Elle (ellexamines)'s Reviews > The Wicker King

Have you ever read a book that you love, but also feel as if you'd be judged by everyone for recommending? This is that book for me. The Wicker King is a weird, weird book, and one I'm sure will be polarizing. But the immersive atmosphere and developed characters absolutely saved this one for me.

Let's talk atmosphere. The Wicker King is told with gradually darkening pages, beginning white and slowly getting darker and darker, and with incredibly short chapters. I found it very hard to put down and utterly engaging. I mean, what do I even say? I could not put it down. The writing is so utterly enthralling. The pacing is so quick, with each page so short that it’s easy to consume.

And now let's talk characters. August and Jack are two of the most TragicTM characters I have ever read about and I sort of love them. August’s character voice is so incredibly well-done, and his love for Jack and Rina is written very well.

I’ve seen plenty of accusations of queerbaiting as to this book, and while I understand the point of view, I disagree. The Wicker King follows a lead character who is written as questioning and a relationship that is somewhere between friends and lovers - until the end. The relationship does actually explicitly become canon towards the end, something that was true for the arc as well but done with much more subtlety. I loved what the author had to say here.

I don’t know. I wasn’t even liking this until the end, but towards the end, I got so deeply emotional. I think Ancrum’s vision for this book is brilliant and I’m so glad I got a chance to read it.

I feel like so much of this book was messed up. The two lead characters are… sort of obsessed with each other, and K. Ancrum strays so far from narratively supporting or decrying some of the actions taken by characters in this book that I almost didn’t know how to feel about anything. But I think K. Ancrum strays away from making this story feel like a romanticizing of mental illness by showing the gritty realism of it all.

All in all, I thought this was brilliant. You'll either think it's weird or think it's just as brilliant as I did, and you know what? I think it's a chance you should take.

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