Title: The Will and the Wilds
Author: Charlie N. Holmberg
Publication Date: January 21, 2020
Publisher: 47North
Format: NetGalley eARC

I’m not usually a big reader of romance, but seeing that this was written by Charlie N. Holmberg (author of The Paper Magician series) and considering that the blurb gave me mad Howl’s Moving Castle vibes, I had to give it a go.

And you know what? If I keep rating romance books at five stars, I’m going to have to start changing my spiel. I raced through this book, because I was so invested in the characters and the world, and I was so sad to leave it behind when I inevitably finished.

The Will and the Wilds is set in a whimsical, but brutal, world where humans live in fear, and where a shared kiss, given willingly, threatens to destroy both the human and mysting involved.

I went in expecting to enjoy this (duh), but not as much as I did, I don’t think. Again, it’s the romance. I always have such reservations. The plot drags in some places, but I enjoyed the characters so much and the blend of whimsy and darkness that I didn’t care. This is a world that I’d love to see more of.

❧ The story is written in a light, whimsical way that’s easy to get sucked into, but which has some pretty sinister undertones.

It’s a wonderful blend that I thoroughly enjoyed. As I read, I pictured a Studio Ghibli film, something along the lines of Howl’s Moving Castle, complete with that light, colorful sort of animation and charming little quirks built into the world. Maybe that’s just me. Okay, probably that’s just me. I thought it was lovely.

Make no mistake, though, this world is freaking dark.

It’s a really neat juxtaposition, because the prose is so light and colorful that the darker parts of the story sort of slap you in the face and make you take notice. Oh, what a quaint town and such charming woods. Sounds like a lovely place. Monsters in them that tore your mother apart, you say? Well, then. You have my attention.

❧ This romance set my poor old enemies-to-lovers-adoring heart a-beating.

Because it’s romantic when a guy threatens your life and then chooses not to kill you, right?! No? … just me? Enemies-to-lovers will forever be my chosen trope, as long as it’s not insta-love (I’ve just never understood how the heck that works logically). I’m also gonna go ahead and confess right upfront that I have a thing for red-heads in anime (helloooo Kurama and Gaara), and I saw this whole book in my head in Studio Ghibli style, as I said. I was obviously doomed from the start. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is a slow-burn, forbidden type of romance with high stakes, as it threatens to destroy both party.

I thoroughly enjoy impossible romances, and this one has aaaaall the things stacked against it, which makes it all the more thrilling. Because love is hard. You should have to work for it, dang it.

❧ There’s a whole world of mystings out there, and the variety of types and personalities was delightful.

It’s like opening a box of chocolates. You never know exactly what you might get. This one might have sexy red hair and dark chocolate goodness, and another might be toothpaste-flavored danger about to shred you to pieces. You roll the dice.

The mystings really ran the gamut here, between good and bad and indifferent, and all sorts of body types.

I don’t want to say too much about this, because discovering them is half the fun. But there are some helpful mystings that Enna meets, some that are more on the indifferent side, and some that are downright terrifying. All of which were absolutely fascinating.

❧ I felt Enna’s struggle deep in my soul, and I couldn’t help but root for her.

Okay, sure, at times her character is a bit boring, but you know what? So am I. She was so stinking relatable, though. She wants to protect her father, whose memory is going dementia-style, and gosh, being a carer for my grandfather with dementia, this was sort of refreshing to read. Because it’s not easy, and it often leads to guilt for lying at some point, even if the lie feels necessary. I just loved this dynamic.

I can see why someone reading this may not connect with Enna’s character, but I definitely related to the things she’s chasing through the book.

She wants to be allowed to become a scientist, even though she’s, GASP, a *hisses* female. For shame. Her desire for learning and the way she went out in search of knowledge rather than waiting for it to come to her was so admirable. I mean, yeah, okay, she’s potentially in mortal danger, but it’s not like they could do anything at that very moment, so why not gather more information? That’s what I would do. Plus, she genuinely wants to help and do the right thing, even if she struggles with knowing what that is, and if that’s not a relatable feeling, I don’t freaking know.

❧ This is a very character-driven book, which means there are times when the plot is little more than a shadow looming in the corner of the room.

How much this impacts your enjoyment is going to be entirely up to you. And maybe a little with how much you connect to the characters. For me, I enjoyed the characters, and I was perfectly okay with slowing down to deal with their drama. Drama’s fun. You know, when it’s not happening to you.

Since the story was so character driven, there were definitely times that felt repetitive or like the story was going a little in circles.

Not to say that this wasn’t believable. It’s humans, really. We’re such indecisive, stubborn creatures. I thought it was more apparent because of the lack of a plot in between, but there were definitely things the characters kept harping on and I wanted to shake them and say, “All right, moving on already.” It wasn’t a huge thing and didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story, but I can see this being a sticking point if you’re not enamored with the characters as it is.

❧ The world-building was a little vague. It felt sort of fuzzy around the edges.

I got a good feel for the mystings and Enna’s home and small town where they lived. But the world? Ehhh. There’s obviously a bigger world outside the town, and I don’t really know anything at all about it. There’s also the world of The Deep, where the mystings are from, and I still don’t really know about that.

I suppose what I would say is that the world-building here is mostly convenient.

You know what you need to know in order for the story to make sense and that’s about it. I still think the world we’re introduced to is magical and charming, but it had the potential to be so much more.

❧ There were quite a few things that happened before this story took place that were mentioned in the story and really needed to be expounded on for everything to fully make sense, I thought.

Enna’s mother and grandmother are very important figures in this book, and so much mystery surrounds both of them, yet it’s never actually cleared up. I kept thinking there would be a big reveal of something that would shore up their role in things, and it just … never happened.

Same with Enna’s father. We’re told in passing what he was like before losing his mind, but there’s never any detail. He supposedly did this big, heroic thing once, but … how? I want to freaking hear that story because it sounds thrilling and nigh on impossible.

In fact, there were several plot lines that I felt were opened and not fully explored, so that by the end of the book, it seemed like they were dropped rather than fully wrapped up.

There was a lot going on in this book, and I enjoyed that, but it was also quite disappointing that this seems to be a standalone and felt like too many things were left open-ended. There were a lot of plot points that I was so sure were foreshadowing for big reveals that just never panned out, which made me wonder why it was even brought up in the first place.

What’s your favorite enemies-to-lovers book?

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