The Wicker King
Ratings40
Average rating4
I don't know how I feel about this book. It is heartbreaking and hopeful and frustrating. It made me feel a bunch. It also was reminiscent of Don Quixote, but way more emotional. So if you want a super emotional book that you aren't sure if you like it, then pick this one up.
I don't think I can write a good enough review for this book. I don't believe I'd be able to articulate it well enough, so I will just state that this was an unexpectedly thought-provoking read that I'll be thinking about for awhile. I may come back and give it 5 stars after some reflection.
In the beginning it was kind of hard to get into, originally Did Not Finish it back when I got it. Reading while also listening to the audiobook did help though!
I have never ever had such a visceral “what the hell was this?” reaction. Never. This wasn't bad. It was nothing. The chapters are short, descriptions are just not enough, dialogue is... it's there, I guess.
I don't get the praise for this. It's just bland. The idea, on paper, is fantastic but this is not what I'd call a good execution.
Wow....
I've waited too long to write this review, but I still remember being in awe of this book. It is an emotional ride, more so because I really wished I could jump into the book and give those boys some of the help they needed before they self-destructed.
The characters are so very real and it was easy to feel for them. This is a toxic relationship and I can only hope that with the events that transpired at the end that perhaps they will heal and get healthy.
I think there is a really good look at mental health as well. There are times when we can't know for sure if the fantasy elements are real or not – we have a slightly unreliable narrator– and isn't this how it can be for someone with issues?
Look, this is a beautiful book, one I might return to later, and definitely one that I will be recommending to people. It deserves to be widely read.
This book was messy. It was messy in the way that you felt a knot tighten in your chest just hoping for someone, anyone, to step in and help these characters. I had been looking for a book that I could devour and Ancrum delivered.
I was really worried that this book was going to be a long drawn out queerbait. Instead it was about neglect on multiple levels from those who should've shown up for Jack and August. It was about neglect even within their own relationship because of the weight that both boys had to carry.
It did end up feeling more like a journal with the added touches of the mixtapes, notes, and detention slips.
If any of this book interested in I would say just try it out. It did not leave me disappointed.
This book is bizarre and that's making it hard for me to shelve it. It takes place in an (albeit far-fetched) version of the “real world” but, due to a specific type of mental illness, there are a lot of fantastical elements.
August and Jack are lifelong friends but when Jack starts experiencing hallucinations that gradually get worse and more encompassing, August chooses to play along out of a grandiose sense of obligation, instead of thinking that Jack would instead benefit from some actual medical help. August ignoring all the signs that Jack is actually ill finally coalesce to them being sentenced to criminal psych ward separated by order, though while there Jack finally gets the treatment he needed.
I ended up really enjoying the story because of how weird it is but also really enjoyed August and Jack as characters as well as their own friendship. There were several moments where it seemed a little too far flung from reality but I think that added to the charm of the story as a whole. This book isn't going to be for everyone but it's one that I won't be forgetting soon.
you guys.....this book.......reminded me so much of my merlin/arthur feelings ;;
a king and his lionheart....boys who would throw themselves into the pits of hell for each other......I gotta go cry goodbye
Actual review to (maybe) come closer to release date
ARC was provided by the author