Margaret Welty lives a solitary and lonely life in the countryside with her eccentric and emotionally isolated mother. Her mother is a talented alchemist who basically ignores Margaret. Margaret has few friends as she is Yu’adir and is treated as an outsider by the local, overwhelmingly Katharist population. In comes Weston Winters, a Banvishman who knows what it’s like to be treated as less because of his background and whose dream in life is to be an alchemist so that he can then become a politician and make the world a better place. Margaret and Wes form a tenuous bond and decide to team up for the Halfmoon Hunt which is an annual tradition in which the Hala (a mystical fox-like creature) is hunted. Margaret yearns for her mother’s approval and Weston hopes that winning will help him become an alchemist.

This book was really, really good. I was hooked from the very beginning. It is a beautifully descriptive story with complicated characters. I almost wish that the author would have just used our world instead of inventing a very similar one. Yu’adir is Jewish and Sumic is Catholic. Banvish is Irish. Katharist is Protestant or Anglican. But I don’t think it detracted from the story, it was just a little distracting for me.

I loved seeing Wes and Maggie’s relationship grow and their character development was gratifying. The pace of the story was steady and the hunt scene had my heart pounding. This was an excellent read from start to finish.

A FAR WILDER MAGIC is the raw intensity of first love - the falling in love that stuns and consumes you because you could never know what was possible until you met them. Wes and Margaret's romance is falling in love the way dust falls and collects over time, barely seen and only noticed all at once.

Allison's prose is gentle and the characters are complex, with authentic pain and joy in equal measure. Their stories remind us that our sadness can become our comfortable way of life - centered on survival and allowing no space to dream.

We can be so much more when we don't hold back and we deserve every shining piece of ourselves. Sometimes we need someone unexpected to show us how vast our world and our hearts can be. AFWM is an invitation to find love in what you fear - or what you think you hate - and learn opposites aren't always the opposition we expect.

It is a far wilder magic that illuminates the soul of another so we may glimpse the divinity they possess. It is love that casts the world in a divine glow. It is our perception that creates love - our gaze that manifests magic.

With her mother pretty much abandoning her for yet another research trip, Margaret Welty is just trying to get by in their dilapidated manor with her hound named Trouble. She knows it is hard to keep the attention of a world renown alchemist who is obsessed with her work so she never complains. Out of the blue, the last magical creature known as a hala appears in the woods nearby and it could be a way to get her mother to return home for good.

When we meet the silver-tongued Wes Winters, he has one shot to becoming an alchemist after getting rejected by every teacher possible to train under. His only hope is Evelyn Welty, Margaret's mother. He manages to charm his way in Margaret's isolated life at the manor to wait for Evelyn's return.

Days go by and the hala wrecks havoc on the town, gaining strength as the moon waxes. Excitement is in the air as everyone prepares for the Halfmoon Hunt to kill the creature. Margaret and Wes form an unlikely team as two outsiders who are discriminated against by the religion and background. Can they work together to fulfill their dreams?

My thoughts: I absolutely love the world building in this book and getting to know the characters. There is something familiar and soothing about this book. It's always refreshing to see a female character who can fend for herself and is a force to be reckoned with like Margaret. There is a sense of magic and wonderment whenever I picked up the book. Even at the last page, I was left wanting to know more about what happens to Margaret and Wes.

I am torn about how I feel about how descriptive this book is. On the one hand, I really enjoyed that I can completely envision the scenery and mood in my mind's eye. I get the feeling that this a purposeful and deliberate choice by the author because the characters were often lost in thought to the point where they almost got run over on the street or someone had to snap their attention back to the present. But at the same time, I felt like the book is weighed down and I can only read it for short periods of time. It might just be that I wasn't in the right mindset. A Far Wilder Magic is the type of book that is meant to be savored slowly as you sip a pot of tea undisturbed. I was trying to get out of a book rut, it seemed like everyone and everything was trying to get my attention. I would love to revisit this book in the future when I do have a luxurious free day because it is a world that I want to slip into again.

I would recommend this book to fans of Full Metal Alchemist and Howl's Moving Castle. Did anyone else get Howl/Sophie vibes from Wes and Margaret? Maybe it's just me...

Thank you Saint Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the eARC

After absolutely loving Saft's debut Down Comes the Night, this was a highly anticipated read for me. Saft is a great writer and character building. Unfortunately, the fantasy elements and plot did not do it for me. At 60% through I still felt stuck in a drawn out exposition. The characters were heartfelt, but there wasn't enough movement to keep me interested. Unfortunately, not even the beautiful writing nor the exciting premise could save this for me. It absolutely breaks my heart to give this 2 stars.

