Thank you Netgalley for sending me a complementary arc of this book. in exchange for an honest review.

Enna, a human girl lives with her father in a house near the wildwoods, where mystings roam free. All her life she has been told not to trust a mysting but when oneday she is attacked by one, in desperation she strikes a dangerous deal with another mysting. Maekallus is devilish prankster who can steal a soul with a kiss. While trying to fulfill his end of bargain, Maekallus gets stuck in the mortal realm that starts to eat him alive. In her endeavour to save his life and her own, Enna agrees to kiss him. But with every kiss, Enna loses a bit of herself while Maekallus gains bits of humanity that stirs feelings in him for the first time in a long time.

This book was such a quick read. I picked this book up randomly one day with very vague idea of the synopsis and I was fairly surprised by how much I loved it. I really enjoyed the world building and the writing. Enna and Maekallus's relationship was very beautiful and heartwarming. The ending was a little anticlimactic but I was not bothered much by it.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

I've read some of Charlie Holmberg's other books and was intrigued by Enna and this new world.
I loved the idea of the 'mystings' living in a parallel world and seeping across into Enna's, and enjoyed the complexities of their magic system - the fact that mystings/humans suffer for being present in the other's world makes sense to me, and I prefer magic systems with logical consequences. The development of Enna and Maekallus' relationship was well paced and believable, it didn't feel rushed or inconceivable, and the same was true of Maekallus' character development.
Overall it was a really enjoyable read and, while it's currently a standalone, I wouldn't be disappointed if we saw more books in this world!

I requested this book by NetGalley & received a free copy. I regret that this took me so long to finish, but I had to savor it, it was a comfort to me in times of COVID-19. It's a rare book, if I had to liken it to others perhaps something like "The Near Witch" or "The Hob's Bargain" there's the girl in the woods who's between wisewoman and witch. She just wants to live in the woods in peace, but trouble finds her, has a history with her or her family or town, and she goes and seeks out a different kind of trouble of her own to bring to heel what troubles her. Such a book is a rare treat, hard to describe, and I think has a unique if folklore feel. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I hope someday there will be a sequel to The Will and the Wild.

So, I absolutely adored Charlie Holmberg’s Paper Magician, but this novel has blown my mind. Barely larger than a novella, my heart hurts but is also so happy and I’m currently a flailing sobbing mess because HOW DARE YOU. Going in I was dubious about the hype but seriously what kind of person does that to someone else.

Let me break it down for you. Enna is a woman who is simply looking out for her father whose physical and mental health are degrading every day. She sells mushrooms at the local market to make a meagre living and lives outside the town so as to keep her privacy intact. When she has a bad encounter with a mysting, she takes the opportunity to call upon one of their own for help. Enter Maekallus the trickster mysting who just wants to satiate his appetite with the souls of human and then return to his home, away from the perils of the mortal realm. But when his deal goes wrong and he is tethered to a world that will kill him, he will do anything to defy fate and survive to trick another maiden.

Ok. Here's the thing. This thing is definitely a fantasy but its also a romance of sorts while also being SO MANY OTHER THINGS and I just cant deal. It’s a tale of intrigue and trickery but also compassion and lost love and a story of how far one will go to protect the ones they love from the evils in the world. Now one could read so much into this novel and how it draws religious parallels but honestly, I’m not doing that because I really don’t care – I just loved the damn narrative.

Now Enna spends most of her time either in the village, the forest, or at her home. There's really not a lot of actual locations involved but Holmberg works her magic and manages to build a world of epic proportions and beauty. When rain falls, the reader can hear its thunderous roar. You can smell the damp earth upon which Enna and Maekallus tread. It’s expert worldbuilding at its best and no one can make me change my mind.

The narrative itself on the surface seems a simple one but is in fact so complex it will drag you in and fail to let go. The highs are invigorating, the lows causing you to feel emotions you didn’t realise you had. And the whole thing is just so sweet but also super evil at the same time (I know this sounds like an oxymoron but it’s a thing and just read the book).

