After reading and absolutely loving Saft's debut novel, Down Comes the Night, I was eager to try this next book and I am happy to say I wasn't disappointed.
A hunt for a magical creatures, alchemy, and romance, this book had me hooked from the very beginning. Told through two different points of view, the story takes themes of religion, anti-Semitism and community and weaves a compelling and thoroughly entertaining story. Another great read from this author !

I wish to thank the publisher, St Martins Press, for providing my with an e-arc through Netgalley!

I loved Allison Saft's first novel Down Comes the Night, and I felt very privileged to be able to read A Far Wilder Magic early. Down comes the night was one of those books that stayed with me. I loved the fact that the main character was a sensitive person and wanted to connect to other people instead of the usual fighting in YA fantasy.

So when I started A Far Wilder Magic, I was hoping for more of this sensitivity. And I found it, too - Saft has a very specific writing style that really makes you understand how a certain scene feels. How the characters feel, whether there's tension, what kind of environment they're in. I loved that! The book starts off great with meeting Margaret, who lives alone in a big house in the forest. There was an atmosphere of not feeling welcome, of loneliness and buried secrets. And then we meet Wes, the boy who keeps trying and does anything to achieve his goal of becoming an alchemist but even so, has some insecurities of his own.

I loved the writing and the characters, and still I've only given it three stars. I had very high expectations and maybe that led to disappointment. I could have done with some more worldbuilding. This is clearly one of those books that focuses on the character development and not the plot, so much, although it is important.
The setting of the book confused me. It was an alternative history America I think. There were fantasy elements, but also trains and a big city. The religions in the book were based on Christianity and Judaism, only with different names. And very little explanation on the differences between these religions and why some were perceived as better than others. Since discrimination was a big theme in this book, I personally needed more background information to truly feel the depth of it.

Also, I was looking forward to the actual Hunt and the magic of it. I wanted to know more about this magical creature, but it turned out the Hunt was more of a setting than an actual important part of the story.

I had different expectations and that may cloud my judgement a little. There is a lot to love about this book and if you like a gothic ya romance with wuthering heights vibes, go read this book! Unfortunately it just wasn't my all time favourite.

Entrancing and compelling; A Far Wilder Magic is a gothic fantasy with a slow burn romance. It follows the dual POV of Margaret and Wes—two young people who have had hard lives and decide to change their fates by entering a dangerous hunt for a mystical creature.

Allison Saft does a wonderful job with her characters in making them rich and complex while making them enjoyable to read about. A YA book for fans of stories like The Hazel Wood or The River Has Teeth.

I'm so in love with Allison Saft's fantasy world building. She's so good at grounding the fantastical with realistic details and magical systems that are very close friends with science. This 1920s inspired fantasy has the most wonderful woodsy, autumnal vibes. The forced proximity turned sexual tension turned romance made it nearly impossible to put down. The magical fox hunt is such a unique premise, especially when it came to the different religions represented in the story and how they all relate to the Hala. I loved every minute of reading this.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Oh my gosh this book blew me away with its magical writing and unforgettable characters.

I fell in love with Allison’s first book, Down Comes the Night, and knew I needed to get my hands on her next one, A Far Wilder Magic ASAP! This story follows Margaret Welty, a town outcast who was left by her mother in their manor while she went off researching alchemy. When Weston Winters appears at the manor, requesting to be an apprentice of Margaret’s mother.

This story has a slow burn romance with an annoyance to tolerance trope? I loved the characters and how they interact with each other. They make an unlikely, but wonderful duo. The story alternates between Wes and Margaret’s perspectives and it provides a great insight and development for both characters. The alchemical system and the world-building is lush. l

I received an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Far Wilder Magic is Allison Saft's follow up to Down Comes the Night and it was a delight to read. It's got a hunt for a magical fox, a high stakes contest, alchemy, a romance that warmed my cold heart, and a very good dog. This story left me with such a wholesome mood and is a great standalone romance adventure.

A Far Wilder Magic offers an intriguing setting, compelling chracters, a slow-burn romance and touches of magic all wrapped up in a gothic-fantasy wildwood of a story! The chemistry between Wes and Margaret was beautiful and delicate and just right. The multiple POVs worked so well! And the setting itself offered an interesting mix of slight Victorian elements but also slightly modern ones in other places. The puzzzle solving/mystery of alchemy was also a lovely aspect to this story. Overall, a beautiful novel!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this digitial ARC in exchange for an honest review!




