I was lucky enough to get my hands on a arc for this book. I had recently read The Thirteenth Child and absolutely fell in love with the authors writing, so I knew I needed her newest release ASAP! The beginning was a bit of a slow start, but when things kicked into high gear, I couldn't put it down!! The build up in the beginning is definitely necessary for the character and made much more sense once I really sunk my teeth into this book. I literally devoured the last 60% of it! I will be gifting and recommending this book to all my besties!!

Oh gosh. Where do I even start with this book. I’m a fan of lush, atmospheric woodsy stories that toe the line of horror (via vampires), and this book totally delivered on the vibes. This is my first venture into the world of Erin Craig, and let me tell you - I’m obsessed. I have most of her previous books just sitting on my shelf, and just haven’t had time to squeeze them in, but I’m really going to make an effort this fall. There’s a love triangle with this one along with things that go bump in the night and she completely nails those eerie, foreboding vibes that you want to feel from a book like this. Anyone who enjoys creepy woods with a romantic undertone will eat this one up.

I'm trying to think of a way to describe this one. A strange woman, born in a cursed town- all who spend the evening in the town after dusk can never leave again, monstrous things lurk just outside watching the folk and they have a secret agreement with them. Welcome to Mistaken.

You've got monsters, chasing the man you love into dangerous horror filled woods, discovering your family and town secrets, journey of self discovery and yearning to be free from the constraints of your very small life and leaving everything behind.

Greer Mackenzie has always been a little different from the rest of her village of Mistaken, a harsh way of life where everything relies on trade through the Mill and garnering enough tribute each winter to give to The Benevolence so they can be protected from the monsters that lurk behind the warding stones- The Bright Eyed's- monsters who will rend an entire village to nothing.
Her obsession is trying to map every foot she can during the day time beyond the stones before she has to return back by dusk. She loves Ellis Beaufort- descendants of the disgraced man who brought all the original families and trapped them in Mistaken.

Every seven years they hold The Hunt, where young women run into the woods to hide, and the young men wed whoever they find first. They have a plan, but so does her father, owner of the Mill.
Greer is about to have her entire life upended, and she'll do anything to make sure she spends her life with Ellis.

This was a solid read, I enjoyed Mistaken's strange lore, Greer's longing and growth, and Ellis's acceptance, I hope they're out there free and happy somewhere.

I love Erin Craig's books most of the time. Unfortunately this one felt a little bit underdeveloped. As a Ballad of TamLin retelling it felt a bit clunky. In regards to the pacing, the beginning half dragged out a little too much, and the second half with its conclusion felt rushed. I didn't overall hate it, but it wasn't a home run for me like she has been in the past.

I was given a complimentary digital copy of this book by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon Publishing. All the opinions and thoughts about this book are my own.

Erin Craig first introduced me to dark fantasy through her YA novel House of Salt & Sorrows, and I was so excited to see she was publishing an adult book! A Land So Wide delivers her trademark creepy world-building with heart. The story follows Greer, a life-long resident of the town of Mistaken, as she journeys through the dangerous woods surrounding her home to rescue the man she loves. But in Mistaken, monsters are not just folklore, and soon Greer finds herself stalked through the dark forest by creatures out of a nightmare.

Erin Craig has an amazing gift for combining beautiful writing and characters with truly terrifying imagery and situations. (There are moments in all of her books that haunt me!) A Land So Wide is a great continued example of her story-telling talent. This book feels hard to define; it’s not quite horror, but it feels a little scarier than dark fantasy. Whatever genre it is, it is a uniquely Erin Craig story, and current and new fans will love this book from her!

I would recommend A Land So Wide to readers who love dark folklore and fantasy, spooky magical realism, and stories set in deep, dark woods.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.

