A dark and enchanting tale of the places on the edge.

Emeline Lark grew up in the village of Edgewood. Raised by her grandfather after her mother disappeared when she was just a baby, her whole life has been marked by the presence of the wood, and even now she’s left to pursue a music career the forest continues to follow her when she sings. When her grandfather disappears she’s forced back to Edgewood to help find him, and into the Wood King’s court to reclaim his tithe.

I loved Emeline and the other characters in the book, and as the story revealed its twists and turns I was impressed by the way the author wove the story together.

I love an edge-of-the-fae-land setting, and the tithe system was a familiar one. These weren’t over explained, but provided enough information specific to the story while acknowledging that the reader is likely to be familiar with these kinds of stories.

I would’ve given this a 4.5 right up until the end, but unfortunately the ending included a trope I don’t enjoy, which pulled it down to a 4.

Overall, I really enjoyed Edgewood and would read more from this author in the future.

Beautiful cover, lovely atmosphere, and a fun story. A little frustrating at times and not terribly deep, but in general a solid standalone fantasy. The writing is lush, but the story did stall a little bit. Most of the characters, at least, kept me engaged.

Some aspects were a bit... cringy, to say the least, but even still, it's easy to understand all the love this book got. It has all the pieces of a great fantasy.

I actually didn't enjoy this book and didn't finish it completely. I think it was a gorgeous setting but it didn't hit me the way I think it'll hit others. I would still recommend this book because I think I was just the wrong audience for it. It was slower paced and I had a hard time focusing on it. I'd definitely describe it as lush and the cover suits it for sure.

Darkly gorgeous and moving, Edgewood is the kind of story you can't stop reading!. I finished the book in less than two days. Kristen Ciccarelli crafted a world so beautiful it haunts you and characters you stick in your mind long after you've turned the last page.

Emeline Lark lives in Montreal where she’s trying to leave her forest hometown of Edgewood in the past. She’s on the verge of becoming a singer with a recording company but as she performs she sees signs of the Edgewood Forest creeping onto the stage. Emeline sees a mysterious hooded stranger in the audience who becomes the key to her past and future, unbeknownst to her at the time. Pa, her grandfather, has dementia and when she goes home to take care of him, she’s pulled into the Edgewood Forest and her life is thrown into upheaval and danger. To free herself from the evil and corrupted Wood King, Emeline will have to dig deep and get to the bottom of the forest curse.

5 solid stars!!! Mystery, fantasy, action and romance.

Likes/dislikes:
The writing pulled me into the story with incredible world building and mysterious surroundings and characters. Hawthorn is a fascinating character. The story has action, tenderness and a roller coaster of emotions.
Language: R for 14 swears and 3 f-bombs
Mature content: R for Sex on page 295 that doesn't mention genitals and is described vaguely; non-detailed oral sex on page 340. The relationship between the two characters is a loving one and the sex is because of this love for each other.
Violence: PG for Stabbing of the Shadowskin creatures, no blood involved; danger and Shadowskins chasing people.
Ethncity: Predominantly white in Montreal and Edgewood but mixed colors of skin in the otherworldly forest of the Wood King.

This is a beautiful book! It reads like many fairytales. Loved her take on the fae. Recommending picking this up if you’re in the mood for a beautiful, lyrical story.


Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

EDGEWOOD is a wonderfully atmospheric & darkly, lushly imagined YA fantasy stand-alone read. I was immediately drawn into Emeline’s tale, but it did start to feel clunky a little way into it (and for a good portion of the first third). But it honestly picked up as the novel progressed; past a certain point, I found myself unable to stop reading until I found out how it would all end. EDGEWOOD feels like a compelling modern fairytale (or at least that’s how I see it), that’s for sure! (Bonus points for the musical and bookish aspects that are woven in, by the way.)

An enjoyable fantasy read that references sacrifices that one makes - willing, and unwilling. I liked Emmeline’s character and enjoyed the various characters of the Forest.

Great book and enjoyed the characters . loved the slight romance and the how well the group worked together. Overall a great book . I would read this author again.

Up-and-coming musician Emeline Lark delays joining her first ever tour when her grandfather goes missing, thought to have been tithed to the terrible fae Wood King. Losing her only family is unbearable and Emeline is determined to save him, no matter what. This story has a decidedly gothic feel, with the forest hunting after Emeline for years before the inciting events but amping up the horrors when the book gets going.
What follows is a surprising, romantic, creepy adventure with plants growing where they shouldn't, a mysterious boy and his scary horse, a forgotten past and a possibly deadly destiny. While at times I found some of the flora to be a little much (not quite as bad as Mexican Gothic), the creep factor was just right. Themes of family, found family, sacrifice, humanity vs. the entertainment industry and what we're willing to do for love made this a solid read and the music aspects were unexpected and lovely at times.

