“𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔞 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔨 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬, 𝔞 𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔷𝔷𝔩𝔢-𝔡𝔞𝔷𝔷𝔩𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞 𝔪𝔦𝔯𝔯𝔬𝔯 𝔬𝔣𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔲𝔫. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔳𝔢 𝔦𝔱, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔨 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔦𝔱, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔦𝔱 - 𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔡𝔞𝔶 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔡, 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔧𝔬𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱 𝔦𝔱𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 - 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔐𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔚𝔯𝔢𝔫 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱?”

Published: 03/04/25

Genre: Contemporary fantasy 

Page count: 512

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 & 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 was initially a little slow to draw me in, but by the end I couldn’t get enough. Though the Wrens are all ostensibly terrible human beings, as the novel progresses you find yourself liking them more & more. Though each sibling is deeply troubled - in no small part due to their relationships with their late father, Thayer Wren - they are far more complex than they first appear: Arthur is a sweetheart trying to make the world a better place; Meredith is independent & fierce as hell; & Eilidh is mired in grief from the loss of her career as a prima ballerina. I adored several of the side characters, particularly Arthur's wife Gillian, his F1 driver boyfriend Yves, & former Wren family friend Lu. The story is very much character rather than plot-driven, the action centring on the contents of Thayer's will, & though I guessed the 'twist' fairly early on this still kept me engaged as it was the way the characters dealt with the suspense & subsequent revelations that were fascinating rather than the revelations themselves. The fantasy element of the novel, the Magitech industry & the unusual maladies faced by Arthur & Eilidh, is fascinating but takes a backseat to the characters, serving simply as a way for us to get to know them better. Olivie's trademark beautiful & complex prose is as perfect as ever, working with an unusual narration style to create a multi-layered & unforgettable novel, where both nothing & everything happens all at once.