I enjoyed this a lot! I liked the vibe and the pacing. This is the kind of book that knows what it’s trying to do and achieves that very well, and it worked for me!

Greatly enjoyed what I read of this beautiful, atmospheric book before I switched devices and later realised the file had been archived - therefore unfortunately I cannot give a full review. I do really look forward to reading the published version when I get to it on my TBR!

“Girls like her don’t get to dream. Girls like her get to survive. Most days, that’s enough. Today, she doesn’t think it is.”

4.5 ⭐

With a healthy dose of angst, this slow-burn, grumpy meets sunshine esq fantasy romance is incredibly tender and wistfully hopeful. Set in a crumbling manor on the outskirts of a small town surrounded by a forest haunted by a mythical fox that leaves destruction in its wake, to put it mildly, it's beautifully atmospheric.

Margaret Welty has been a ghost in her own home for quite some time. She goes through the motions; standing guard with her bloodhound trouble, hunting and keeping the house for her unpredictable absent mother. Then Wes appears on the doorstep. Wes is from a chaotic overflowing family in the city, Wes with political dreams and, yes, this Wes standing at the front door asking for something impossible. An alchemist apprenticeship with her famous mother and he won’t take no for answer.

At least that’s the impression he’s trying to give, in reality, Wes is a cinnamon roll on his last chance to do right by himself and his family and panicking a bit considering he’s stranded across the country and his last hope is missing. Instead, they strike a bargain, together they will enter the hunt for the hala (see destructive mythical fox above) win fame and fortune and maybe just maybe it might bring back Margaret's mother.

There is definitely the emphasis on low-key cosy fantasy here, apart from the inclusion of alchemy and mythical spirits (which are few and far between), there are a lot more parrels to historical fiction (potentially the early 1900s with cars and phones and recognisable currency) and a deep dissection of religious and political themes. This juxtaposition creates a deliberate examination of the conflict that the idea of progress imposes. With suggested inspiration taken from Irish folk law, as well as Catholic and Jewish religious themes there is also a well-written look into antisemitism and xenophobia. I can’t speak for the religious representation myself, instead, I recommend checking out other reviews that can speak better on that. However, I could really identify with the grief Wes felt for his father and I loved the deep dive into family and loss.

The hunt plays a smaller role in this novel with less action than might be expected, again with the emphasis on exploring these political and religious key themes alongside romance and family. It does lose that half a star due to pace, I enjoy the slow burn but about halfway through it lost momentum before a very fast-paced ending. Lacking a natural flow more than anything. Yet, there is some great banter between Wes and Margaret and I loved the building tension and angst between them and I’m not usually a fan of angst. They were great MCs with an interesting dual POV and I have a long-lasting soft spot for them both.

This definitely won’t be the last Saft book I pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Although this is not my usual sort of read, I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover, and I'm really glad I took a chance on this one. The whimsical writing style fit the vibes of the book perfectly, and the setting was gorgeously atmospheric. By far the highlight of this book, though, was Maggie and Wes and the dynamic between them. Grump and sunshine is one of my favourite dynamics - and when you throw a slow burn romance into the mixture? Perfection.

A Far Wilder Magic is a haunting tale of rejection, realisation, and love.

Margaret has been alone in Welty Manor for months - ever since her brother died and her father left, her mother has gone on longer and longer research trips, leaving her alone to fend for herself. Wes has failed out of every alchemy apprenticeship he’s talked his way into, and Margaret’s mother is his last chance to become the alchemist he yearns to be. When he arrives to find Margaret alone she tells him in no uncertain terms to leave, only to approach him a few days later with a proposition - join the Halfmoon Hunt with her, help her kill the hala, and her mother will grant him the apprenticeship he so desperately needs.

I adored Wes and Margaret. They are both so broken and alone, in different ways, and watching them slowly learn to trust each other was heartwarming. I loved the way they saw, and brought out, the best in one another - especially Wes’ outrage at Margaret’s mother’s treatment of her.

The way their different cultures and religions were woven through the story was interesting, and the discrimination they faced because of this felt, unfortunately, authentic - this may be triggering for some readers.

Overall, I loved A Far Wilder Magic and will definitely look out for other books by Allison Saft in the future.