Craig is one of my must read authors and I was so excited to see how her first adult novel would change her writing style. I absolutely loved that it has the same tone and vibes she is known for, beautifully applied to this new setting, and also appropriately shifted the tone to be more adult. I will say this book reads more as New Adult, the main character is 27 but also comes across a little naive at times and while not as youthful as a YA character also not quite as adult as an average 27 year old woman. That does also play into the dynamics of the town though and the magic system. The romance is also on the lower end of the spice scale and feels really fitting for a New Adult designation. I really enjoyed these elements and thought it worked well within the story but some readers looking for a more solidly Adult story may be little disappointed. The horror of the story was the element where i noticed the most difference between this book and her YA works. The horror in this book is less dreamy and you see more gore and violence up close, it still fits the overall tone of her writing so well and I was really impressed with this change. The horror of the magic system and the monsters blends so well with the horror of what is revealed from the town's history and leadership, this really made the book so hard to put down. I also really enjoyed the way the history of the town was revealed through the book and how that compared to the stories most of the town believed about their founding and history. The characters are well done I liked Greer immediately and really appreciated her as her journey went on, I particularly loved seeing the other characters from her perspective. Her longing to escape the town but also her love for it's people especially Ellis, provided a great avenue to make the secondary characters feel more whole. I was really impressed with how much we actually got to know Ellis considering how much the events of the book kept them apart. There is also a second love interest and his story unfolded in a really interesting way highlighting how difficult Greer's personal journey and the choices she has to make are for her. Everything in this book worked so seamlessly together to really display the magic of Craig's writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed it start to finish and will continue to read everything she writes.

A Land So Wide is dripping with the atmospheric charm Erin A. Craig does so well—fog-drenched cliffs, crumbling estates, and a touch of the eerie that makes you second-guess the edges of reality. But while the setting lured me in, the pacing and character work didn’t hold me quite as tightly as I hoped.

Greer, the main character, often felt more like a love-struck teen than a woman in her late twenties. Her voice came off as a bit whiny at times, which made it harder to fully root for her, though I did appreciate the deeper emotional struggles she faced beneath the surface. The internal conflict gave her some dimension, even when her outward choices felt frustrating.

The story unfolds slowly—almost too slowly—and while there are twists, most of them felt easy to see coming. I kept hoping for one truly shocking moment, but it never arrived. And the ending? Abrupt. I turned the last page feeling a bit unsatisfied, like there was more story to tell or more emotional payoff to earn.

All that said, fans of Craig’s previous books or readers who enjoy slow-burn gothic tales might still find something to enjoy here. It just wasn’t quite the haunting, immersive experience I was hoping for.

In her 5th book A Land So Wide, Erin Craig brings a world of savage mystery to the Colonial Period. I haven't read many books that so effectively combine dark fantasy which an early American setting but this one really hits the mark. With haunted forests, protective stones, both benevolent and malevolent creatures the stakes remain high throughout the narrative. Threads of romance add depth to the story of our central protagonist as she navigates a fate between two worlds. This was an engrossing read.

I was very taken by this book. It was correctly labeled in different parts with part one as the town story and part two the adventurous story. I enjoyed reading this as a historical fiction, the backstory of the town gives very mysterious vibes, add in the stones and the monsters everyone fears and it gives this great suspenseful gothic story. I like reading about Greer in phases, first we get a grieving Greer but also an ‘in love’ Greer and an adventurous Greer. I liked reading about her plans and her passions even when she was limited to this town. Her and Ellis are cute, I cheered for them in all of part one even when everything seemed against them.

Now part two was so suspenseful and wow how many twists we got. I never guessed the mystery of the bright eyed creatures. I only knew Greer was trying to save Ellis from the monsters. And yes it was clear Greer was normal but I definitely didn’t guess how she wasn’t normal. Her mom’s identity was also a shock but it made sense. And Finn, oh well Finn deserved so much better. I did ship Finn and Greer in the second part I will admit, he just made sense. But then the ending was full of action and even more suspenseful (which I thought impossible we could get more) I was happy with the ending. I like thinking Greer moved on and that epilogue made me hope for Finn. But Greer and Ellis deserve their happy ending.

Fantasy can be a hit or miss genre for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Through the author's vivid descriptions, the village of Mistaken and the surrounding forest really came to life--at times the setting felt more like an important character rather than just a backdrop for the story. I always enjoy a strong, spirited female main character, and Greer MacKenzie did not disappoint!

