I really liked the premise of this book and expected that I'd read it quickly - a witchy book with Gatsby vibes ticked all the boxes. While the writing was beautiful, I found the pacing quite slow. I haven't yet finished reading the book and hope to perhaps pick it up again at a later point.

* 3.5 stars.

In theory I should have loved this, a book that is: witchy, gothic, sapphic and Gatsby-inspired, which essentially sounds like all of my interests have been put into a blender and poured out into words. The writing itself is beautiful, crackling with magic and moody atmosphere, however I didn't quite connect with some of the characters, who felt more like part of the gorgeously gloomy scenery than real people, and the romance being so slow-burn that it was more of a flicker I found myself struggling to care about--and I always care about gay witches.

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC.)

This is one of the books to read in 2022. Especially if you enjoy witchy vibes and magic realism. But it also features some fantastic social commentary.

May has a wonderfully evocative style of descriptive writing that conjures vivid imagery at the mere turning of a page. The setting and aesthetics drip with detail, and the characters are fully-realised three-dimensional people. They have flaws, make terrible decisions, and it’s because of this, amongst other reasons, that they’re so much more believable. May takes all the time necessary to reveal their hopes and fears and the novel is far stronger for it.

In short, Wild and Wicked Things is a terrific novel that’s well worth your time.

Love, love, love it.

In her acknowledgements, the author calls this ‘a melancholy, witchy sapphic book’ and I cannot think of a better descriptor.

Wild and Wicked Things did not immediately grab me. It was not a book that I could not put down; however, it was a little nudge in the back of my mind, waiting to get back to Annie and Emmeline, to Isobel and Nathan, to Bea, to find out what was in store for them next.

Wild and Wicked Things is melancholy. . Some of the characters are not particularly likeable, but you find yourself caring about them anyway. There are mysteries. It is dark, and sad, and haunting. It explores longing and desperation, lost love and betrayal, everyone is desperate, and lost, haunted by their past.

It is not a happy book. It was not intended to be; but it will linger in your mind.

liked this, needed more out of it though! a little bit better execution??

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

A well written book that is slow paced but enjoyable to read.
I would have liked to have got to learn a bit more about the characters but it was ok.

Sapphic retelling of the Great Gatsby ? Witches and pagan magic ? This book definitely delivers.

Okay so personally I am not a fan of The Great Gatsby so I am not too surprised that this book didn’t fully click with me but I want to be reallly clear that that is just down to me and that this book is a masterpiece. Glamorous to the hilt. Full of stolen glances and bone aching longing that follows you throughout the book.

Set on Crow Island, a mysterious place full of wealth and darkness. Since the war, magic has been outlawed. Plants in your garden could see you hang just for what they could be used for. But not that this law effect Crow Island. The wealth make the laws, they don’t follow them.

Anna is a plain jane. Love lorn after the war. Drifting through life. A mouse in a world of cats. Then she gets a letter. Her estranged father has died, and his last wish was that she come to Crow Island. The very place he left her and her mother for in the first place. The very place that her only other friend in the world disappeared to. Her curiosity banishes her fear - and Anna goes.

Swept along in the heady current of alcohol, money, love and blood magic, Anna spirals towards the truth, about both her father and her friend - and most importantly herself.

This is a positively interesting premise but maybe I picked it up at the wrong time or something else went wrong because I didn't like it as much as I anticipated and it fell flat for me.

After her father's death, Annie Mason visits Crow Island to take care of his belongings, not knowing what to expect. Her new wealth made it possible for her to rent a cottage by the sea, and her neighbor seems to throw the most elaborate parties possible - with magic that is literally forbidden.

Prohibition in this case means a ban on all mind-altering substances and practises, which includes magic. It doesn't matter if you're taking it externally or have it in you, magic is the forbidden fruit.

Annie is kind of shy, and happy to meet her childhood friend who disappeared on her, but it does not take her long to get a sense of an unhappy marriage there, and wonders why Bea eloped with this guy if it doesn't work out.
Then there are the witches next door. Nobody seems to care about what they're doing, which is hosting parties the whole island and rich people from outside enjoy.