Sadly, this book wasn't what I usually lean towards. The book has a great cover, however, it doesn't live up to the hype surrounding it.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

Haunting and beautiful, A Far Wilder Magic is Allison Saft’s most gorgeous novel so far. An exciting story filled with mythology, romance and dark magic.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at around 25%, purely because I could not get on with the writing style. It's a very flowery, self-consciously poetic style that does suit the understated story well, but I found it made it difficult for me to connect to the characters or the plot.

Atmospheric and whimsical with an interesting magical system that feature alchemy, but unfortunately I really didn't like any of the characters. They felt a bit boring - especially the instant attraction that leads to mooning over each other that we get with the two main characters. It's also very slow paced, which isn't my style at all, meaning that the plot just doesn't seem to go anywhere for most of the book. It just didn't hold my attention. The world building also could have done with some work, expanding on the hunt itself and its origins and what the Hala is in particular would have really helped develop the plot a bit.

Some interesting ideas, but the slow pace and lack of character charisma meant I really couldn't get into this one.

I really liked this book. The characters, their motivation, their growth and definitely liked the writing style. The book is not so deep into the fantasy and the what not, but I would say is deeply focused on the characters and the behaviour. Maggie's mom is simply the worst, although I can understand her reasons I wasn't able to feel sorry for her. Maggie and Wes are my favourite couple, the heat, the angst!!! OMG! Wes family is one of the best and supportive out there. I recommend this book if you like some angst romance with a bit of fantasy.

I know, this review is so long overdue – but I still wanted to do this little book justice. I requested this on a whim, as I so often do – I had heard nothing about it, but the cover and synopsis intrigued me enough that despite already having a ton of outstanding ARCs, I picked it up. And I was rewarded. This is a moody, atmospheric, mystical story, with a setting that instantly pulled me in – from the dark woods to the blustering cliffs, and the cynical small town in between. It took me a moment to completely grasp the setting – there are prejudices and history to this part of the world, which have a massive effect on our characters.

And oh, our characters. I do like the stoic characters challenged by the cheery flirty character, and Maggie and West gives me this in spades. Their conversations are gold from the start, and I felt that their bond developed in a lovely way, slowly but surely getting to know each other, and working towards a common goal. I loved West’s family, and his interactions with them made me smile the most. There are your typical antagonistic town folk, but our main focus is the duo, and they carried the story well. Maggie’s relationship with her mother was difficult and strained, and quite abusive in a way, so do make sure to avoid if that’s something that’s going to be upsetting for you.

The plot was a bit confusing – I couldn’t figure out if the Hala was something that travelled round (as there had been Hunts before) but then they said it hadn’t happened in such a long time in this little town. However another town had had a Hunt – I wasn’t sure if that was then the Hala, or a different mystical beast. In the end, that part didn’t matter as much as the current competition being held, and the alchemy! This reminded me so much of Full Metal Alchemist – the vague historical time period and technology available, the transmutation rules (equivalent exchange anyone?) and for the longest time I was sure some of Maggie’s dark history had similar tones as well – I won’t mention exactly what, but if you read this and have seen or read FMA I’m sure you’ll get a similar vibe!

There is some discussion of prejudice and religious persecution – though the religions in this world are different, you can draw pretty easy parallels to certain religions in our world and the suppression and distrust suffered by them. Both of our protagonist face this, but in different ways and their personalities make them respond very differently to these challenges, which made their discussions of this very interesting to read.

This book also has one foot in my by now favourite subgenre – I don’t think I have read anything that fits here that I haven’t loved so far – which is historical with a hint of magic, though this is a fantastical world there are enough links to make it feel like it would have been a small town in our world as well.

I highly recommend this one – such a surprise find but so glad I went with that gut instinct and requested this!

I read this authors previous book release, down comes the night and loved it so couldn't wait to read this one! And it did not disappoint! Allison Saft writes romance beautifully all while keeping the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the book. Allison Saft is becoming one of my new favourite authors.Her characters are believable and her writing is beautiful

[Gifted]
For fans of Eva Ibbotson, Enchantee and The Dark Days Club, this is a beautifully written historical novel set in a magical 1920s world. I loved the romance here - both characters were really feisty and strong-willed, and their banter was great. This is YA, but definitely works as an adult crossover.

