Scan barcode
A review by sukant
What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm honestly just sad. I love how Julia Fine puts sentences together - I absolutely love Maddalena and the Dark, so I decided to read her other writing - and while I absolutely adored her prose in this book as well, the plotting just feels poorly handled - with some character situations just feeling unnatural (eg [how casually Matthew and Peter respond to Mrs Blott's death, the entire love triangle subplot, Maisie feeling nervous telling Matthew about Rafe's death (hide spoiler)] ).
I really enjoyed the chapters in the forest with all the Blakely women of the past, and I wish we'd spent more time with each of them, but I suppose that was the point - there really isn't much that happens after they're in the wood - an "unlife" of eternal stagnation.
With all my issues with this novel, it might yet have been great, but for the ending. A book's worth of building up[the shadow of Maisie (hide spoiler)] , only for her to only really interact with Maisie for all of 4 pages. An opportunity for at the very least a wonderful monologue, the likes of which Fine writes so incredibly well, squandered in favour of [a page describing Matthew trying to assemble a puzzle out of twigs (hide spoiler)] . And the more I try to understand the point being made with the ending, the more puzzling it is.
[So it's a cycle - and it seems Maisie accepting that she should take what she wants from life is enough to reset the cycle. The final line of the book is "Outside, the wood grows wild.", which I assume implies that (maybe because of the magic book that was related to Alys's cousin in 605AD), the wood will become enchanted again over time and the entire story will play out again with the village. So.....what was the point? Why was the black eyed girl killing the other Blakely women? Or was she only killing the ones that wanted to die? Because Helen was suicidal, but Emma was too young to understand that she would be killed and Kathryn sure didn't seem like she wanted to die, more like she simply accepted death. Why did Maisie embracing her double reset the cycle anyway? (hide spoiler)]
I don't mind having to think a little bit, but I do feel like Fine buried the lead a little too far. I had to reread the last couple of chapters of Maddalena and the Dark to remind myself of why I loved her writing so much. (less)
I really enjoyed the chapters in the forest with all the Blakely women of the past, and I wish we'd spent more time with each of them, but I suppose that was the point - there really isn't much that happens after they're in the wood - an "unlife" of eternal stagnation.
With all my issues with this novel, it might yet have been great, but for the ending. A book's worth of building up
I don't mind having to think a little bit, but I do feel like Fine buried the lead a little too far. I had to reread the last couple of chapters of Maddalena and the Dark to remind myself of why I loved her writing so much. (less)