The love story in this young adult fantasy was too YA for me and I just didn’t connect with the characters. The plot felt somewhat original but also somewhat conceptionally overdone (I think I’m just tired of the competition storyline in a lot of YA fantasies) and near the end, I skimmed. Some elements of the story could be interpreted to represent religions of today, but I didn’t give it enough thought to analyze this aspect. There were some parts of the story that, to me, felt icky because the characters were young. This may be a good fall read for those still chasing the high of Hunger Games.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the gifted ecopy. All views expressed are my own.

5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book! This is my honest review, all views are my own.
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Did I actually read this book in time for its pub date? No. Did I start reading it in July and finally finish it in January? Yes. Did I like it?
I. LOVED. IT.
A Far Wilder Magic is a 1920s-inspired high fantasy romance standalone--and I honestly would pitch it as a romance with a fantasy-driven plot. While the main plot points revolve around the Hunt for the hala, the story is much more focused on the relationship that builds between Margaret and Wes. They have different motivations for joining the hunt and working together, but they do push each other to do better and achieve what seemed to be impossible. For Margaret, that is looking beyond the practical survival and upkeep of the manor to see the love that others hold for her; for Wes, that is better understanding his ambitions and choosing to not play the political game, but to change and break it.
If I were to be picky, I'd probably mention the few loose threads that never feel fully resolved (Perhaps an epilogue with a time skip would have helped?), or talk about how I wanted the alchemy to be explained a bit further... but I honestly was way too wrapped up in the story that was actually written to care all that much or give it less than 5 stars. Call me generous, but if I'm kicking my feet and squealing at every flirty comment from the two idiots who not-so-secretly pine after each other for 300 pages? It deserves all the stars. I'm a romantic!
Other aspects of the story: I loved the writing! It contained some beautiful prose ("The next two days pass like honey drizzled from the tip of a spoon"), but also some stupidly funny comments ("after he showers off his failures" and "he glumly spoons porridge into his mouth" were some of my immediate favorites), and interesting parallels. Also, yes the title basically appears in the book at one point--as well as a bunch of comments about the characters looking 'wild', which I found kind of hilarious. I liked how the side characters still felt like their own people with dreams and ambitions, but clearly were helping to move the story along rather than take attention away from the main characters. People like Annette and Jaime served as antagonists of a sort--they were made to conflict with and create tension between Margaret and Wes, which tested their relationship beyond the confines of Welty Manor.
I only took this long to finish A Far Wilder Magic because I was dealing with personal life chaos, but once I picked it back up, I breezed through the second half in a few hours. I love the dynamics of each character, the tension surrounding the multiple conflicts, and the ultimate struggles of the main relationship. I was genuinely so excited to read on and find out how so-and-so reacted, or how so-and-so accomplished their goals, or if this-or-that actually worked. In my opinion, that utter absorption into the plot and world is what makes a book worth it. 5 stars.

I always love Alison's writing; it's so accessible but still really rich. I think the same about her fantasy worlds: they're both easy to step into and understand while also feeling incredibly inventive. This along with Saft's characters always written with wonderful vulnerability and acute human-ness, makes everything she writes an autobuy for me.

Allison Saft is amazing with descriptions. I was horrified by the hala, appropriately so, and drawn in so deeply at times. This book was hard for me to pick up because of personal life stuff. But I was easily able to fall into the narrative every time I read, no matter if it was for ten minutes or an hour. I picked up the voice and was able to engross myself every time.

I am fascinated by this alternate history and look forward to more! I loved the queer vibes of the background characters, Wes’s sisters and several couples in town. The alternate history that mirrors our own world, prejudices included in many ways, was fascinating. I would love a book on just the history of this world, an appendix with all the information laid out.

The ending came on a bit quick and didn’t linger. The final drama happened within the last ten percent of the book and resolved well enough, just extremely fast paced. Everything lead up to this moment, both romantically and main plot, and was resolved so fast. I saw the percentage rise, getting so close to the end of the book, and wondered if there would be enough time for everything to resolve.

Fans of Maggie Stiefvater will enjoy this book, as well as fans of Lyndall Clipstone, Susan Dennard, and Francesca May. That dark fantasy aspect will appeal to many, I’m sure. This was my first book of Saft’s and I will most definitely be backtracking through her publishing history to read what there is so far. I eagerly await future novels!

Margaret is the daughter of a renowned Alcemist and Wes is a flawed alchemist in training. Wes has been through several teachers only to not be good a enough alchemist to retain any of them. So when he come on search of Margaret's mother, he meets Margaret and feelings begin to fly.

Margaret is an outcast in her town. No one is kind to her. She is used to being alone and she absolutely hates Wes when she first meets him.