While I did enjoy reading a far wilder magic there were few times where the writing felt very stiff, with adjectives and imagery seeming quite simple and childish. This is the only major critique I have about the writing style other than that, I found it to be a great read. With a good plot and nice world building I can’t wait to recommend this Young Adult fantasy-romance to costumers at my store.

After the incredibly inventive Down Comes the Night, I wondered how the author could follow up that debut. Well, this is definitely a worthy successor, full of characters who do lots of pining for the other while simultaneously being in denial.

While her mother, an alchemist, travels the world in pursuit of her craft, Margaret lives a solitary life taking care of their dilapidated mansion on the edge of a small English village. But she knows things will change when she spots the Hala, a legendary magical creature, in the woods. The Halfmoon Hunt will be coming to attempt to kill the Hala, and whoever does so will win fame and fortune. For Margaret, it might mean bringing her mother home for good. For Wes, a poor boy from the tenements, this might be his last chance at becoming an alchemist. Well, what he wants to do is change the country by becoming a politician, and the only way to do that is to become an alchemist. With their futures on the line, the two strangers must learn to work together as a team to bring down the Hala – if the other competitors don’t get them first.

“It’s you and me against the world, Margaret.”


While I initially expected the Hunt to be the main focus of the book, there’s actually a large amount of time spent first getting to know Margaret and Wes from their points of view. While there is action, it’s more of a character-driven book. While Margaret and Wes have both had to deal with being outsiders, each reacts differently. Margaret is, well, grumpy, stoic and distrustful, a crack sharpshooter, while Wes papers over his hurt with charm, witty words and flirting. Margaret’s gotten so used to being on her own that the thought of someone liking her for herself, loving her for herself is a foreign concept, and one that takes quite a bit of time to work through. Luckily Wes doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Watching the two of them get blindsided by their deepening romance was utterly enjoyable and one of my favorite parts of the book.

“Misfortune has hardened them both. It’s roughened her, but it’s polished him to a sheen. If he lets the world believe he is all surface, then there is nothing to expose. Beneath her implacable stare, however, he is utterly naked.”


The core themes of the book revolve around loneliness and belonging. While Wes has a large loud and generally supportive family, after his father’s death, he also feels the pressure to support them. His continued failures at alchemy (there’s several clues that he’s dyslexic) are a disappointment to him and some of his family. Family is an even more complicated concept for Margaret. With her brother dead and her father gone, her mother is all that remains of her family, but her mother is more interested in her alchemical pursuits than Margaret. Both are outsiders, belonging to different minority religions that expose them to contempt and sometimes outright persecution. The religions in the book, though under different names, directly correlate to Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, from people maligning the pope to talking about Shabbos. It feels like a fantasy version of the 1920s, when increased immigration threatened the Protestant status quo in America. Each religion has a different view of the Hala, from being a sign of God’s love to an abomination (and ergo the Hunt), and sometimes the characters have to sacrifice some of their beliefs in order to continue with the Hunt.

Overall, this was an engrossing, character-focused fantasy romance, and I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

To be completely honest with myself, I have a type. I try to be as fair as possible with all the books and review copies that I read, but at a point you just have to be honest with yourself and know what you like, and for me, it is A FAR WILDER MAGIC’s exact brand of YA Fantasy. Atmospheric, moody, character driven, and set in a indeterminate time period (but definitely gave off early 1900s-steampunk vibes). This stuff is my catnip, and I had a feeling this one would be a personal favorite. I felt like this book channeled the energy of some of my favorite authors and books, like Katherine Arden and Maggie Stiefvater. The atmospheric qualities to this book absolutely solidified this read for me. Admittedly on the slower-pace end of books, the writing allows for readers to have the time to get to know this world and relationships in a very character driven way. I actually liked the slower pace of this book, and felt that I had time to settle in and observe the intricate details that Allison Saft wove into this story, and enjoy the evolving relationships between characters.

Maggie was a character that I admired right off the bat and spent the rest of the book falling for. She was such a driven, fierce, independent character that I couldn’t help but want the best for, and seeing her opposite Wes (my love!!) made for one of my favorite Sunshine x Grump pairings ever. Wes and Maggie carved out little piece of my heart, and I’m fully happy they’ve got a place there.

