Thank you to Mary Shaffer, Inscape Books, Victory Editing, and Net Galley for this ARC!

⭐️- Personal Preference
I’m thankful I found and requested this book, as it was easily the most beautiful thing I’ve read this entire year. No other book has made me feel so vividly, or cry because of how beautiful it was. This book was exactly the classic fairytale type that I needed and thoroughly enjoy, and I’m quite worried I won’t experience anything as precious for the rest of the year. I’m ever thankful I got to read it.

⭐️- Worldbuilding
I adored the mix of real world places and mythology, as well as a very unique brand of creativity that I haven’t seen in another story before. I felt as if I was both grounded in the story telling and up in the stars at the same time. The magic was so thoroughly thought through and heartwarming, that I loved every detail we learned about it. There was such a good variety of magical creatures as well, that left you guessing for more, but left you with just enough information that the curiosity for more was a good thing. Shaffer also has such a deep respect of the folklore she does use, which was ever inspiring to see. The magic that Wick has and the magic that Arrow has are some of the most creative and profoundly childish (in curiosity in wonder), that I’ve seen in a long time. I’m absolutely fascinated by the magic inside them, how they use it and how they feel about it.

⭐️- Plot
The story was absolutely heartbreaking despite a happy ending. There were so many moments that I teared up because the moments were so tangible and human. The humanness that Wick and Arrow both have during their adventure is so palpable, and the journeys that they go on get you attached to them and their well being almost immediately. There were moments when the plot shifted in a way that was completely unexpected, but inevitably made perfect sense to the whimsy of the story. Every character served such an impactful purpose, and at the end, you’re left wanting a sequel just to see what happens to the new found family that forms.

⭐️- Writing
The writing is absolutely beautiful. I love real quotes and references in books if they’re used correctly, and the way Shaffer uses them not only serves a purpose well, but is used in such a beautiful way. Shaffer’s relationship to language and the way her characters have a relationship to language and communication, struck something within me. The songs that were interspersed or stories between the characters were honestly some of my favorite bits because we got to see into Wick and Arrow’s souls so intimately. The use of parts to split up the chapters was also very helpful in giving brief reprieves of taking the story in before continuing. I think overall these uses served the story well and made it more compelling.

⭐️- Character Development
It’s really difficult for me as a reader to find a love story that I can connect to. This story wormed into my heartstrings and made me realize that a yearning love you’d travel worlds for is exactly what I wanted. This unbreakable love the two have for each other has made me realize that this is my ideal love story, as strange as that may sound. I think this is a story romance writers should look to, in order to understand the fundamentals of what it means to really love someone. Both characters- it’s difficult to talk about them separately when they 1) are noted to be ‘one’, and 2) I fear sharing spoilers. Nonetheless, readers will care so deeply about these characters. I loved the emphasis on what it means to be changed from your life experiences from childhood to adulthood, and how you might stay the same. I loved the exploration of watching someone grapple with the love of someone and how that can go from loving them to loving the idea of them, especially in their absence. I also really loved the development of learning how to love more than one thing, and learning how to love everything.

Readers will enjoy the childlike wonder of this fairytale, I know I certainly did. Thank you again for this ARC, it is currently the best book I’ve read all year!

As a child, I frequently opened up a large illustrated collection of Grimm’s Fairytales. Gruesome and inspirational and detailed, these stories opened up my world and also taught many moral lessons. Rarely do I find this combination of magic and understated instruction in modern stories.

A subtle retelling of The Snow Queen, the story of Wick and Arrow is an instant classic in the veins of the Chronicles of Narnia.

After escaping the Queen of the Giants, Arrow encounters other humans and does her best to learn how to live a normal life. When she’s confronted with her place in the wizard’s game, she has to act to save Wick and herself. I implore you to start reading for the friendship of Wick and Arrow and to stay for the snark of side characters you’ll meet along the way.

I love this quote and believe it to be the perfect summary:

“A bookish monk, an apprentice wizard, two lovesick humans, and a loyal griffin, off to fight the most powerful magicians in the world.”

The main characters never lose sight of hope throughout their adventures. This is a story for those craving a good old-fashioned fairy tale.

Thank you to Mary Shaffer, Inscape Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

"We can’t unchange. It’s the one thing we can’t do."

Wick and Arrow live in a cage in the boudoir of the Queen of the Giants and have never met any humans except each other. Then a wizard takes one of them away. As Arrow faces the world outside the cage without the boy who taught her to be human, her need for survival leads her to do something unthinkable: pretend he never existed. For the next seven years, Arrow strives to become a normal human girl… until her facade goes up in flames. Finally confronting the impossible demands of an unbreakable love, she finds herself at the center of a game she and Wick have been calculated to lose since their birth. When love becomes a weapon, has it already been destroyed?

------

Mary Schaffer's unique magic system and vibrant world building really brought this story to life. While the initial chapters of the book did not grip me initially (i actually went and reread the section in the boudoir of the Queen of Giants multiple times), each addition to the world and the quality of the characters made me eager to read more. The magic system that Schaffer has come up with is truly spell-binding-- I would love to read more on the Wizards of this world. The characters that come into the lives of Wick and Arrow are charming and equally heartbreaking, helping our heroes realize what it truly means to be human and the true definition of unbreakable love. I especially loved the variety of magical creatures that Wick and Arrow encountered, giving us little specks of light in a sometimes dark story. Schaffer's respect for folklore and her ability to weave it through her own tale is powerful... I look forward to revisiting Wick and Arrow and to whatever tales Schaffer weaves next!


Thanks to Mary Shaffer, Inscape Books, and Net Galley for this ARC!

I am obsessed with this and its high-quality story telling. It is very light and atmospheric, this an underlying of wizardry nonsensical magic. LOVE.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read Wick and Arrow!

First of all, this was purely magical. It's not often that books can capture that feeling of fully immersing the reader into the world within the pages, but Wick and Arrow has successfully achieved this. It's such a lore-heavy, but easy to follow, world that I just wanted to know more about. Wick and Arrow were such traumatised characters that I felt myself aching and wanting the best for them. The writing was also simply beautiful and impactful that at times I would pause reading, just to fully grasp the meaning of the words. I will 100% be recommending this to others and look forward to reading more of Shaffer's work.