Oh man the vibes of this book. Cottagecore meets dark academia, A Far Wilder Magic follows Margaret and Wes when they enter a mythical hunt in a forest that's coming alive around them.

If you weren't already sold it features a slow burn romance with a grumpy/sunshine pairing, and so many quotable moments you'll want to highlight every page.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

I liked this one! It was a strange book, but it had lovely writing and an interesting premise. The start was slow but once I hit the 50% mark, it became a well-paced, easy read.

I wasn't expecting this to be modern-esque fantasy and I'm still not sure what, if any, era Saft was trying to evoke. You have girls with bobs and "drop waist" dresses, so it felt a bit 20's to me but I don't think it was super clear.

I wasn't really sure how to feel about the thinly veiled religion allegories either. To me, it felt clear that the Yu'adir were meant to be Jewish, and Sumics were meant to be Catholic, but I wasn't sure what the point of making them essentially the same as real-world religions. The Yu'adir even have Shabbos dinner, and the Sumic grace is word for word Catholic. I feel like if you were using real world religions with different names, why not just use them? Or attempt to veil them or make them your own. I didn't really understand the point other than maybe not getting political, but anyone familiar with either religion would immediately know.

Beyond that, I don't think anything particularly hit me. It was a nice book. I wasn't a fan of the whole hunt down and kill a fox thing, but I'm never good with anything involving harm to animals.

I really liked Margaret and Wes and their family relationships as well as their own. However, Margaret's constant back and forth did get a bit old.

All in all, this was a good time. I didn't particularly love it, but I did enjoy it. Three stars from me!

A FAR WILDER MAGIC was a book I was looking forward to, as I enjoyed the author's debut, but ultimately found rather disappointing overall.

Unlike DOWN COMES THE NIGHT, I never felt like there was anything between Margaret and Wes, not real chemistry, connection, or any real reason to like it each other. I felt like I was being told they were falling in love without getting a reason other than the plot wanted it. They lacked tension too, so the "drama" points in the relationship didn't feel set up or believable.

Given this book is primarily a romance, the fact that it felt so lacking in that area rather undercut the book for me. It didn't feel like there was enough plot to carry the book along without that central romance grabbing me. Instead it was two people rubbing along badly as they tried to prepare for a hunt. Or rather, he did alchemical experiments and she did... something? All while dealing with bigots from the small town.

I really enjoyed the representation in this book. Wes is an immigrant from a minority religious group, and I think he also had some ADHD and dyslexic traits too. Margaret's father was part of a minority ethnic group, and possibly had anxiety/panic attacks (potentially related to PTSD.) It was a nice mix of intersecting issues and both have to deal with prejudice over their ethnic and/or religious backgrounds, but it was never made the focus.

I love alchemy in books. I'm a scientist and though I've spent most of my degree on Physics, I've done a lot of chemistry too, and alchemy always feels like it's bringing some STEM ideas into fantasy. Naturally then, I loved that aspect of this book, loved the careful approach needed to make it work with accurate measurements and calculations to avoid messing up.

It took me a long time to get into this book, because it is quite slow-paced, but it was worth the effort in the end. It felt like a book of two halves, with the second half being much more gripping - but only because we'd spent the first half getting to know the characters and world. I liked Margaret and Wes, but I did find it annoying when they kept taking one step forward and two steps back instead of listening to each other. The other main down point was that it was quite predictable and I knew how it was going to end more or less before it started. I enjoyed it though and would like to read what Allison Saft does next.

I don't think this was the book for me. I found it bland with pacing that just didn't work for me. There are such long sections where nothing happens yet when the exciting bits take place they are over in a blink of an eye. I also found the characters, particularly Wes, to be super irritating. Also not a big fan of animals being shot so the whole premise of the hunt was too close to fox hunting in real life for me. The third person present tense writing also didn't really work for me as a reader, it was difficult to get into.

Overall, I liked Margaret well enough but couldn't get on with the rest of the book

Will appeal to fans of Naomi Novik and Margaret Rogerson. I enjoyed the mismatched romance and the tension surrounding the hunt.