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Everything about this story is just beautiful, from the cover to cover, it is beautiful. I am probably never going to recover from this one.
I was deeply invested into the characters and couldn’t wait to see their relationship grow, it was definitely worth waiting for.

I was drawn to this book because of its beautiful cover, but sadly I had a hard time getting into it. My main issue was trying to figure out the setting of this book. I was expecting a fantasy and got a book set in a Victorian era fantasy America called "New Albion". Other parts of the story where not as fleshed out either, it was mostly a case of the author trying to do to much.

A Far Wilder Magic is a must-read for fantasy romance fans, a book that utterly consumes you, that you finish reading and find it’s thrown you straight into a reading slump. On some level, I’ve been thinking about this book for every minute of every day since I read it.

The story follows Wes Winters and Maggie Welty, two outsiders and polar opposites, who team up, each for their own reason, to capture a mythic creature and achieve what they most want. And, of course, they end up falling in love along the way.

I loved Down Comes the Night when I read it and, like a fool, thought that that couldn’t be topped. And then Allison Saft goes and proves me wrong. I’m not sure I can find the words to explain just how much I adored this book. From the writing to the world to the characters in it, I loved every aspect so much. Every time I’ve attempted to review this book, all I’ve ended up with is some kind of nonsensical babbling about how much I love it. I can’t guarantee that this review won’t just go the same way.

Let me start at what first struck me about the book, and that’s Maggie and Wes. Two POV characters who I loved from the first instant I met them? Thank you very much! Give me a relationship between characters who are complete opposites but who, somewhat begrudgingly at first, find comfort in one another and I will simply burst into tears. This is perhaps partly the reason I can’t review this book very well. I just start crying whenever I think about Maggie and Wes.

The worldbuilding and writing tie together for me. The writing is gorgeous and evokes the world so well, you feel like you could be right there with Maggie and Wes. I mean, I knew this would be the case from Down Comes the Night, but do you ever read a book where you know something’s gonna be how it is, and still find yourself in complete awe of the writer’s craft? That’s how I felt reading A Far Wilder Magic.

In all, I would rank this book as perhaps one of the best I’ve read this year and, if not that, then definitely one of my absolute favourites. This is a book I would say you really really don’t want to miss out on in 2022.

This book as so good, I haven't picked up another since. AFWM was an absolute comfort read, and a breath of fresh air. I remember finishing this book and I felt so satisfied. It checked all the boxes. Suspense, romance, pinning, friendships, family, everything. Allison Saft has made another masterpiece, and this novel satisfied a literature itch I didn't know I had! An absolutely stunning book. 10/10 recommend.

I loved Down Comes the Night, so you can only imagine my excitement when I got approved to read this ARC. Let me tell you - this book did not disappoint. I'm not sure I can gather the words to describe it, but here's the gist of my thoughts: holy cow, this book is fantastic. The plot draws parallels to real issues while maintaining a whimsical yet haunting atmosphere. The worldbuilding is easy to understand and unique in it's own way, which is something I also noticed in Down Comes the Night. The characters are so much fun to read about, mostly because the way their relationship progresses is incredible. All in all, this is a fantastic read. Check it out! Thank you to Netgalley and Allison Saft for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Far Wilder Magic is a great story about a girl named Margaret trying to win the Halfmoon Hunt and earn fame and riches, and unlock an ancient magical secret. She pairs up with an alchemist in training named Wes to be her partner. They make an unlikely duo but it works. I really loved the relationship between Wes and Margaret. The plot is unique and the story is very well-written. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read more by this author.

I thought that I'd have to force myself to read this but thankfully it picked up nicely about a quarter of the way through and I was invested until the end. I have some qualms with how religion was portrayed; not bc some pieces of the deep ignorance and prejudice isn't true but bc it's far more nuanced, difficult to untangle and destructive than what was delved into here but that's a minor quibble. There were lots that could've been explored that wasn't particularly around Evelyn and Maggie; I say that in how much more time was dedicated to Wes and his family. Anyway, a lovely little book with some nice lessons and good characters

Review of A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft.

5 stars

Thanks to the Publisher for providing me with an advanced E-arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I’m gonna be honest with you, I didn’t expect this book to be as good as it was. I was kind of expecting a typical light fantasy that would be okay, but not memorable.
This book was so good. The plot was so engrossing that I was reading during every spare minute that I had. I loved the characters. They were multifaceted and actually felt real.

3 stars--I liked the book. I enjoy Allison Saft's gentle YA romances. This one involves battling prejudice as well as a supernatural creature. I'm not a fan of bully stereotypes used as villains, but other than that I enjoyed the characters and appreciated their growth. (And what an amazing cover.)

