Publication Date: March 1, 2022
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.
My Review:
Sometimes there are books that reach inside you, tear out your heart, then return it to you forever altered. This, for me, is one of those books.
I wasn’t sure about it at first. It seemed very YA love triangle which I personally can’t stand but it very quickly turned out to be not that.
I loved Edgewood. I loved the people who lived there. I loved the woods and I loved the shiftlings and I loved Emeline and Hawthorne. I loved how unpredictable the story is, how it kept shifting and changing and breaking its boundaries. I loved the music and the magic. I was utterly transported while reading and I can feel the forest and the magic waiting at the edges of my vision. The writing was beautiful and magical and perfect.
I would recommend it to people who loved Wintersong and The Light Between Worlds and An Enchantment of Ravens. Books about magic and boundaries and finding where you belong.
*Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an e-arc for review.
Favorite Quotes:
Believing in monsters and cruel, fey kings made things easier. It gave them something to blame when senseless disaster struck.
She didn’t stop to think about how taking directions from trees was not something rational people did.
He was like the forest, she thought. Quiet and steadfast in the way he held himself, with secrets hidden beneath.
“But there is power at the edges: that sliver between night and day, the place where winter touches spring, the boundary where forest meets field. Wild magic grows up from the cracks in all things.”
“Moving on doesn’t have to mean forgetting, Song Mage.”
Whimsical Dragonette 