A Love Story to Ancient Ireland
I know that my tastes in literature are changing as I grow older, but there are certain tropes, settings, and characters that I am never going to lose my love of and S. C. McGrath beautifully uses most of those traits.
To The Waters and The Wild is a sweeping love story to the magic and mysticism that go hand in hand with tales of ancient Ireland. Set during the attempted Roman invasion of Ireland's shores during the reign of Emperor Domitian sometime around the year 81AD, To The Waters and The Wild is a novel of the personal growth of a young woman with mystical powers as she learns to use those powers for the good of her home while still staying true to who she longs to become.
Keelin is a beautifully vivid character, even against the engaging backdrop of a wild, untamed, magic-infused Ireland. She is far from perfect, and her flaws aren't glossed over or only mentioned in passing. We are allowed to see how human she is, despite the overwhelming nature of her powers of the mind. Her friends to lovers storyline with the steadfast and faithful Brian was engaging and beautiful. She is able to be romantic, wild, fierce, and tender while never feeling like a contradiction. I found her to be a wonderful example of a complex character, and a fierce feminist as well. She knew what she wanted and strove for it, despite the expectations of those around her. Her internal struggle over being fiercely protective of her home and her deep-seated desire for adventure kept me engaged throughout the whole novel.
The arc of the story was fascinating. I struggle to recall another book that I've read that was so character driven. So little of the major action ever took place on the page. The whole novel was building up to the declaration of love between Keelin and Brian and the inevitable battle with the Roman legions. Both of those events took place in the final pages of the novel, and the battle was almost entirely fought off-screen. I won't spoil any of the ending for everyone, but I was surprised by the course the narrative took. I say surprised instead of disappointed due to the fact that I ended up loving this book for the way it subverted my expectations of the importance of action. So many of the stories I read are so focused on getting us to the big EVENTS, the action, the drama, and we lose something of the detail of the world and the characters. McGrath created a love story to her protagonist and the world she inhabited with this novel, and that is enough to drive you to read to the end of the book!
If I had to come up with an aspect of the book that didn't totally charm me, I would probably need to mention the phrasing of the dialogue. I believe I understand the choice to have it sound unlike our normal cadence of speech, I very quickly into reading decided that it was a stylistic choice to help drive home the different time period that the book was set in, but it felt a little jarring to read on occasion. Additionally, in comparison to how well drawn Keelin was, some of the other characters could feel a bit flat at times throughout the novel. Neither of these things made the novel difficult to read, however.
I honestly loved reading this novel. I am extremely grateful to Bookish and the author for the gifted copy for review.
4 out of 5 stars.
To The Waters and The Wild is a sweeping love story to the magic and mysticism that go hand in hand with tales of ancient Ireland. Set during the attempted Roman invasion of Ireland's shores during the reign of Emperor Domitian sometime around the year 81AD, To The Waters and The Wild is a novel of the personal growth of a young woman with mystical powers as she learns to use those powers for the good of her home while still staying true to who she longs to become.
Keelin is a beautifully vivid character, even against the engaging backdrop of a wild, untamed, magic-infused Ireland. She is far from perfect, and her flaws aren't glossed over or only mentioned in passing. We are allowed to see how human she is, despite the overwhelming nature of her powers of the mind. Her friends to lovers storyline with the steadfast and faithful Brian was engaging and beautiful. She is able to be romantic, wild, fierce, and tender while never feeling like a contradiction. I found her to be a wonderful example of a complex character, and a fierce feminist as well. She knew what she wanted and strove for it, despite the expectations of those around her. Her internal struggle over being fiercely protective of her home and her deep-seated desire for adventure kept me engaged throughout the whole novel.
The arc of the story was fascinating. I struggle to recall another book that I've read that was so character driven. So little of the major action ever took place on the page. The whole novel was building up to the declaration of love between Keelin and Brian and the inevitable battle with the Roman legions. Both of those events took place in the final pages of the novel, and the battle was almost entirely fought off-screen. I won't spoil any of the ending for everyone, but I was surprised by the course the narrative took. I say surprised instead of disappointed due to the fact that I ended up loving this book for the way it subverted my expectations of the importance of action. So many of the stories I read are so focused on getting us to the big EVENTS, the action, the drama, and we lose something of the detail of the world and the characters. McGrath created a love story to her protagonist and the world she inhabited with this novel, and that is enough to drive you to read to the end of the book!
If I had to come up with an aspect of the book that didn't totally charm me, I would probably need to mention the phrasing of the dialogue. I believe I understand the choice to have it sound unlike our normal cadence of speech, I very quickly into reading decided that it was a stylistic choice to help drive home the different time period that the book was set in, but it felt a little jarring to read on occasion. Additionally, in comparison to how well drawn Keelin was, some of the other characters could feel a bit flat at times throughout the novel. Neither of these things made the novel difficult to read, however.
I honestly loved reading this novel. I am extremely grateful to Bookish and the author for the gifted copy for review.
4 out of 5 stars.