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

So I guess at this point it is safe to say that I will read absolutely anything Allison Saft puts out. I have loved her debut, and I'm in love with her sophomore novel.
"A Far Wilder Magic" is pure magic. Saft's writing is once again gorgeous, she just manages to draw me in like few other authors do. And seriously, I love how unique and innovative her stories are! Not that there aren't known ya fantasy tropes in this book, it's not inventing something completely new. But it uses these tropes in a unique and fascinating way.
The world Saft has written here is fascinating and complex, although I would have loved some more actual world building. It does stay rather superficial and relies too much on drawing parallels to our world, especially when it comes to the issues at its core (namely racism in this book, especially the in-universe version of antisemitism). It's not very subtle and often seems to be the one focus of the world building, so the rest kind of stays on this slightly confusing level. I would have loved to learn more about this world.

The plot is fascinating and has these subtle gothic undertones that I loved about Saft's debut as well. The pacing is at times a little slow but that doesn't really matter much because of the two protagonists, Wes and Maggie. They are just!!! So loveable!! So well-written, so complex, so beautiful. They are both outsiders dealing with society's rejection in very different ways, and my heart bleeds for them. The way their relationship unfolds is simply beautiful, and it's the kind of slow-burn that doesn't rely on constant miscommunication but instead on actual character development, and boy I am HERE for this! I love them, I adore them, their romance is pure and such a joy to read. There are some scenes that felt a little rushed between them, but that's only a minor complaint.

All in all this is a beautiful ya fantasy written in gorgeous prose that takes its time with the central characters. The pacing is a little slow in the middle and the actual hunt at the end is dealt with rather quickly compared to all the build-up, but it's a joy to read and to lose oneself into. Most of all, it's a hidden little gem in its genre that does a few things very differently, so I hope many many people will give it a chance.

5 stars
Wow, I really want to do this book justice with my review, but I honestly don't know how to sum up the gorgeous story and haunting atmosphere Allison Saft has created without writing a full on essay. I guess I'll start with my main point, which is that Allison Saft's writing style is genuinely beautiful. This is the first book of hers I've read, and already I'm adding her to my list of "instant buy" authors. This book is full of so many touching quotes, and Allison Saft has done an impeccable job establishing the tone of this story. From the characters, to the themes, to the setting, this book has the perfect "autumn dark academia" energy I've been looking for. On to the plot. Simply put, it's great. I love the magic system and lore of this world, and from Weston and Margaret's introductions, to their preparation for the Halfmoon Hunt, to the hunt itself, I was wholeheartedly invested in the journey of these characters for the entirety of this book. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how many social issues this book touched on. I didn't expect to see themes of prejudice, religion, and immigration, but they were there, and done quite well. On a similar note, this had a good deal of representation, such as a dyslexic MC, and queer side characters. Lastly, on to my thoughts on the main characters and their romance. What can I say, I love a good begrudging allies to lovers arc, and this book did such a good job executing that trope. Although I loved the whole of this book, the romance was undoubtedly my favourite part. Weston and Margaret are such deeply loveable and 3 dimensional characters, it was impossible not to root for them. They felt like real people, and they had more than enough similarities (such as their shared experience of dealing with bigotry) to show that even if they didn't know it yet, they had been compatible since page one. They also helped each other be better people, which is something I always love to see. Specifically, I loved seeing how willing to go slow Weston was, and how he helped Margaret deal with her intimacy/commitment and family issues. Don't get me wrong, Weston and Margaret's pining for each other was the perfect kind of over the trope dramatic that I love in a book, but their love for each other felt real and kept the book grounded. This is such a beautifully written book and every sentence feels so deliberate. I'm inevitably going to reread and annotate this. Truly, I can't recommend this book enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

I liked a lot of things about this standalone YA fantasy romance. The fictionalized early-20th century American West Coast setting (wish there was more of this in fantasy, tbh); the nuances of the intersection of class, privilege, prejudice and patriotism; alchemical magic; the way the two lead characters (Margaret and Wes) were believably competent about some things and incompetent about others (see: emotions & attachment issues); and that the romance was not about possessiveness. While the character-driven parts and the pacing were enjoyable, unfortunately a lot of aspects of the worldbuilding and magic felt extremely underdeveloped, which was puzzling, because Saft starts off with so many promising elements.

