Edgewood

"RUN DONT WALK to get this book when it is released on March 1st, 2022. This is a new favorite.<br/><br/> Emeline is a 19-year-old girl (I'm changing her age in my head to 21, and her past self age to 18 for reasons I can't say because of spoilers, but, also because some of her 16-year-old flashbacks made me very uncomfortable.) who doesn't believe any of the stories shes told about the little town of Edgewood, where she grew up. She leaves it all behind to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional musician. But, the forest calls her back, blooming through the cracks in the floor as she sings. When her grandfather goes missing, and a small token is left behind on his bed, Emeline starts to question if those stories she heard growing up may be true. <br/><br/> Trigger warning: hints of sexual assault but not directly told. dementia also plays a factor in this book so if that is a sensitive topic to you, be careful getting into this. <br/><br/>First thing, let me just tell you some of the notes I have written in my journal as I was reading this book.<br/>- "I am so excited for this story, I DNF'd two books i was reading to get to this"<br/>- "I cant wait to see the fan art people make of this book and its creatures"<br/>- "The atmosphere in the woods is amazing"<br/>- "Slightly reminds me of <i> An Enchantment of Ravens </i><br/>- "I wish the road to the palace was longer"<br/>- "I love all of these folklore creatures!"<br/>- "I'm running to pre-order this on amazon (20% through)<br/>- "my iPad died, I now need to use my headache-inducing kindle to finish this book because I cant wait for my iPad to charge"<br/>- "My heart hurts"<br/>- "Nope, she's actually 18 and we're gonna forget that she's supposed to be 16"<br/>- "LGBTQIA+ rep"<br/><br/> Now, If all of that didn't convince you to go buy this book... then I'm telling you now to go buy this book. You will not be disappointed. It's been such a long time since I loved a book so much, were there issues with this book? yes, there were some questionable choices made by the author regarding the age of the character but if you can look past that... this book is amazing. Also, let's not pretend 16-year-olds aren't having sex but for the sake of cringe, I needed to change her age in my head. There are a few sexual scenes throughout the end of this book but, nothing crazy.<br/><br/> This author does a great job of explaining everything in this book, I loved the fact that a creature would be mentioned, and then almost immediately after you ask yourself a question about it, it was answered. I loved the fact that the author used her own personal experiences of her grandfather going through dementia and also, that she grew up on a grape farm, which were both parts of this story. <br/><br/> I really can't say much without spoiling this story, but, I loved this book, and I can't wait to have a physical copy of this beautiful book, with this beautiful cover, on my shelves. I can't wait to read Kristen Ciccarelli's other books, the Iskari series, The Last Namsara.<br/><br/>I want to thank the author, Kristen Ciccarelli, and the Publisher at St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for allowing me to get my hands on a copy of this in exchange for an honest review."

"It was a fantasy but the romance was strong and the psychological aspects were really amazing!!!!!"

"This was vastly different than the other books I've read by Kristen Ciccarelli, but this was also an intriguing read that draws you into the world she's created with her characters. This story was about Emeline, who is trying to escape her life and the woods by her house to live her own life out in the world, to sing her songs, and make a name for herself with her music.<br/>One night she receives a call from a neighbor/family friend, who tells her that her grandfather is missing and an orb left in his place, which they tell her means he's been tithed to the Wood King. She has a hard time believing this is true since she doesn't believe in the silly stories and such that have been told to her since she was a child. She has to return home to find her grandfather and bring him back though and as she sets off to return home and search for her grandfather, she finds more than she bargained for in the woods when she meets the Wood King. She finds herself meeting and drawn to a boy there as she navigates her way through the woods and bargaining with the Wood King to find and get her grandfather back.<br/>Ultimately, this becomes a journey of self-discovery for Emeline and the side characters have important parts to play and their own stories as well. The romance is definitely swoon-worthy and it's an amazing story with magic seeping out of it and drawing you into these magical woods.<br/>The only thing I wasn't big on and think should have been different is that there were quite a few scenes in the book from the middle on that got rather a bit too hot and steamy for my taste and I wouldn't recommend it for a young YA audience, maybe older YA or NA/Adult instead. <br/>Thank you to Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for letting me read and review this interesting read. All thoughts and opinions are my own."