Wild and Wicked Things: The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller and Tiktok Sensation

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Emmeline was very interesting and I liked reading her perspective a lot more, but I think a lot of the problem was just that I didn’t care that much about each character? I didn’t really look forward to reading any of them. The romance also was not the best. I was expecting some tension and intrigue and just…attraction? I don’t ship couples very much, but I was waiting to start rooting for Emmeline and Annie, and I never got around to doing that. But she never expected her enigmatic new neighbour to be a witch. After witnessing a confrontation between her best friend Bea and the infamous Emmeline Delacroix at one of Emmeline’s extravagantly illicit parties, Annie is drawn into a glittering haunted world. A world where magic can buy what money cannot; a world where the consequence of a forbidden blood bargain might be death. The slowness of the book works like a charm (no pun intended), because of May’s writing style. There’s no other word to describe it but lush. It shines like a diamond, every sentence somehow more beautiful than the last. Some descriptions feel truly otherworldly, while others forcefully bring you to the pain & dirt of everyday life. The stylistic choices help create the atmosphere of the scenes themselves. The magic system was really intriguing and early on had me reading on to find out more. Sadly there wasn't much pay off. Even though it's central to the plot, it was never expanded and remained vague, meaning it was hard to feel the tension and stakes.

Which, honestly, was a mood, because I am both of those things. But it didn’t give me a lot of the storyline that I’d been waiting for. May seamlessly transports readers to the shores of Crow Island, straight into the shoes of Annie and de facto coven leader Emmeline Delacroix. Annie is whisked away by the island’s enchantment, and May’s prose echoes F. Scott Fitzgerald to capture the finery and wild parties of the era. And while Annie originally thinks she’s being bewitched by the coven’s magic or the island, she comes to realize that she is simply following her innermost desires. The supposedly cursed island gives her time and space to come to terms with grief over lost loved ones and her internalized shunning of her sapphic sexuality. Emmeline’s inexplicable and undeniable magnetism is a clever plot complication but also the perfect setup for a passionate, slow-burning queer romance that feels forged in destiny. Drawn to Crow Island to settle some routine legal affairs following the death of her father, Annie Mason walks the shore of her holiday cottage, drawn along the beach to the revelries of the manor next door. Bea is insecure and desperate, but unlike Daisy, her counterpart in The Great Gatsby , it’s relatively easy to empathise with her.The only thing I wasn't fully on board with is the world building. It felt like the author combined a bunch of different witchy pop references (Practical Magic, The Craft, etc) and turned that into the world that these witches lived in. And there wasn't enough explanation for me. I felt like I was just along for the ride when it came to the witchy world and I wanted to understand it better and really immerse myself in this world, but most of the time I just felt lost. Magic just happened inexplicably and understandings of this magic were arrived with very little context on how, which took a bit of the luster out of my reading experience. There were a lot of subplots that didn't seem fully fleshed out, and left me feeling unsatisfied come the end. On Crow Island, people whispered, real magic lurked just below the surface. But Annie Mason never expected her enigmatic new neighbour to be a witch. For a book based on magic/witches, the magic system wasnt explained. Sure we understood that it was nature based and rooted in their emotions, desires and their blood, there was no thorough enough explanation as to why they could do these things, why they would want to and why Emmeline knew practically nothing about powers she'd had her whole life.

Likewise, Emmeline is a complex woman, tortured by her past and haunted by her future. She’s strong but vulnerable, with a reputation as an Anne Lister-like sort; corrupting young women and ensnaring them into her cult of personality (if, of course, you believe the rumours). Naturally, the truth isn’t quite as clear-cut as that. As I’ve mentioned the characters were all deeply flawed but so compelling that I adored reading about them. I related a lot to Annie, our main character, who has always felt meek and timid, and been written off for that. Seeing her come into herself in this book was a delight. Emmeline was another interesting character: the definition of morally grey, alluring and with a dark past. I loved the complex relationships between them all too: the sibling bond between the witches of the Delacroix house, the old friendship between Bea and Annie and the new blossoming relationship between Annie and Emmeline. Though I would have liked to see a bit more development on the romance and that’s what stopped this book from getting five stars. I also enjoyed the choice of era—at the height of decadence and wealth in an alternate 20th C USA, as it’s loosely based in The Great Gatsby there were a few similarities (the light that Emmeline looks out at mirroring Jay Gatsby as does the shirt scene and the yellow car.) The characters were all great and I loved how distinct everyone was, but I also felt like they could have been developed a lot more. I kept expecting more layering and depth from each character, and I couldn’t find it as I read.tw: domestic violence, child abuse, magic requiring self harm, blood, body horror, violence, murder, guns But I think a lot of that can be contributed to the writing. The story is easy reading and straightforward written with a beautiful language style that really brings a level of magical feelings to the story. I loved the way some things were described bringing a romantic feeling to each phrase. I found myself underlying the beautiful quotes throughout the book and it lends itself well to the way these characters feel. A deep, sensuous exploration of the bonds between three very different, complex women that readers won't soon forget." — Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author The world-building was really cool, incorporating witchcraft and magic into WWI-era history. Historical fantasies are generally interesting, and this followed the pattern. But the magic wasn’t explained to me very well.