I didn't like Wes at first. I saw him how Margaret viewed him and he was just a bit annoying. But, like Margaret, I warmed up to him and really enjoyed his role in the story.

I also enjoyed the vulnerability of both of our main characters. They start off a bit guarded and both become more personal and intimate as time goes on.

To me the ending was the best part about this. It has a Darkness to it and I loved where the story takes us.

This book had a tournament and hate to love. It had alchemy and some elements of mystery.

Initially, I had thought to rate this 5 stars. It was super enjoyable and I really love the way it was written and the cast of characters, but as time has gone on, I remember very little about it. The most prominent portion of the story was the hate to love romance and the alchemy tournament. I definitely recommend this!

I absolutely adored Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft. A Far Wilder Magic is a young adult fantasy romance that has a mix of modern day luxuries and yet the feel of the era that studied alchemy.

I loved the slow building romance between the two main characters, Margaret and Wes. Margaret is an interesting and at times naive character with questionable choices. Wes hides behind charisma and pushes his study of alchemy against dyslexic boundaries.

The magic system is mostly based in alchemy but the Hala was a high point for me. I wanted more of that in the book. I also enjoyed the well tied in themes of bullying, racial prejudices and fighting for your goals and dreams and not giving into the demands of parental expectations.

There is repetitive monologue that bogged scenes down and drew focus away. I think less of that would've made it even more phenomenal.

Thank you Wednesday Books for the gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Or did you always love the memory of him more than you loved the reality of me?

Beautiful quote for a boring book. Adding this to my “The plot sounded fun until I started reading” list.

A Far Wilder Magic was a weird one. First of all, nothing happens for the entirety of the book. The story revolves around a hunting contest but WE DON’T SEE ANYONE HUNT ANYTHING UNTIL 90% INTO THE BOOK. I hate when books do this. The summary lures you with the promise of action and interesting stuff happening but then the book is the complete opposite of that. The pacing was so frustratingly slow. The plot was pretty much all over the place. I went into it expecting fierce competition and high stakes and spooky vibes. Instead I got a slow burn romance that fell incredibly flat and which essentially felt like every generic YA couple mashed into one with the competition as a backdrop.

Maggie’s character is quite boring. At first she comes of as very stuck up and prude, which I know was the intention, except the impression never really wears off over time. I know she has mommy issues but her arc is overall not interesting in the slightest. I guess you could call her the grumpy one in her grumpy x sunshine pairing, Wes being the sunshine. Speaking of Wes, I did enjoy reading about him a bit more, but one passable character isn’t enough to redeem the whole book. He reminds me a lot of Will Herondale, except less angsty and more goofy.

The one thing that kept bugging me was the world building. First of all, it was very vague and sloppy. Apparently this book is inspired by Jewish culture, but I was under the impression that it was set in the real world, like a historical fantasy. But obviously it’s not, because there is no city called Wickdon. Also they have phones and cars. I am confusion. I didn’t hate the writing, but it doesn’t do a particularly good job at drawing you in. There are a few scenes where Wes does alchemy. I have absolutely no idea what alchemy is. I’m assuming it’s science but with magic. But again, the author did such a poor job at building her world that I didn’t feel like reading a whole chapter describing Wes drawing runes and mixing stuff and doing incantations or whatever it is that he does.

There is honestly nothing special about this book. At times it was boring, other times it was slightly more enjoyable. It’s very mid.

Magic. Alchemy. Love.

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft is a YA book for lovers of fantasy.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I almost DNFed at 40%, but I really wanted to finish because of my reading goal. It was very dull in the beginning. Lots of descriptions, strange writing style and changing POVs made it hard to read. On top of that, I just found it really hard to get into the story- just not that interesting to me even though the synopsis sounded great.

What did I like about it? The eventual ending is good, I enjoyed the parts where Wes is with his family (seemed to have a better writing style there). I thought the changes in Margaret were good, even though I would still call her character underdeveloped.

All in all, I would read more from this author, but I wouldn’t go back and read this again.

I had really high hopes for this story, which was probably my mistake. Honestly, I can see why some people will love this story, but for me, it kept missing the mark in places and I found myself wishing for more. I will say that I quite enjoyed the alchemy, as I have always found alchemy a fascinating subject, and I enjoyed how the different religions of this story were explored and played a role in the hunt for the Beast.
I also really love Wes and Maggie. I found them to be dynamic, driven characters who were good leaders, had depth to them, and I wanted to see where their stories would lead me. I like how I could see their development over the course of the story.
All that being said, I don't like how I could never tell WHEN this story was taking place. Was it the past? The future? Medieval? Some steampunk world? I don't like not being able to visualize a time period, even if the world is completely made up and doesn't follow the same timeline as human history; I like to know WHEN I am. There were a few other plot issues I kept running into, but nothing major.
Above all, this was a fun, interesting read that I think many will enjoy and fall in love with.

