"At the core of each of us, one of his first teachers said, there is a spark of divine fire."

I don't know what I was expecting going into this novel, but it wasn't this beautiful blend of identity and healing amidst the thralls of a deadly hunt. Last month, I actually listened to The Scorpio Races, and it is a perfect comparison to this novel in terms of stakes, competition, and strong willed characters. I highly recommend readers dive into this novel mostly blind, so the story can unfold richly and mysteriously.

"... dreams don't always have to be practical. That's why they're dreams. And now ours live and die together."

Margaret Welty is a stunning protagonist that is coming to terms with her loneliness and identity within her house/ life ever since her mother left roughly four months and hasn't been seen since. She's not looking for anything when Weston "Wes" Winters, a wannabe apprentice for alchemy, appears on her doorstep wishing to be her mom's next alchemist student. He can't seem to keep an apprenticeship to save his life, and Margaret finally relents in letting him wait out for her mom. But... the thing is Margaret has zero clue when her mom will be back and is pretty certain she'd deny Wes in an instant. Let's just let the wait drive down Wes's interest.

Then, the two are swept up in the Halfmoon Hunt. Whichever duo can kill the infamous and deadly hala (white magical fox) gets prize money, fame/ recognition, and maybe could persuade Margaret's mom to return and teach Wes. Thus, the two make an unpredictable duo in the hunt, and they work through alchemy, enemies, and time constraints to hatch a plan to win it all.

"No one knows how to hurt you if you always play fool. No one can truly be disappointed in you if they don't expect any better."

Again, I'm in love with this story. The writing aches with emotions abound, and it's such a softly poetic prose too. Back when I read Down Comes the Night, I recognized Saft's gift with writing, but she made it stronger with this sequel. The pacing was my only issue with her debut, so it's incredible to watch Saft's growth within her second book. I never felt the plot dragging or the need for quick action. She stole my attention form the start and never looked back!

The romance is just so sweet too! Margaret and Wes, in many ways, remind me of the couples where the woman knows how to do everywhere while the man is just a clutzy mess. They're both so endearing to one another, and I love how they push each other to new limits. Wes even says so to Margaret herself that he has never worked harder or better than by her side. My heart! Both are the perfect whole to not only succeeding but also tracking down this mess of a hala. Readers will love their slow burn romance as well as their easy friendship at the start. Nothing is forced, and I'm so thankful Saft chose to hold their kiss for later in the novel. Absolutely incredible!

"Alchemy makes monsters of men."

Something I knew going into this story was that Allison Saft was going to include Jewish-coded themes and antisemitism. Margaret is Yu'adir and experiences a lot of antisemitism throughout the course of the novel (from microaggressions to attempted murder even). It's worse because Margaret is alone when the novel starts after both her parents have left her to fend for herself against the cruelties of the town. She's even afraid to mention her heritage to Wes throughout the first half of the novel because she loves their friendship and doesn't want him to treat her differently. Although, an element to this story that I did not know about was Wes's heritage. His faith is Sumic, which in my opinion is heavily coded with Catholicism, and he's Banvish, which reminds me of the Irish. I could be wrong with either, but as an Irish Catholic myself, I just felt a sudden deep kinship to this story. My partner is both Jewish and Catholic too, so I saw him throughout a significant portion of this story because conversations come up of Margaret and Wes being together. Overall, in my opinion, the religious persecution, anti-immigrant, and nationalism against these identities were handled respectfully. I cried a few times because I wanted to protect both with all my heart. I think many readers can learn and feel for this world as a somewhat foil of our own, especially because it reminded me of the 1920s/ earlier 1900s.

While the hunt is short in comparison to the whole novel, I think A Far Wilder Magic is much more about the journey to the hunt rather than the hunt itself. Yes, the hunt climaxes the plot, but Margaret and Wes have to come into their own before evening journeying down that path. The alchemy and lore itself could drive one's interest, but the characters solidify the complexity and magnificence in the storytelling.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.