I think my favourite character throughout would have to be Enna’s father. He has fought in a great war and is slowly losing his faculties. But he is also so protective of his daughter and worried for her safety. Throughout the entire 2 hours that I spent reading this beautiful work of fiction, I found myself mentally swatting at anyone who even dared to THINK about hurting Enna’s squishy precious of a parent. Imagine Chris Crocker with the yellow backdrop circa 2007 ugly crying about the worlds treatment of his favourite idol. That’s me with Enna’s dad…

I seem to be now at that point where I’m rambling because I have feelings and why you do this to me? I will sum up by saying the narrative was amazing and drew me in. There is magic, monsters and mayhem which will take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride than spans the length of 270 pages but definitely felt more grandiose. There’s strong women, nasty demons and a squishy old man who has paid his debt to society. Also, its better than Paper Magician which is a super hard book to beat. I feel like this probably in the top 5 things I have read this year and that’s a long list.

I think the world that the author has created is unique and captivating, and that the characters were developed in a way that was suitable for the short length of the book. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairytales, so reading this adaption was a fun way to spend an afternoon, though I do think it would have been interesting to have a few more side characters involved as it felt as though the two main characters were the only people we read about,

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy!

Did not finish - I could not connect with the plot or writing so I decided to put it down.

This author will entertain you, will make you enjoy the story and will never bore you. In fact her books are a paranormal twist on things.
I would say this one was great, but the other books I read by her made me wow things a tiny better. Saying that, I would recommend this book very much.

I read "The Paper Magician" by this author a few years back. It was a simple, straight-forward, enjoyable little fantasy story that I quite enjoyed (though I haven't gotten around to reading any of the other books in the series). But when I came across this title by the same author, I was excited to see what looked like a new fairytale story. It's always refreshing to find something that isn't a retelling and the element involving the exchange of souls between the main characters was intriguing.

Enna has always yearned to study mystings that roam the wildwood near her home. But they are as dangerous as they are mysterious, so much of her time is spent instead on warding her home against them in an attempt to protect her and her father from the viscous death her mother suffered when Enna was just a baby. Soon enough, however, she finds herself tangled up with a mysting named Maekallus, a powerful being who steals the soul with a kiss. Now, entwined in a deal that is dooming them both, Enna and Maekallus must unravel the secrets of an enchanted stone Enna's father stole from the mystings long ago and that may be more powerful than Enna ever imagined.

Like "The Paper Magician," this was another sweet, little story. There wasn't anything particularly challenging or unique about the story itself. The world-building was pretty straight-forward. And the characters were all likable. Putting it all together it sounds like I'm criticizing the book for being bland, but I think that a story such as this has just a much a place on most readers' shelves as even the most complex and deep stories do. While I may not have found myself blown away by any aspect of it, the entire experience of the story was like sinking into a nice warm bath with some low level candles flickering. It was comfortable and safe, something that is even easier to appreciate in times such as this when frankly all I want to do is re-read comfort books all day long.

The most intriguing part of this story was around the idea of the soul and what it provides to those who possess it. Enna, a human girl, naturally goes about life never questioning the role her soul plays in her existence. But when she meets Maekallus and enters into a sort of transactional agreement with him that sees her slowly losing pieces of her soul, we begin to see what it costs her. And, conversely, what Maekallus lacked before gaining pieces bit by bit. The romance between the two is accordingly a slow burn love story.

I will say that there were points in the middle of the book where the plot began to feel a bit repetitive and meandering. There isn't a whole lot of fast-paced action in this story, and some of the conflicts, such as they are, feel relatively low stakes and don't add much tension to the proceedings. The main plot line, of course, has some action to it. But as that takes part mostly in the beginning and end of the book, there are some side quests in the middle that don't seem to add a lot. I also felt like the main confrontation at the end of the  book was fairly anticlimactic, all things considered.

But, like I said, the love story was sweet and our two main characters were interesting enough. If one is looking for a quick fairytale fantasy, this is a good go-to. But if you're looking for anything of the more "epic" or grand variety, this isn't going to do the trick. It's definitely a "right mood" kind of book, and I think I was in it when I read it. Objectively, I think it was probably a bit slower and less developed than it could be, though.

Rating 7: A nice little story, but not one that is pushing any sort of boundaries.

(Link will go live May 1)

Unfortunately I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to.

In it we follow Enna, who is a 20-year-old woman living with her father, who has lost a lot of his memories after his wife died in the mystings' world.

Mystings are creatures similar to monsters, who lurk in forests near villages but mostly stay in their world. But Enna's father is actually one of the only humans who has ever gone to this world and this is when his memory got impaired. He came back with a bracelet that he gave his daughter and she's discovering in this book what it can do.

