The Wren in the Holly Library

☆☆☆

I’m not sure why, but the blurb and also the little quote they use on the book doesn’t really seem to fit the plot itself. Not that it was better/worse for it, but it just didn’t suit. Maybe the book was aiming for a different feel than the end result, I’m not sure.

Some of the main aspects of the book I enjoyed:

Third person. I am so over first-person Romantacy books. That was an automatic yes, I was thrilled. I also liked how Kierse was a thief. Nice change of pace.

Friendship priority. (I know this is the positive area, but this ended up being one of my least favourite aspects for the simple reason that the way it was written was very corny, and I’m really disappointed about that. I’m going to put more under the “spoilers” section for some of the reasons. Its “friendship is magic” combined with Charmed.)

Modern world/fantasy aspects. It feels more apocalyptic but still has the fantasy aspect, and I like how it was combined.

Unique monsters. I like how there are different types of creatures that haven’t been used often or at all in the genre.

The title of the book? Very well chosen. Obviously the aesthetic of the book itself was great – I really judged a book on its cover for this (and three other Red Tower novels…). Obviously the publisher knows what it’s doing with these novels. The authors are going to be making more money due to the price point these hardcover deluxe special editions etc. bring in, and in turn, so will the publisher.

I think there was more potential here than what the end result ended up being, but as other reviews have stated, it does feel like a bit of a mash-up of other books. I know people draw inspiration from other sources, but it is when it’s done to the point where it begins feeling more difficult to pick out the originality…

But there is originality in here. Yes, there are tropes, it comes with the Romantacy territory. Did I enjoy it? Sure, it was okay. If I get around to it, I’d likely read the second one to see if it picks up. However, it’s a bit disappointing to see that this author has 30+ published books when this feels like it’s a debut. From her book lists, it looks like she writes Romance typically, so this very well could be a debut in this genre, which I’m also more forgiving about. It just worries me because the Fourth Wing series also began with a Romance author that transitioned. It seems like Romance to Romantacy could be an easy switch, but I do think they’re distinctly separate.

I’m not sure how all of Ireland seemed to be in New York City, especially creatures that seem to have a strong emphasis with nature? I know the author was inspired by Ireland, but I do wish that maybe it wasn’t New York City. It would feel weird, say, Dublin was inundated with Appalachian folklore and American names.

The romance was… eh. I’m going to put this under the spoilers tag as well. I think this would have worked better for me if it was a slow burn, because some of the actions didn’t make much sense considering the condensed amount of time they were together (which seems to be reoccurring in this genre, but it always seems a bit jarring).

Some of things I wasn’t a huge fan of I’ll put under the spoilers tag, including some predictions.

Spoilers after the subscription request:

Spoilers

The Friends

They were corny. Just simply put, absolutely corny. I liked the premise, I do. Rarely do you see this much emphasis put on relationships outside of the main romance (or love triangle, whichever). It came off incredibly forced; there was a strong “Friendship is magic” vibe I wasn’t here for. I’m going to assume that the three of them all just happened to be magic because they were drawn to each other for that purpose, especially considering Kierse is the last of her kind of an OP ‘monster’? What are the chances, otherwise? It very much reminded me of the show Charmed, especially near the end where they’re all Power of Three. This entire premise was immediately obvious from the beginning.

It was so repetitive how much it was written that she would do anything for her friends, how they came first, yadda yadda, okay. We get it. I just didn’t feel anything about their relationships. They didn’t have any noticeable chemistry other than what we’re told they have. It feels forced, it felt cringey, and it’s already obvious that the male friend (I cannot remember either of their names already…) is going to become part of the Oak King’s hustle.

Her Exes

They are mentioned over and over and over. Their backstory and relationships are always mentioned. After the 243rd time that her backstory with (I think his name was) Jason, it was just… I get it. I don’t see the relevance to her character. For the amount that it’s mentioned, I would have expected that perhaps it would have had more bearing on her behaviour or other aspects about her. Instead, we are just repeatedly told about it having happened, and it’s the same stories.

Perhaps this bothers me because too often abuse is seen as a character trait in many ways – it’s used to evoke sympathy, it shows how strong the character is to overcome such hardships, it’s used to show how tough she is for moving on, it’s used to “round out” the character. I am not saying that’s what’s going on here.