First, I want to say that this cover is absolutely stunning and I wanted to read it first just because of the cover. I'm a fan of paranormal stories, especially stories involving the fae, so this was something I was super excited to pick up. The writing was beautiful, I enjoyed how it wove magic with music, as I personally can imagine magic being woven into the notes of music, so selling the idea into a story seemed obvious to me. Adding in secretive fae, a curse, a witch, and a dragon just added to this beautiful, magical story, and kept me quite entertained. I enjoyed the characters, the plot was well-developed, the pacing felt natural, and the romance was very nice. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Emeline is driven to pursue her dreams of making it big in the music industry, but the woods sneak in at every turn, haunting her steps and keeping her off kilter. Woods, you ask? Yes, like vines and flowers that suddenly appear around her feet or the smell of ferns that fills the air. When her grandfather disappears, she rushes home to find the local townspeople murmuring about his being pledged to the Wood King. At first she sets of our to prove them wrong -- to prove the local myths to be the man-made legends that she believes them to be and plunges head-first into a land beyond her imagination.

Edgewood is inventive. I was drawn into the book just as the heroine is drawn back to the woods near her hometown. Emeline stubbornly refuses to take no for an answer, driven by the guilt of leaving her grandfather alone for too many long stretches. Romantic tension abounds as it comes down to a story of "Who is friend and who is foe? Who can be trusted, and what is the real truth -- the real story?" All in all, Edgewood takes a number of creative twists and turns along the way that are facilitated by the limited, yet powerful Wood King. Looking pretty bleak for a while, I began to question whether the story could have a happy ending, but the author wrapped up the story with almost neat little bow at the end.

Although Edgewood is marketed as a young adult novel with some rating as low as 9th grade and above, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who isn't an adult. Though graphic scenes are few and this book would be considered tame when compared to adult genres, those few scenes are more descriptive than I would recommend for younger teen readers.

My thanks to both NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

2.5

DNF @ 40%

Unfortunately I got incredibly bored! The world was enchanting and I really wanted to connect with Emeline and her dreams to be a singer but it to my taste it totally lacked tension and conflict so I had a very hard time caring and staying engaged

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what the author releases in the future.

‘Edgewood’ by Kristen Ciccarelli was atmospheric and sweet at once, and will absolutely sweep you away into its world. Highly recommended!

A romantic standalone fantasy for an older YA audience, Edgewood blends the real world with the world of the forest king, shapeshifters, curses, and witches. If you are looking for something magical and a little bit steamy with a strong focus on family and art, this one is worth a look. It was a magical, heartfilled journey exploring family, loss, memories and magic that I can wholeheartedly recommend. Anything, Ciccarelli writes I will read!

This book simply... isn't memorable. I loved Ciccarelli's style in the Iskari series (The Sky Weaver in particular was so good) for the way that she weaves storytelling and folklore into the bones of the novel. In Edgewood, there's a suggestion that stories exist but we don't get them in any of the rich detail I've come to expect from a Ciccarelli book. Instead we have Emmeline remembering them in pieces whenever it's convenient and falling for some dude for reasons totally unbeknownst to anyone because they literally do not communicate. I guess he's hot, I don't know.

There's not really a sense of pressure or momentum, even though we're reminded of what's at stake. I think we needed more of a connection to Emmeline's childhood earlier on to root us in Edgewood, to make the return there more impactful.

DNF at 30%. The plot seems to be moving super slow and I just don't have the desire to continue reading. I may pick it back up at a later date.

I read and love Ciccarelli's debut, The Last Namsara, years ago, so I was excited to get approved for an eARC of Edgewood. That being said, YA contemporary fantasy often doesn't work for me, but I'm happy to say that I loved Edgewood. The descriptions of the forest creeping into Emeline's life as she sings were so atmospheric and lush, it grabbed me right away. And then once she reaches the Wood King's realm, the story grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let me go. There were quite a few twists I wasn't expecting, and I can't wait to pick up whatever Kristen Ciccarelli writes next!

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I've loved Cicarelli's writing since The Last Namsara, so picking up a story of enchanted woods was a no-brainer for me. I loved how you can feel the music in her prose, the ebb and flow, the vivid imagery that brought the magic to life. And as always, I loved her characters, how we get pulled into what Emeline loves. It's a quiet story in many ways, with less flash and bang than readers might expect from her Iskari series, but I appreciated the very real love at the heart of it.