Certain elements of the story were a bit ghoulish for my tastes, but not enough to keep me from enjoying the story. There were moments where the plot was predictable and circumstances seemed a little too convenient, but overall, I was kept in suspense and eager to find out how it all would end. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Chef's kiss 💋 dark, gritty, original , wonderful. I want to read everything Craig has ever written..immediately.
thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I'm not going to lie, at the beginning of A Land So Wide I wondered if this was going to be a copy of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village because they both shared so many initial hallmarks. I was honestly convinced for the first part that the Bright-Eyeds were a story to keep the young people from leaving the village of Mistaken. However, the Bright-Eyeds are real - and they are not at all what you think they are.

A Land So Wide starts out a bit slow, then takes off running. It's an adventure, mystery, and romance filled with suspense, peril, and action - and it's absolutely spellbinding. Absolutely gorgeous story telling with very thorough world-building... this enthralling story will stay with your long after you read the final page.

The atmosphere is so dark, unsettling and mysterious that I was instantly drawn into this world. The rules and lore of Mistaken made the world so layered and rich. I love the chapters set back in time that slowly reveal how the village and its residents came to be there. I read this page turner in one day and spurned all who dared to interrupt me! If you love dark fairytales, History's Mysteries, and the movie The Village vibes, then this is a must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for access to this arc.

A Land So Wide is Erin A. Craig’s adult debut and one of my most anticipated books of the year! It follows Greer, a young woman who lives in a village called Mistaken. Mistaken is protected by a large circle of Warding Stones that keep all the creatures out but keeps all the residents in. But when things go wrong and the stones move, Greer has to uncover some secrets of the outside world that may force her to learn more about herself.

I loved the first half of this book. I became so invested so quickly and became entranced by Mistaken. I loved learning about the town’s history and customs and seeing what mysteries there were. My interest waned a bit in the second half. The direction of the story changes and the actual plot starts but I wasn’t as absorbed in it. The ending was satisfying and I still really enjoyed the book as a whole. I think I was just more invested in the opening mysteries.

I would highly recommend that to anyone who has enjoyed this author’s previous work and anyone who likes to read books that have a folktale vibe.

DNF at 6%, I just could not get into this one and kept puttting it down. Ultimately being vored so quickly was not a good sign for me to like this so not for me

Obsessed doesn’t even cover it!! I love Erin A. Craig and A Land So Wide has just increased this love tenfold! A wonderful, spooky fantasy and a must read for all!

thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with an e-arc of this book

erin a craig has been one of my favorite ya fantasy authors since i read house of salt and sorrows 4 years ago. the way she writes gothic fantasy with a mix of horror elements is fascinating and i love it. being able to read her debut into adult gothic fantasy was super exciting

a land so wide never went in the direction i thought it would. the new folklore and myth elements were done in a very intriguing way that wasn’t confusing or hard to digest.

around the 75% mark i was unsure if the story would end in the way i wanted but the resolution was satisfying and covered all the points i was hoping it would.

I absolutely devoured this. A Land So Wide was my first read by Erin A Craig, and I was immersed.

So far, I've seen mixed reviews on the story with some people loving the first part but not the second and vice versa. I found both parts equally compelling. Did they differ? Yes, but understandably so.

I also saw a few reviews saying this felt like Craig's YA novels, not an adult novel. While I cannot attest to that as I haven't read any of her YA novels, I don't feel that A Land So Wide had distinctly YA vibes. Greer lived a sheltered life in Mistaken. Her entire life...as in she had never been more than a few miles outside that town and away from the people who lived there. Therefore, I didn't really expect her to sound and act like a "typical" twenty-seven-year-old. I also don't think she sounded or acted like a YA character.

Anyway. I came for the eerie, atmospheric vibes, and I stayed for those very same vibes. Frankly, I could've kept reading, and I would come back for more.

***I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley.***

The people in the settlement Mistaken can't leave. There are monsters in the woods. Luckily, they have warding stones surrounding the town that keep them safe from whatever lurks in the woods. The downside, the stones also draw them back if they stray too far.

This sounded so good! Unfortunately, I didn't like it at all. I'm being generous with my rating. The writing is good, and it's very atmospheric. I've read from this author before and enjoyed her writing, so I was excited for this one. Sadly, I did not enjoy it. I'm glad it was a short book or I don't think I would have finished it.

When going into this book, I certainly was not expecting pretty much anything that happened. I was SAT for how the story unfolded, mystery after mystery. I devoured this book so fast (pun definitely intended). Such an eerie book with the perfect spooky vibes!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!