Edgewood is a contemporary YA fantasy tale about a young musician who must rescue her grandfather from a magical world far different than her own.
Emeline Lark is a singer who wishes to make her big break in the music industry, but all those plans are put aside when she gets a call that her grandfather has disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
She must return to Edgewood, the place she once called home, to figure out exactly what has happened. However, Edgewood is no ordinary place. It is a small town bordering a forest said to harbour magic and all things mysterious. All the rumours and superstitions have led to belief that Emeline’s grandfather has been tithed away and is now in the hands of the Wood King. Being the sceptical girl she is, Emeline takes the leap to find her grandfather in the forest, realizing all stories and rumours, were real.
I haven’t done a review on fantasy YA novels in quite a while, and I found Edgewood to be a pleasant read in some ways, but could use some improvement in others. My interest in the book started roughly three to four chapters in, and I found this typical for the YA genre. The plot was just as I expected for a YA novel; the protagonist receives a call into the unknown world, must face the obstacles this world offers to achieve their mission, and is brought back into their original world as a new and developed person. This is what happens with Emeline and the duration of the plot. Some areas of the plot felt fuzzy, and saving her grandfather became more of a secondary aspect instead of the primary plot driver. The pacing of the plot was done well, as YA novels are usually done with a quick motive, this felt just right.
The worldbuilding itself was aesthetically pleasing. It was a fun, imaginative experience to see the Wood beyond Edgewood. The overall atmosphere gave Autumn and Fall vibes with a hint of eerie darkness, and I believed this to be the highlight of the world. The faeries, and relevant creatures also bore their unique characteristics throughout the book. The magic and the supposed “disease” that ravages the woods felt a bit underdeveloped, and I saw those aspects through a very black and white lens.
The writing of this book was easy to read. The author doesn’t seem to make any moves to confuse the readers, and the language used by the main character to be appropriate for her age and personality. I think the writing made the worldbuilding and character development easy to picture as well, and there was never a time where I had to go back and read certain parts to better understand what was happening.
Emeline herself was an interesting character to read about. She is exactly the teenage character I expected her to be with a slow-burn crush on Hawthorne (the profound love interest of the story), juvenile and child-like tendencies, and her stubbornness. The aspect I found flawed in her character was how she believed herself infallible at times. This was interesting to come by for her character knowing teenagers don’t have much exposure to the adult world yet, and this trait seem to offset Emeline as a character. Hawthorne himself gave off a “hopeless romantic, will never happen to me” vibe at first, but surely had some flaws to bear as well. I think their relationship could have been developed more fully, as well as their characters.
Edgewood was a standalone book with its flaws but was appropriate in terms of plot and worldbuilding for the YA genre. The relationships between the characters could’ve used some more work as well. When reading this fully, it was entertaining, mysterious, and magical! This book is for readers who love the Fae, magical elements, and crave the YA plotlines, and I recommend this to you if you have a taste for any of those aspects!
Edgewood is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of March 1st 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
No matter how far she runs, the forest of Edgewood always comes for Emeline Lark. The scent of damp earth curls into her nose when she sings and moss creeps across the stage. It’s as if the woods of her childhood, shrouded in folklore and tall tales, are trying to reclaim her. But Emeline has no patience for silly superstitions.
When her grandfather disappears, leaving only a mysterious orb in his wake, the stories Emeline has always scoffed at suddenly seem less foolish. She enters the forest she has spent years trying to escape, only to have Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, try to dissuade her from searching.
Refusing to be deterred, Emeline finds herself drawn to the court of the fabled Wood King himself. She makes a deal—her voice for her grandfather’s freedom. Little does she know, she’s stumbled into the middle of a curse much bigger than herself, one that threatens the existence of this eerie world she’s trapped in, along with the devastating boy who feels so familiar.
With the help of Hawthorne—an enemy turned reluctant ally who she grows closer to each day—Emeline sets out to not only save her grandfather’s life, but to right past wrongs, and in the process, discover her true voice.
Haunting and romantic, Kristen Ciccarelli’s Edgewood is an exciting novel from a bold, unforgettable voice in fantasy.