Let's start with what I disliked, because that list is short. Blood magic is used, but as a person with a history of autoaggressive behavior I can tell that the author did not do research into how wounds and blood behave. Most notably if you have deep, possibly life-threating wounds, don't take a hot bath to relax you, hot tissue bleeds more.

Also, there is self harm in here to get blood for magic. I personally felt fine despite self harm being a big triggering topic for me, because the reasoning behind the harm done was entirely different.

What I liked was the found family aspects of the plot, and, well, that it isn't as boring as the Great Gatsby, which served as an inspiration for the set up of the story. I would love to know more about this world, and especially the mysterious council we never get any concrete information about, but since the setting is what is is I'd expect them to be white, cis, and boring dudes.
I see potential for further stories set in the world, but based around different characters, and would be totally here for that.

Recommendations for witchy lesbian plot.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

I was promised a sapphic gatsby retelling with lots of deathly magic, and what I got was rather...lacklustre unfortunately.

Wild and Wicked Things was a most anticipated book of the year for the reasons listed above, so I was delighted to be approved for an arc on Netgalley. From quite soon on, I found the dialogue between the characters strange, which I don't think was the author's intention, because it immediately felt as if I was reading a book and I couldn't believe what the characters were saying to one another. The characters themselves weren't very distinct in my mind, so I couldn't root for/despise really any of them. Annie, upon meeting Emmeline, is instantly infatuated by her, and their interactions that were meant to built chemistry between them just ended up doing nothing for me I'm afraid. However, Francesca May's writing was compelling and well-crafted, there are metaphors and attempts to built atmosphere on Crow Island, which I appreciate. I ended up preferring Emmeline's chapters to Annie's, I liked her more as a character even though we're constantly told she's dangerous but this is never proved (I'd argue based on what happens that Annie is more morally grey, without spoiling anything). The plot is quite sparse, I could summarise it in around a sentence or two, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but without strong characters to make up for it, I did find myself a bit bored and wondering if I should DNF at several points while reading. There could have been a few more explanations of the magic system, but overall I understood it well enough.

So, unfortunately this was a case of another most anticipated release, another disappointment. I think some of this is a case of me not knowing my own tastes, for example I nearly always struggle with historical fiction that's not set between the victorian/edwardian period. If this sounds like something you'd like, please pick it up, it is not a bad book by any means despite my list of criticisms!

Sapphic and witches - of course i was there, plus it all been set in the 1920s was just the icing on the cake. this book was packed full of witchcraft (which thankfully was well researched and i thank the author for that), 1920 style parties and illicit love affairs.

it was a slow burn book but it need to be so you feel everything the protagnist is feeling and how she is dragged in to this world she never knew of. Suddenly you will find yourself at the end of the book and looking for more pages which you hope will magically appear.

the world building is *chef kiss* and as it was based in england it was nice to see again the effort put in to this to make sure it all worked.

would recommended this book to any one who is a fan of witchy books and the diviners

Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May has been very high on my most anticipated list for a very long time - just look at that cover. Absolute Fab-bait right there. Sapphic historical fantasy with witches? Doesn't really get more me than that. But unfortunately, the book got swept up in my struggles to read digitally - I only managed to get an eARC as the promised physical copy got lost on the way somewhere, and struggled to get into it, mostly because I don't like reading on kindle and forget about books that aren't visibly in front of me. So when I finally picked up my final copy (yay gilded edges from Goldsboro, they look amazing and fit the book so well) I ended up racing through it in a day because it gripped me and I connected much better to the story in that format. I loved Emmeline, Annie and Bea, the three women driving the story. It is a slower book, but an immersive one. One that grabbed me just right and hit the stop perfectly. It is a story of self-determination, of finding your own path outside of the conventions that are given to you by society, and especially one where women realise that they don't need men to live a fulfilling life in a period where they very much still determine how the world works. It is a lovely story, and one that I know I'll come back to again.

I enjoyed this a lot! Love the witchy vibe and the Gatsby references, definitely up my alley!!!! I also liked that it wasn’t a direct retelling of Gatsby, just took a few element from it. It got increasingly darker as the book progressed which was really interesting, I also liked the protagonist’s character development and how she changed - she wasn’t particularly likeable at the start and definitely had some elements of being unreliable (like Nick in Gatsby lol) which made it very interesting to read her interactions with other characters. Overall it was very well written and fully rounded out, definitely one for you if you like roaring twenties era dark fantasy. I’m giving it four stars because it was so well written and thought out.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown for the free copy!

