Book Review: The Wren Hunt

The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted The Wren Hunt to be more than it is. Mary Watson has given us a simple, yet complex enough society set-up that stems from types of magic. Except that there isn't much magic left in the world, but the social structure remains the same. The opening chapter was perhaps the type of dark, creepiness I was hoping for but unfortunately it did not remain throughout.

Pimped out
The best way I can think of to describe what happens to our main gal is that she is 'pimped out' and her family places a large chunk of responsibility on her. All the while not giving her all the details. This leads to a conflicting attitude our character (and myself as the reader) has towards a lot of characters. So if you are looking for a book with likable characters I recommend you look elsewhere. There are not too many of them in The Wren Hunt. This made it difficult to keep myself invested; as at times I didn't even like our lead gal either.

Romance
This is a classic Romeo and Juliet set-up. It is handled fairly well by Watson. At times it reminded me of the relationship between Four and Tris in Divergent. It has that same type of 'we shouldn't do this, but we are' feel. And the hierarchy of one having more power than the other exists as well. Overall I was quite pleased with how I felt about the ups and downs in the relationship and would say that it didn't have any major problems that bothered me. That is high praise from me for a teen novel romance.

Overall
I think there could have been a bit more foreshadowing to give away some tidbits of information to lead us to the ending. However the foreshadowing that did exist was a little too obvious. It sometimes felt like a minor character was screaming at me (as the reader) to make sure I picked up on a tidbit. I like my foreshadowing a little more subtle. Even if I miss one piece then maybe I pick up another and so it keeps the suspense on-going. There is really a talent to doing this and if Watson worked with a mystery writer/editor I think she could really enhance her mystery writing capabilities.
Overall I would try another Mary Watson book. I would definitely be aware that there are moments of extreme teen-ness (if you will). However I believe you can't knock a book for feeling teen when it's in the teen genre. If you hate fantasy teen tropes then I would stay away from this one as they are all there. But if you're okay with getting what you expected then The Wren Hunt is likely for you.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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