If I wrote a book and mentioned how much I love my sister, but then my sister never makes an appearance then…? Or without some further backstory, like “I wear roses because it was her favourite and those are what we buried her with.” Or “I have this bad habit of distrusting men because she had been murdered by one who claimed he loved her, and so now I personally push men away, and that is why.” Or let’s combine the two:

“I can’t handle the smell of roses because they were her favourite, but her boyfriend used to give them to her every time he tried to make it up to her. I would go over to her place and hold her hand as she cried, and so she’d always say, ‘tomorrow, Jen, that’s when I’m leaving.’ And every time I’d go ‘tomorrow,’ and there those roses would be. I’d be able to smell them from the moment I stepped in until I would see them on the table. Once I didn’t go the next day, because I was exasperated by it. I didn’t think she would actually leave, and I couldn’t see why she wouldn’t. So I didn’t go. Then he killed her. When she stopped answering me, I went to her place and the first thing I smelled was roses, and the first thing I saw was her body.

At her funeral, people didn’t know about the abuse, but they knew about the roses. They were everywhere, but instead of seeing them as a sign of love, I saw them as a sign of abuse. A sign of coercion. I didn’t know why she didn’t leave, and I know now it’s not so easy. So when the MMC, who I’ve struggled to get close to because he has a short temper but also wants to show me nothing but love, brings me roses to make up for an innocuous argument, I unexpectedly feel fight or flight and have an overreaction to this. It’s like a confirmation of not truly knowing someone. It wasn’t until after my sister died that I discovered her favourite flowers were actually tulips. Her boyfriend didn’t show her he knew her, he was making more a spectacle to others of how good he was to her. How my sister was the one who was the problem – why did she still seem so miserable after roses? Weren’t they her favourite?”

But, more importantly, we don’t necessarily know that’s the reason. Or the backstory could be built up. Maybe it begins with her sister’s funeral. She notices the roses, and makes a comment on how much they stink. Just little breadcrumbs. Then later on, how she used to argue with her boyfriend etc etc. Then it leads up to when MMC brings her roses and she blows up. Then a flashback to what happened to the sister instead of just her telling the MMC. It could just go to flashback to “he stared at me blankly, horrified.” Or something. Then she’s not magically over it, but later he brings her sunflowers. He works on his temper, and she works on recognizing that not every man will be her sister’s boyfriend.

Does this make sense? Because it makes the trauma feel like there’s a purpose to her character. A reason why she and the MMC bond because it shows that they are both willing to help her overcome it. Whether or not she does is sort of irrelevant. Maybe instead, he never gets the sunflowers. Maybe the other guy in the love triangle does without even knowing the story, but simply because he knows her. I have gone horribly off-topic.

I want there to be a purpose behind trauma, not just for trauma’s sake.

The Rushed Connection

I wish in these types of books in which the MMC/love interest is forever years old that it would take more than weeks for them to suddenly know that they’re the One. I cannot believe that he’s a God and for centuries he didn’t have someone he thought was It before. Or maybe he will and it’ll come up later.

Fae

I was pleased with how different types of monsters were being used, and to have Fae dropped at the very end just… I was not thrilled at that. At all. I’m completely fine with Fae, but I just thought it was one of the original aspects of this book was that it was specifically not.

Kaz & Edward

Yes, it’s been said in other reviews. The gloves? Kaz. Can’t read her mind? Edward. That is all in that respect that I’ll get into.

“Wren”

Kind of wish Wren was her name, to be honest. I thought it was going to lead to something more than just Graves seeing her wear a necklace and fall in love over it or something. It’ll probably come about in the next book.

Plot for the Next Book

I just read the description for it, and if it has “again” in it… it lost my interest. Saying that the plot is essentially same shit, different day (and location, I guess in this case) isn’t that provoking to me. It gives me Fourth Wing flashbacks of how – well, I’m not going to spoil that since this is a completely different series and I don’t want to ruin it for any readers for that.

Predictions

Just for fun:

• Love triangle.
• The sister is still alive.
• Amnesia plot.
• World nosedives more into fantasy and way out of modern.
• The guy best friend becomes part of Oak’s fandom.
• Her other friend becomes nomadic and super powerful, perhaps even a parallel between Oak/Holly brothership sort of vibe, or straight up baddie.
• An hottie ex of Graves makes an appearance, either as a villain, Oak King’s partner now (much to Grave’s dismay) even though Oaky has the hots for Kierse.
• Graves has lost a significant amount of powers; she can kill him, and should, but then doesn’t. Jason makes an appearance (at this point, he better considering how much he was talked about).