Whilst Wild and Wicked Things draws inspiration from The Great Gatsby, it also feels so fresh and original and drew me in swiftly to the world in creates, parallel with our own.

My favourite character by far is Emmeline, her complexities and backstory hold a lot of depth and create a multidimensional character who is central to the plot. I enjoyed her relationships with Nate and Isobel and the sibling-like bond they have with each other. Annie and Bea and the history with they have also make a compelling duo who's friendship reflects the (obviously exaggerated) ups and downs of most friendships.

The writing in the book was beautiful and helped create a magic system that I enjoyed exploring, building on the classic "witch" motifs to create a world I almost wish I could live in if it wasn't for the dangers created in the island.

I can happily say any future works by Francesca May will be instantly in my basket, I look forward to seeing what the future holds for such a talented author.

I hear gender flipped Gatsby with witches I requested immediately. The setting & atmosphere of the book were captivating and well written.

The reason I’m giving it 4 instead of a full 5 is because of character development. I wish Nathan & Isobel’s characters had been more fleshed out. I absolutely love a found family & I feel like there was a lot of unexplored potential here. We also don’t get to know any of the characters super well outside of their magic & their one (1) personality trait.

On that note, Annie’s character arc was more of a jump than an arc. The book starts with us being told how meek Annie is/was, but we never really see that? It’s just a lot of “Old Annie would have run, but not now.” I would have liked to see more of a gradual character development of her really growing into herself. It was just a very sudden change. I did like her relationship with Emmaline though I would be greedy and would have liked more scenes of their relationship developing.

I also really liked the narrative set up with flashback scenes and withholding information from us, in the beginning I found it very confusing and eventually went back in the book when I was getting more into it and understanding of the plot, it was only then I was making any connections between the past and present.

I would just really, really like to live in a cottage on the beach of Crow Island where I take long walks with my cup of tea while listening to the sounds of the ocean with my witch girlfriend, is that too much to ask?

A beautiful gothic, witchy, atmospheric book. Loved it so much it on rotation for me to read again very soon

Wild and Wicked Things is a hard book to review. Sapphic. Witches. Morally ambiguous characters. All very appealing to me, and yet I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.

I found it hard to connect with any of the characters (although Nathan came close) and when there was a moment when I thought I would, they’d do something or make a choice that I couldn’t understand, which made some of the conflicts and tension feel thin. Despite this, I did welcome Annie’s character arc. For me, the chemistry of the romance between Annie and Emmeline outside of their magical bond was wanting, partly because of the lack of build-up and development of their relationship, so I found it difficult to understand their attraction to each other. I was intrigued how magic would work in this world. At times it was enthralling, but it was also confusing, and I couldn’t quite feel grounded in the worldbuilding and the different timelines.

However, the mystery of this island was fascinating and I enjoyed getting to know more about it in the flashback scenes. The mood of this book is atmospheric perfection and I loved the vivid and lyrical descriptions and the feel of the strange Crow Island, and I could have read more about the atmospheric island.

Thank you to Orbit, Little Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

TW: violence, transphobia, death.
Oh. My. God.

This book is nothing short of incredible. It has a FANTASTIC range of beautifully diverse characters, who I absolutely adored. It’s fast paced, dark and has brilliant LGBTQ+ rep.
Definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I took quite a while to get into this book. While it does pay off eventually, it's a bit of a slow burn with the characters taking some time to really come through, so it's important to be aware of that going in. That said, I enjoyed the setting and the worldbuilding, and there was an element of mystery that never really gets fully explained in the book, which I quite enjoyed. Definitely a book for anyone who enjoys a sapphic, witchy story - just be prepared to wait for it.

This book was beautifully written, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the setting and the various descriptions of the magic surrounding the characters. However, I struggled to connect to the characters and the pacing felt really slow, so I struggled to get invested in the actual plot of the story, rather than the wonderfully lyrical writing.