Also, this features a romance with one of the mystings that Enna meets and tries to get to help her.

Not a lot happens in this book and most of what does happen is predictable. I will say the writing was fine but that's the only good thing I can think of.

Thank you to NetGalley and 47North for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I'm always impressed by how well Charlie Holmberg world-builds in only about 200 pages. I'd definitely love a spin-off set in the same world *hint hint*

I really enjoyed the little blurbs from the book of Mysting knowledge that Enna's Grandmother wrote and that Enna adds too. It's a great way to drop little bits of world-building without getting too bogged down it. I also found myself wanting to know more about the history of Enna's father. It sounds like he has had both an interesting and tragic life.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

I really enjoyed this book. I love fairy tales and am just starting to get more into the fantasy genre so this was a great book that had aspects of both of those. The characters were fully developed and completely awesome, even the supporting characters. There are heros and villains, humans and monsters, magic spells, enchanted stones and all that jazz. What could be better?

Both the story and the mythology of this novel are interesting and very well-built, but I feelt that the romance was neither healthy nor natural. However, I liked the author's style. I hope to like her other books more than this one.

Full review in my blog (MAR 12): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2020/03/resena-review-will-and-wilds.html

This review won't be helpful sadly as I DNF this book. The description of the book and the cover caught my attention but sadly the story didn't. It might have been because I wasn't in the mood for this type of story, so I will give it a chance in the future.

The concept of this one was interesting. Unfortunately the characters all fell a bit flat for me along with the world and lore. We got hints of bigger places and history but not enough to keep me rooted in the story. If everything and everyone was expanded upon a bit more it would be a much more engaging read.

In this gorgeous fantasy story we follow Enna who lives with her father near a wildwood that is home to dangerous mystings.
When one of the vicious creatures breaks into their home to steal a powerful protection charm, she decides to hire another mysting called Maekallus to fight the others wreaking havoc on the house.
But there's a high price for binding a mysting to the mortal realm and soon they both have to try and find a way to undo the spell before there's nothing left of them anymore.

I struggled to finish this book. I did not like it in the end and I kept hoping to see some development, instead I was given a plain plot and characters. Nothing much to say, I will definitely read something else of this author because I actually liked her writing style, it was just the story overall that was not for me.

Only thing I can save is the world building that was good overall, not really complex but not completely plain.

Ebook provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

I hadn't read anything else by Holmberg, so I didn't know quite what to expect, but I was taken by surprise by the quiet plot. The world still feels lush and grand, but I loved that the bulk of the story was just between two characters and while the stakes felt high, it was still quieter. I loved the way the author subverted tropes and breathed new life into them. Enna was a protagonist that it felt easy to cheer for, and the romance was absolutely lovely.

This was such a lovely read. For a supposed fantasy read it was rather short at not even 270 pages. But I think the author did quite a bit for such a little book. The Will and the Wilds follows more of traditional fairy tale atmosphere than a fantasy book. Which plays into the authors favour The Will and the Wilds is more character driven than action. I don't want to give too much away because it is such a short book but if you love retellings and atmospheric reads you will love The Will and the Wilds.

Overall a gem of a book that reminds you of old folk tales being told by the woodfire, highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Will and the Wilds has a strong fairy like feel and it reminded me a lot of Beauty and the Beast. In fact, Enna, the main character who lives with her "mad" father as an outcast, falls in love with a monster after having made a bargain with him.


I really liked the idea of this book but the execution was a little disappointing. For most of the book the pacing was too slow while I felt that the ending was too rushed.

I found the world building extremely interesting and I believe it has a lot of potential. I would have loved to know more about the Deep and the other mystings and I believe that the story was a little bit too focused on Enna, Maekallus and their relationship (which I loved, by the way). In fact the very few secondary characters felt a little bit too flat. I have a lot of questions about Enna's dad, his backstory and Enna's grandmother. I really liked the little notes from her book about mystings at the beginning of each chapter and I would like to know more about how she knew all those things.

"What is a soul if not an extension of the heart?"

The thing I liked the most was seeing the characters' development. Both Enna and Maekallus change a lot throughout the story, Maekallus slowly gains a soul while Enna loses hers. The end was also wonderfully executed.

Overall it was a nice read and I would love to see more of this world of mystings and magic.