The story is set in “New Albion,” a fictionalized America. The town of Wickdon, where most of the action takes place, seems to be in a Northern California-esque coastal region, with redwoods, madrones, and banana slugs. The nearest big city is Dunway, which is possibly a San Francisco analog. The time period is hard to pin down, kind of modern but a little steampunk, maybe somewhere between the 1910s and 1940s in terms of technology (popular use of vinyl records, pay phones, movie theaters, zeppelins, condoms).

All of this is very cool, and imparted without doing an info-dumping. But despite the repeated mention of redwoods (including as the color of Wes’s eyes, lol) there is very little else that makes the story actually <i>feel</i> like it’s in California or thereabouts. Almost nothing sets it apart, atmospherically, from a coastal British town. Saft also mostly misses out on using the modern setting in any tangible way; the rural setting means most of the vibes are very 19th century British, maybe with relaxed social mores. In addition, I’m pretty sure all the characters in the whole book are white? She also seems to be shooting herself in the foot by making the magic alchemical and the main event in the book a magical <b>fox hunt</b>. British, British, British.

This brings us to magic/religion. The Halfmoon Hunt near Wickdon is a yearly ritualized sporting tradition in New Albion. Every fall, a magical creature (or “demiurge”) called the hala (it’s shaped like a giant white fox) materializes, and for five weeks grows more and more powerful and destructive (destroying farms, livestock, occasionally killing people) before the culmination of its power on a full moon, when the hunt happens (It’s most powerful then, but also, that’s the only time people can kill it? Because the full moon has an alchemical effect, or somesuch. This leads me to question why it’s called the “<b>Half</b>moon” Hunt. Sigh. Maybe it’s a reference to Half Moon Bay, which would confirm my San Francisco hypothesis about Dunway). Anyway. The hala is the last known demiurge in existence, and no one has managed to kill it yet. People can enter the hunt in teams of two: a sharpshooter (Margaret’s role) and an alchemist (Wes’s role).

The interpretation of the significance of alchemical magic and demiurges has (ostensibly) a lot of religious importance in this world. The majority of New Albians are Katharists (Protestants), and are prejudiced against Sumics (Catholics) like Wes (who, gasp, is not just Sumic—Catholic, but Banvish-Sumic—Irish-Catholic) and Yu’adir (Jews) like Margaret. They are very clearly just those religions with some extra doctrine about alchemy and demiurges tacked on. Sumics have saints and mass and fancy cathedrals and rosary beads (and are maligned by Katharists as practicing barbaric cannibalistic rituals, eating babies, etc), Yu’adir have the Hebrew alphabet and temples and Seders and fled from pogroms (and are stereotyped by others as being materialistic, possibly manipulating the global economy, etc).

I really don’t mind fantasy authors cribbing off of Judeo-Christian traditions, but what really didn’t work for me here was how thinly-veiled the rebranding was. It would have been better if she’d just called them by their real-world names and done a better job of explaining the doctrinal differences re: demiurges. OR, even better, just made up new religions entirely so the focus was on the ACTUAL REAL MAGIC in the world she made up. I had to keep reminding myself what the new name for Catholic was, and because there was so much focus on the real-world practices and prejudices of the religions in question, I could never remember which religion had which particular interpretation of the significance of demiurges. It created a weird decentering of the main magical phenomenon of the whole story, which wasn’t improved by the ending’s complete lack of answers about the meaning of any of the magic.

<spoiler>The resolution of the hunt was completely useless in terms of magical revelations. Why were Margaret and Wes hearing their voices whispered on the breeze the whole time? Why were they being called to the hala? It seems like they were fated to kill it, but there’s never any actual revelation about the religious significance/truth of the demiurges, and I didn’t think it was set up appropriately for the reader to be OK with “oh it’s just mysterious and we’ll never know the divine meaning of things.” Why did the demiurges exist? Why did the hala appear every year in that area? Why did it need to be killed? Does the extinction of demiurges have any kind of implication for alchemical magic? What was all the stuff about Margaret being all glowy and silver?</spoiler> The ending left me with so many unanswered questions, and not in a good way!

While <i>A Far Wilder Magic</i> was disappointing in terms of big-picture worldbuilding, it really does do a good job with the nuances of family dynamics, being a young adult, and teen romance. I feel bad for complaining so much about what didn't work for me, but I really felt let down since there was so much potential! Despite the numerous disappointments, I think I’d give Allison Saft another chance. And I think that this would still be an enjoyable book for teen readers.

<b>A Far Wilder Magic is due to be released in the US on March 8, 2022.</b>

<i>Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the NetGalley ARC.</i>