A review by marleysclassics
Wildwood by Colin Meloy

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This book is really weird - which I wouldn‘t have a problem with per se. Of course I love a hidden magical world where foxes and rabbits care for their own little farm houses and owls have their own mighty kingdom. Of course I love a story about two children exploring those woods on their mission to rescue a small little baby brother. But why does this have to be as militarist as it is? Yes, many fantasy stories have battles and evil queens that need fighting. But does that mean that whole armies are killed, that a twelve year old boy shoots people (and coyotes) on the first 100 pages? I guess this is also connected with the fact that Colin Meloy isn‘t that great at writing characters. Not even the main characters have any real personality traits. Hence it naturally is easier to kill of lots of characters and view it as unimportant, but still: Why? It just was too much and made it difficult to feel with the characters or even like them. At the same time I want to say that the story itself isn‘t bad and I was interested in the events. I also adored the drawings that are included in this middle grade novel. They are really beautiful and give the story some of the personality that it is lacking.