2023 Book Review: What Should be Wild

Tabatha

3 years ago

What Should be Wild by Julia Fine

A Fantasy, 2018 by Harper, 368 Pages

Consider this a content warning: there are scenes in this book where a character is held captive. It gets a little dark.
The ending felt a little anticlimactic. We were building something big and it felt rushed when we finally got there. I wanted a little more from that resolution.
Peter wasn’t my favorite. He actually embodied a lot of the character traits I instantly dislike in a character. He doesn’t seem to be too loving, he’s hands-off and very scientific when regarding other people, including his own child. Ultimately, I’m not sure if we were intended to like him or not, but I definitely didn’t.

The concept of killing or reviving things by touch is one that I’ve seen before but this came across in a novel way. The author paid careful attention to details like food that really brought the story to life.
I love originality in stories. This one brough the forest to life almost as another character and that was quite impressive. It added to the sort of gothic feel of the entire book.
Maisie is an exceptional character. She has all of my favorite character traits. She’s flawed, curious, and loving. I enjoyed her story immensely.

Readers who like multi-layered fantasy that comes together well in the end will enjoy this one. Particularly those readers who like gothic vibes and darker books.