Beyond the characters and the (gorgeous, gorgeous) writing, this book ran off of aesthetics and vibes like you wouldn’t believe. You know when people say they want their life to feel like a Ghibli movie? This book is like Ghlibli Movie meets The Scorpio Races (idk how else to explain it, you just gotta read it to get it), which effectively made this an instant favorite and addition to my bookshelf.

This book starts out fairly slow for the genre. There is a lot of time spent introducing the characters, the town (which is a character of its own), and the hunt. However, if you can get through the first quarter of the book, the plot really picks up and is riveting. When I started the book, I thought the majority would be dedicated to the hunt, and while it’s always present in the background, the majority of the plot is focused on the relationships of the characters. It’s a dynamic that works well but was not what I expected when I started the novel.

The book alternates perspectives from Margaret and Wes. They’re both scarred and complex characters who bring unique perspectives to the YA Fantasy genre. I will admit that they were initially difficult to get to know due to their tough exteriors, but watching them open up to the reader and to each other is a journey that I absolutely loved. There are also a variety of secondary characters that I enjoyed exploring and getting to know.

The world this book is set in has been well developed and thought out in detail. There are parallels to mid-1800s America that the author has adapted with magical elements. I especially appreciated the descriptive detail about the small sea side town the story is set in. There is a life to the world created that makes it a character of it’s own. The magic system established is reminiscent of other alchemical stories, such as Full Metal Alchemist but with some fun, unique twists that fans of this magic style will love.

A Far Wilder Magic is the second Young Adult Fantasy novel from Allison Saft, the author of Down Comes The Night. While this book is not a sequel to her critically acclaimed debut novel, it is a beautifully written fantasy story with complex characters and a beautifully detailed setting. While the plot is slower than her previous novel, the tension picks up soon after the first quarter of the novel. I highly recommend it for fans of Full Metal Alchemist and White Stag.

I rarely notice covers but this one is gorgeous.

This is a fantasy book about a hunt for a magical creature, where the person who kills it receives a large prize. The creature being hunted is a hala, which looks like a large, white fox. This hala is the last of its kind, and is considered evil by most people. It only appears once a year around the same time, in different areas of the country. This year, it has chosen to appear near where Margaret and Weston live. Teenagers Margaret and Weston are in desperate circumstances and team up to try to win the hunt.

Weston is both desperate and ambitious. He wants ultimately to become a politician, but first he needs to win the prize to pay for his alchemist apprenticeship, which will allow him to support his mother and siblings. Becoming an alchemist is also a stepping stone to becoming a politician. His family has been struggling since his dad died.

Margaret is living alone as her mother has been away for months - much longer than usual, and she also is struggling. She has only her old dog Weston for company, little food left, no stock of firewood, and it is winter. She thinks that being able to offer her alchemist mother the hala's bones will bring her home, as it is the prize her mother has been chasing all these years. The bones may help her locate her lost husband.

My enjoyment of the book was mixed, despite the fine writing, the characters, and the story. I was always on the side of the hala, a mystical beast that was rare, magical and dangerous. The people in the story could have made other choices. Margaret's mother could have chosen to stay home with her daughter. Margaret made her own decision to stay home and wait for her mother in their isolated house. Weston could have put aside his ambitions and supported his family by following a trade. The best thing to me about the book was the romance between the two main characters, but even that was tarnished to me by the choices they made regarding the hala. I couldn't help but think that it would weigh on them later, and wondered if it would ultimately be worth it for them.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC. These are my opinions of the book.

I ended up DNFing this book at 50% so in this review you will find my thoughts on the book up to that point.

A Far Wilder Magic is a heavily character-driven story. At 50% in, I still felt that little had transpired in terms of plot. I know that many readers are drawn to this type of story and would love it, however it was not for me. I desperately wanted more action and found myself getting bored by the slow pace and intense character development.

Another issue I had with the book was that I didn’t connect well with either of the main characters. I really didn’t like either of them or feel invested in their stories. I’m sure that this may have changed had I finished the book, but I didn’t feel any motivation to route for their success or growth.

All this being said, Saft’s writing style is lovely. This book is incredibly atmospheric and I loved the way she molded historical ideas into her own world and created something familiar yet entirely her own. I wasn’t expecting the 1920’s New England inspired setting but I really enjoyed it. There are undertones of racial and religious oppression which add a lot of depth to the narrative.

I think there is certainly an audience who would love this book, that just wasn’t me in this case.

