Lark and the Wild Hunt by Jennifer Adam
FANTASY
Not many middle-grade stories get the lore of the Fae so adeptly — the Fae with their trickery and courts and drama but Lark and the Wild Hunt succeeds in an age-appropriate, enthralling tween fantasy adventure. Lark’s family raises the half-animal, half-fae horses for the Wild Hunt. But when her brother doesn’t return from this Wild Hunt, Lark throws herself into finding him–which means, according to her new fae friend Rook, fixing the mysterious, broken moon clock and searching for her brother in the fae lands. If you like epic adventures with magic, don’t miss this story about a brave and determined human girl in a world of magic and fae who embarks on a quest to save her brother…and her sister…from the new, evil fae king.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I read Lark and the Wild Hunt aloud to my then 5th grader quite a while back, and he still brings this book up and talks about how much he loved it.

The story is of a girl named Lark who lives on the edge of fairy, and a war starts to brew between fae and human. Although this story is middle grade, this could've been easily turned into YA with an older MC and a dash of romance with Rook, the fairy who is helping Lark reestablish the peace between the fairies and humans. I this is why I enjoyed it so much as well, because it did seem like a bit more mature of a story.

I loved Jennifer Adam's THE LAST WINDWITCH, but I have to say, I love this one even more. LARK is compelling from the very first chapter. While the missing sibling trope may be familiar to middle grade readers, this one has a surprising twist about what happened and why her brother has not come home. (I'll avoid spoilers!) This story full of fey trickery and the divide between the magical and human worlds is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series (without the adult content of the later books). Lark is a fun character and I loved her curiousity and inventiveness as she deals with the wildness of the Shadowhorses and navigates the quiet intricacies of clockwork.

Highly recommend!

I have been a big fan of fae stories since I read my first one in high school, especially those that deal with different fae for each season. When I read the description for this book, it drew me in, and I knew that I had to read it.

Lark's adventure in this story takes its time, which I enjoyed thoroughly. The reader gets to know Lark, her family, and her village throughout the story. We learn about their customs and how they were created with the fae. This was through great descriptions, the interactions of the town, and also just their way of speaking. I loved the lines like "rust and ruin" that they would say. It made the world feel more grounded. Fantasy worlds with their own way of talking and world concepts are always my favorites. We also get to know the fae world as a whole, which was one of this novel's best parts. I enjoyed the aspects of that, but I will not spoil that here.

The story is from Lark's perspective, and she was the perfect protagonist for this story. I am glad middle-grade readers will get to read a story from such a strong female character like Lark. She works hard to save her siblings throughout the story and help her family. Also, she's not perfect and makes mistakes, which I'm always glad to see. Her brother's line "one chance" was beautiful and a great message for young and older readers.

The Wild Hunt and the celebrations at the start of the different seasons were other aspects of the book that stood out. The descriptions in these parts were standouts in the book. I loved the market scene when Lark finally got to go for the first time. The thrill of that for her and how wild it all was because of everything that has changed because of what is happening with the faes and their world. I like how we got to see the end of the wild hunt at the beginning of the book and how that was a catalyst for the rest of the plot. Then, when we finally see another one, we have the context of how they are supposed to go and also the worry of what will happen with it.

Overall, I believe this was a great fantasy book with a strong female protagonist, a rich fantasy world that draws you in, and a story that has you feeling for the characters. Great for younger and older readers alike.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.*