I adored this book, it's become one of my comfort reads. It's the perfect blend of fantasy/ historical fiction.

A Far Wilder Magic is a beautifully written whimsical and atmospheric YA Fantasy book. I really enjoyed the unique story and the characters. The beginning of the book felt a little slow, but eventually it picked up and I was very invested! I really liked both Maggie and Wes and am so happy that the story was written dual POV.

I do think the story could have used more world building and description as I had trouble picturing certain things and found myself getting distracted by small details, taking me out of the actual story.

Thank you to NetGalley and for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very belated review for a book that I wish that I had saved for the shorter days of fall and winter.

Margaret Welty grows up isolated at the edges of society with a renowned yet absent alchemist for a mother, so she is less than thrilled when Wes shows up at her door in the hopes of becoming her mother’s newest apprentice and proving to his family and the world that he has what it takes to be an alchemist. Margaret forms an uneasy truce with West when she realizes that she needs his help to participate in the Halfmoon Hunt in the hopes that by capturing its mythic quarry will bring her mother home.

A Far Wilder Magic is a story of two outsiders finding an unexpected home in each other. Theirs is a slow burn romance of opposites, simmering gently underneath their preparations for the hunt. The story is highly atmospheric and with an anachronistic blend of the old fashioned with modernity that left me unable to place when in time the story takes place in what felt like steampunk’s second cousin. The settings range from rural village to industrial town, reflecting the stark differences and upbringings between Margaret and Wes.

The story explores themes of nationalism and xenophobia, ambition and self-belief, trust and overcoming the expectations of family. There is magic and mystery, though perhaps less magic than expected. Slow and subtle in spite of a fair amount of action, the experience of reading this story felt muted in the most atmospheric of ways—as though a heavy fog were between me and the contents of its pages.

Allison Saft sure can write beautiful and atmospheric stories. A Far Wilder Magic is a solid read, perfect for fans of Hannah Whitten and Ava Reid. I’m looking forward to what Allison writes next!

I really enjoyed every page of this dystopian mystical adventure love story! Margaret and Wes are a pair of fully developed characters in an epically imagined society that Allison Saft has thoughtfully developed with multiple hierarchical elements. I hope to see a sequel where we re-enter this world and continue the journey started here.

I wanted so badly to like this book, but alas, it was not for me. I tried repeatedly to get into it, only to put it down and read other things.

The story is an urban fantasy set in like a parallel universe of the present day, with representations of things in our world with different names and a twist. Most of the time I was just trying to figure out what was what and try to make it make sense with my understanding of history, language and time, which was confusing and frustrating. The pace was slow and I felt that there was more tell than show.

Great for fantasy/ YA romance fans. I found the alchemist angle to be a fresh take on the genre. I think it will be very popular in our library this fall!

I spent the better part of the beginning of this book up to my ears in the busyness of real life, and I can honestly say it kept me hooked even when I didn’t have the time to be reading it.

I had a hard time at first keeping the terms straight, and honestly I’m still not 100% sure what some of them were, but I liked that I didn’t have to worry about it so much that I missed out on the story.

I love a good underdog story. This one did not disappoint. I loved that both Wes and Margaret had to face their own demons to be able to see each other and to finally face their dreams. I love that finding each other helped them to heal and to surpass their brokenness they came together with.

Most of all, I loved the ending! Definitely recommend!

"How much suffering is worth the promise of glory?"

TW: Gore, animal gore, blood, bigotry, anti-semitic, xenophobic, death, parental abandonment, bullying & loss of a family member.

This book holds such wisps of magic while working through serious topics like xenophobia and anti-Semitism while we hunt for a creature that can bring glory and solve the problems of our two leads. The chemistry between them was truly beautiful while they worked through pain and trauma.

Bonus: I DIED when Weston found out about Margaret's smutty book and loved the silliness of the scene (I felt Margaret's cringe and pain for that as I cannot have someone catch me reading my obscene books, it feels so vulnerable).

I thought the plot was interesting because it was different from other fantasy books I have read in that it wasn't about a war. The idea of the hunt was much more original.
The characters were also pretty intriguing. I liked that you could feel their anxiety throughout the book and that we could see what caused it. I understood that Wes felt obligated to succeed despite his many past failures and I understood Margaret's anxiety about her mother not being there. With that being said the characters still felt that they were not fully developed. I couldn't see much outside of their anxieties. I also thought that the side characters added another level of anxiety because of how much disdain they had over the 2 main characters.
Overall I think that the book was pretty good. The vibes were dark and dreary and the monsters were creepy, it was definitely atmospheric.