A great atmospheric read with a strong heroine. The cover drew me in at first but I stayed for the content and story. It really lived up to my expectations! The prose was beautiful and I enjoyed every second of reading this book. What can I say, I have no choice but to give it 5 stars.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of this eARC for review.

I will read anything this author releases. The magical realism of this book is incredible. The setting is well-described. The scents and sounds are clear. The views on immigration are both heartbreaking and believable.

I love this author’s writing style. I feel like we really get to know our characters, and the villains aren’t villainous masterminds. Magical creatures, religion, and ignorance give this book an eerily realistic feeling, like we might see a hala in our next trip to the woods.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. (I also won a copy from Goodreads giveaway!)
I am currently in the midst of reading this novel but from what I have read so far I already recommend it!

I am fully draw into the story already. The world building is fascinating - I would say it is magic realism but it leans more fantasy. The relationship between the characters is really where this book seems like it will shine.

I can't wait to finish it and add my full thoughts to this review!

Starting to catch up again on my Netgalley books~~ last month was crazy w covid so not much got done besides getting everyone healthy again. 😌😅. Anyway a big snowstorm is perfect book reading time, right? So I’m huddled under a blanket catching up books like this one.

This fantasy book was an interesting read and I think it will do very well with the right audience. I’m not sure I fall into the category of “the right audience” but I gave it a try anyway. Loved Margaret, she was a strong character and the perfect heroine. All her sections were great. Loved Wes’s family, too. They were lots of fun and obviously care about each other. (Weird to have a mc with my brother’s name.).

Wes himself…. I had a harder time wrapping my head around. I found him a bit pathetic tbh, and so girl crazy it was hard for me to focus during his POVs.

I also wasn’t that invested in the hunt itself, so that was a bit of a wash for me when it was a major plotline in the book. The actual contest itself doesn’t take up a lot of pages though. There’s about three events and all are fairly short.

I’m also conflicted about how the author chose to resolve things with the mother.
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Because dang it, who really does let an unknown boy stay with her for weeks and share private alchemical research with him and fall into a romance and not expect said parent to be upset about it??! Even with as neglectful as the mother has been, that’s a bit much.

"Down Comes The Night" was one of my favorite books of 2021- exactly what I imagine the YA fantasy should be. It was a standalone story- and I highly recommend it!

"A Far Wilder Magic" is Allison Saft's second novel. Also a standalone! I think one of the things I love about this is having a complete story as a standalone- most of the stuff I read lately is drawn out in a trilogy or longer series.

Back to the book. Saft does an excellent job of creating the atmosphere. I usually focus on good character development and believability of story when I think of what makes a higher starred review-- but with Saft's writing-- it's her setting and description of the world that really brings it to life. It's YA, but it has more subsistence than I see in a lot of YA fantasy novels.

"A Far Wilder Magic" was published this past week-- I wish that I could see more people talking about Saft's work. I want special edition books!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an e-copy of this book. This is book #33 of the year, and by far my favorite so far!

I can see why one of the comp titles for this book is the Scorpio Races. This has a similar sense of place and magic, and a slowburn love story (though it's a bit more physical). It slowly pulled me in until I was thoroughly hooked.

The writing is gorgeous and I highlighted several quotes. I also was able to listen to an advance copy of the audiobook and the performance was really excellent. The narrator was able to give each character a unique and recognizable (and believable) voice, and really brought the text to life.

Margaret, the main character, is cold and prickly and closed-off, trapped alone in her silent manor and barely alive. Wes burns with ambition, is impulsive, and has a large, loud family. It seems like they would never get along -- and at first they don't -- but their gradual coming together is believable and romantic.

This book addresses religious prejudice well, making Margaret and Wes outsiders because of their family's religion. They are bullied and tormented but they bear it and overcome it with empathy and grace.

The pace is glacial at first, and while it never gets anything like fast, it does gradually increase. I recommend giving it longer than normal to hook you because once it draws you in it really is a magical read.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing an e-arc and audio arc of this book.

"At the core of each of us, one of his first teachers said, there is a spark of divine fire."

I don't know what I was expecting going into this novel, but it wasn't this beautiful blend of identity and healing amidst the thralls of a deadly hunt. Last month, I actually listened to The Scorpio Races, and it is a perfect comparison to this novel in terms of stakes, competition, and strong willed characters. I highly recommend readers dive into this novel mostly blind, so the story can unfold richly and mysteriously.

"... dreams don't always have to be practical. That's why they're dreams. And now ours live and die together."

