A Spoiler Free Review of The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde
TItle Informaton
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (June 4,2024)
Series: Oak and Holly Cycle, Book 1
Pages: 400
Genres: Romantasy, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dark Romance
Source: Libby
Publisher Synopsis
The instant New York Times bestseller
Can you love the dark when you know what it hides?
Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.
Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.
In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce…of sorts.
But tonight, Kierse—a gifted and fearless thief—will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library…not knowing it’s the home of a monster.
He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.
Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.
But he’s been playing a game across centuries—and once she joins in, there will be
no escape…
My Review
I might disappoint some of you as the reviews I have seen so far are raving and the more I read the more disappointed I became. But, hear me out because I think in the popular rise of the romantasy and dark romance genres this is an easy 5 stars for some of you. This book was consistently on my suggested reads on almost every platform that I buy books on. When I read the synopsis I admit that it sounded exactly like the type of book I would have a hard time putting down. As an avid reader of dark romantasy, fantasy, and many other similar genres I thought this series would be my next obsession. While I think the book delivered what it set out to do, I don’t think that it was as great as it could’ve been and fell short of the expectations that its media hype created.
The idea behind the book is fantastic. Lots of hints to folklore and a new twist on an old tale are some of my favorite plots to read. Beauty and the Beast retelling…. helloooo, you cannot give me that book fast enough! Enemies to lovers. Check. Warring factions with a dismantling of injustice and oppressive leaders. Check. Female protagonist that had to overcome real life hardship. Check. The boxes in the genre are filling up but the development of these is where the book started to fall short on my list.
The characters seemed to be following the genre checkpoints without any depth. It felt superficial and as if the writer was afraid to shed light on the true darkness within these characters. I love a morally grey daddy, but without context, the balance between being an evil person and being a good person who does bad things is precarious. The characters didn’t feel developed, and not to be intentionally obtuse to build suspense kinda way. Just that the backstory is minimal. You as the reader had to manufacture the romance out of thin air to the point that the plot twist became predictable.
Forced proximity isn’t the only reason our main characters should have chemistry. Physical attraction, sure but true chemistry that leads to you potentially risking your life, no. The enemies were barely enemies, and their interest in each other seems to develop because it fits the trope. There were important and tense scenes that were riddled with interruptions of world building or to foreshadow romantic interest. It just felt clunky. At one point, I may have rolled my eyes. And it was, unfortunately, in one of the first interactions between our main characters.
Let me be clear, the writing isn’t bad, but it struggles to develop true investment into the storyline and characters. This book could have easily been 500 pages and still fit the publishing industry standards for sale. There was room here to create that and for some reason it just fell short. This book delivers what it set out to do and I don’t think it is a bad book. Honestly, I might still read the second book because I know that I might still be thinking about what happens next and if the writing will improve. But, I wanted more. More chemistry, more tension, more morally grey character traits, just more.