and friends seem to know where he is and they say she can’t get him back.

This story about love, love lost, self love and family was such a nice surprise!

I think the boy is a forest boy.
If the forest came to me when I sang I would feel so cool. WOOD KING. Now that sounds tantalizing.
This lame “boyfriend” thinks caring for her grandpa is “holding her back”.
I am so excited for this wood king haha. He’s supposed to be scary, but I guess I’ve read too many books. The skin walkers are terrifying, & our knight in shining armor is bristly.
If Em was a princess Rooke would be the sidekick, albeit a spooky one.
Our author must have spent a hot minute in the woods with the descriptions she gives us. I love our first description of the wood king, however I realize I am team Tithe Collector. Joel sucks. Disregarding her feeling, literally not even listening to her. Her mother sounds like a horrible person.
The plot twists were pretty good, I’m on the fence about the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

A dark and enchanting tale of the places on the edge.

Emeline Lark grew up in the village of Edgewood. Raised by her grandfather after her mother disappeared when she was just a baby, her whole life has been marked by the presence of the wood, and even now she’s left to pursue a music career the forest continues to follow her when she sings. When her grandfather disappears she’s forced back to Edgewood to help find him, and into the Wood King’s court to reclaim his tithe.

I loved Emeline and the other characters in the book, and as the story revealed its twists and turns I was impressed by the way the author wove the story together.

I love an edge-of-the-fae-land setting, and the tithe system was a familiar one. These weren’t over explained, but provided enough information specific to the story while acknowledging that the reader is likely to be familiar with these kinds of stories.

I would’ve given this a 4.5 right up until the end, but unfortunately the ending included a trope I don’t enjoy, which pulled it down to a 4.

Overall, I really enjoyed Edgewood and would read more from this author in the future.

Beautiful cover, lovely atmosphere, and a fun story. A little frustrating at times and not terribly deep, but in general a solid standalone fantasy. The writing is lush, but the story did stall a little bit. Most of the characters, at least, kept me engaged.

Some aspects were a bit... cringy, to say the least, but even still, it's easy to understand all the love this book got. It has all the pieces of a great fantasy.

I actually didn't enjoy this book and didn't finish it completely. I think it was a gorgeous setting but it didn't hit me the way I think it'll hit others. I would still recommend this book because I think I was just the wrong audience for it. It was slower paced and I had a hard time focusing on it. I'd definitely describe it as lush and the cover suits it for sure.

Darkly gorgeous and moving, Edgewood is the kind of story you can't stop reading!. I finished the book in less than two days. Kristen Ciccarelli crafted a world so beautiful it haunts you and characters you stick in your mind long after you've turned the last page.

Emeline Lark lives in Montreal where she’s trying to leave her forest hometown of Edgewood in the past. She’s on the verge of becoming a singer with a recording company but as she performs she sees signs of the Edgewood Forest creeping onto the stage. Emeline sees a mysterious hooded stranger in the audience who becomes the key to her past and future, unbeknownst to her at the time. Pa, her grandfather, has dementia and when she goes home to take care of him, she’s pulled into the Edgewood Forest and her life is thrown into upheaval and danger. To free herself from the evil and corrupted Wood King, Emeline will have to dig deep and get to the bottom of the forest curse.

5 solid stars!!! Mystery, fantasy, action and romance.

Likes/dislikes:
The writing pulled me into the story with incredible world building and mysterious surroundings and characters. Hawthorn is a fascinating character. The story has action, tenderness and a roller coaster of emotions.
Language: R for 14 swears and 3 f-bombs
Mature content: R for Sex on page 295 that doesn't mention genitals and is described vaguely; non-detailed oral sex on page 340. The relationship between the two characters is a loving one and the sex is because of this love for each other.
Violence: PG for Stabbing of the Shadowskin creatures, no blood involved; danger and Shadowskins chasing people.
Ethncity: Predominantly white in Montreal and Edgewood but mixed colors of skin in the otherworldly forest of the Wood King.

This is a beautiful book! It reads like many fairytales. Loved her take on the fae. Recommending picking this up if you’re in the mood for a beautiful, lyrical story.


Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

EDGEWOOD is a wonderfully atmospheric & darkly, lushly imagined YA fantasy stand-alone read. I was immediately drawn into Emeline’s tale, but it did start to feel clunky a little way into it (and for a good portion of the first third). But it honestly picked up as the novel progressed; past a certain point, I found myself unable to stop reading until I found out how it would all end. EDGEWOOD feels like a compelling modern fairytale (or at least that’s how I see it), that’s for sure! (Bonus points for the musical and bookish aspects that are woven in, by the way.)