Margaret Welty is a stunning protagonist that is coming to terms with her loneliness and identity within her house/ life ever since her mother left roughly four months and hasn't been seen since. She's not looking for anything when Weston "Wes" Winters, a wannabe apprentice for alchemy, appears on her doorstep wishing to be her mom's next alchemist student. He can't seem to keep an apprenticeship to save his life, and Margaret finally relents in letting him wait out for her mom. But... the thing is Margaret has zero clue when her mom will be back and is pretty certain she'd deny Wes in an instant. Let's just let the wait drive down Wes's interest.

Then, the two are swept up in the Halfmoon Hunt. Whichever duo can kill the infamous and deadly hala (white magical fox) gets prize money, fame/ recognition, and maybe could persuade Margaret's mom to return and teach Wes. Thus, the two make an unpredictable duo in the hunt, and they work through alchemy, enemies, and time constraints to hatch a plan to win it all.

Again, I'm in love with this story. The writing aches with emotions abound, and it's such a softly poetic prose too. Back when I read Down Comes the Night, I recognized Saft's gift with writing, but she made it stronger with this sequel. The pacing was my only issue with her debut, so it's incredible to watch Saft's growth within her second book. I never felt the plot dragging or the need for quick action. She stole my attention form the start and never looked back!

The romance is just so sweet too! Margaret and Wes, in many ways, remind me of the couples where the woman knows how to do everywhere while the man is just a clutzy mess. They're both so endearing to one another, and I love how they push each other to new limits. Wes even says so to Margaret herself that he has never worked harder or better than by her side. My heart! Both are the perfect whole to not only succeeding but also tracking down this mess of a hala. Readers will love their slow burn romance as well as their easy friendship at the start. Nothing is forced, and I'm so thankful Saft chose to hold their kiss for later in the novel. Absolutely incredible!

"Alchemy makes monsters of men."

Something I knew going into this story was that Allison Saft was going to include Jewish-coded themes and antisemitism. Margaret is Yu'adir and experiences a lot of antisemitism throughout the course of the novel (from microaggressions to attempted murder even). It's worse because Margaret is alone when the novel starts after both her parents have left her to fend for herself against the cruelties of the town. She's even afraid to mention her heritage to Wes throughout the first half of the novel because she loves their friendship and doesn't want him to treat her differently. Although, an element to this story that I did not know about was Wes's heritage. His faith is Sumic, which in my opinion is heavily coded with Catholicism, and he's Banvish, which reminds me of the Irish. I could be wrong with either, but as an Irish Catholic myself, I just felt a sudden deep kinship to this story. My partner is both Jewish and Catholic too, so I saw him throughout a significant portion of this story because conversations come up of Margaret and Wes being together. The religious persecution, anti-immigrant, and nationalism against these identities were handled respectfully. I cried a few times because I wanted to protect both with all my heart. I think many readers can learn and feel for this world as a somewhat foil of our own, especially because it reminded me of the 1920s/ earlier 1900s.

While the hunt is short in comparison to the whole novel, I think A Far Wilder Magic is much more about the journey to the hunt rather than the hunt itself. Yes, the hunt climaxes the plot, but Margaret and Wes have to come into their own before evening journeying down that path. The alchemy and lore itself could drive one's interest, but the characters solidify the complexity and magnificence in the storytelling.

I loved the synopsis of this book and was looking forward to it, but unfortunately it fell short for me. I felt that the character and relationship development could have used work. Additionally, the entire hunt doesn’t take place until the end and it’s a very short mention. I would have liked a little more adventure. I hope this one works for others!

I'm not sure if it was me or the book, but I really struggled to get through A Far Wilder Magic. I never got captured by the story so every page felt like an obligation just to get to the end. I really wanted to like this book but I never connected to the characters or the story. I'm sure other readers will love it! Sadly, this is just one of those books that didn't work for me.

Margaret Welty is an amazing sharpshooter, but all she wants is her mother's love. Weston Winters is desperate for a chance to become an alchemist, so he can support his family and along the way better the world. The best thing about this book was their relationship. It was a very believable enemies to lovers relationship, and both characters were depicted so well I could see them in my mind. We could see how Wes changed as he grew to view Maggie differently.

While the lore of the world was interesting, I disliked how they as immigrants went along with the eradication of a magical being that both of their respective cultures venerated, and didn't seem to have as heavy a guilt as it should have been if it was actually that sacred to them. I also felt dissatisfied with the conclusion of Maggie and her mother's conflict, it felt like there was something missing, and I didn't feel as much closure as I would have liked.