Published: March 1, 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 400 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 3.0/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
No matter how far she runs, the forest of Edgewood always comes for Emeline Lark. The scent of damp earth curls into her nose when she sings and moss creeps across the stage. It’s as if the woods of her childhood, shrouded in folklore and tall tales, are trying to reclaim her. But Emeline has no patience for silly superstitions.
When her grandfather disappears, leaving only a mysterious orb in his wake, the stories Emeline has always scoffed at suddenly seem less foolish. She enters the forest she has spent years trying to escape, only to have Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, try to dissuade her from searching.
Refusing to be deterred, Emeline finds herself drawn to the court of the fabled Wood King himself. She makes a deal—her voice for her grandfather’s freedom. Little does she know, she’s stumbled into the middle of a curse much bigger than herself, one that threatens the existence of this eerie world she’s trapped in, along with the devastating boy who feels so familiar.
With the help of Hawthorne—an enemy turned reluctant ally who she grows closer to each day—Emeline sets out to not only save her grandfather’s life, but to right past wrongs, and in the process, discover her true voice.
Haunting and romantic, Kristen Ciccarelli’s Edgewood is an exciting novel from a bold, unforgettable voice in fantasy
As longtime readers of my review probably know, I’m a sucker for books that are about the fae, or even books that only might be about the fae. While the synopsis doesn’t explicitly state there will be faeries… well, there is a creepy forest, a Wood King, and a mysterious curse. I admit the lovely cover was also part of the reason I was so excited to check this out.
The book starts off with Emeline Lark being called home to Edgewood when her grandfather goes missing from the care home he’s been living in. He has dementia, but the residents of Edgewood know he didn’t just get confused and wander away – he was tithed to the Wood King. Emeline stopped believing in the fabled Wood King long ago and then she left her hometown entirely to pursue a career as a musician. She longs to be famous, singing under the glaring stage lights for adoring fans but now that she’s been called home she won’t escape so easily. She can’t leave her grandfather in the Wood King’s hands, so she goes to find him and bargain for her grandfather’s return. There is always a price though and she agrees to try to impress the Wood King with her musical talents so that she might become the next Song Mage and in return her grandfather will be free. If she fails to impress, her life is forfeit.
Edgewood and the Wood King’s court are magical, but ultimately somewhat shallow and lifeless. There’s a curse devouring the woodland, weakening the court and soon it will turn all the “shiftlings” as the fae-like creatures are called, back into their original forms. The tithes they take have been keeping the curse at bay, but they can no longer hold it back. It all sounds pretty cool, right? Sure, but it’s also something that’s been done about a hundred times and nothing about this felt unique enough to really stand out from the masses. Even the love interest is a shallow veneer of a character, with unmemorable looks and a somewhat vague history that isn’t outlined until the last little chunk of the book. I did however enjoy the sense of familial devotion Emeline had for her grandfather – nice to see a character risk life and limb for someone who raised them rather than for a handsome boy or girl.
This was definitely not the book for me, but it was a quick read that kept me engaged enough to finish in a single evening. I may have skimmed a bit when my attention waned, but I don’t believe I missed much. This was a standalone so there’s no issue of committing to multiple installments, which is great (I hope we see more standalones in SFF). Ultimately, I just didn’t love this – not enough happened in the beginning of the book to emotionally invest me with many of the characters and all these big plot events happened in the last 10%, so the ending felt very rushed.
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