Book Shelf: The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson

Every Christmas, Wren is chased through the woods near her isolated village by her family's enemies—the Judges—and there’s nothing that she can do to stop it. Once her people, the Augurs, controlled a powerful magic. But now that power lies with the Judges, who are set on destroying her kind for good.

In a desperate bid to save her family, Wren takes a dangerous undercover assignment—as an intern to an influential Judge named Cassa Harkness. Cassa has spent her life researching a transformative spell, which could bring the war between the factions to its absolute end. Caught in a web of deceit, Wren must decide whether or not to gamble on the spell and seal the Augurs’ fate.

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Review:

The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson is a unique and mysterious novel full of Irish folklore, deception and unexpected betrayals.

Every Winter Wren Silke is chased through the woods as part of a distorted childhood game by the boys of her village. As an augur, these boys are her sworn enemies, judges, but lucky for Wren her heritage remains a secrets from them. With their powers diminishing, Wren's grove send her undercover to intern at Harkness Foundation, the headquarters for some of the most powerful judges out there. Hoping to discover their secrets, Wren soon finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse and as her time at Harkness House begins to change her, Wren must make the ultimate choice in order to decide where her loyalties lay.

Having recently finished The Wren Hunt, I'm not completely sure how to wrap my mind around the book. Mary Watson has no doubt created a vivid and unique story; there's definitely nothing out there like The Wren Hunt but at the same time I feel as though the novel fell flat in many regards. Considering the uniqueness that was it's story, it had plenty of potential but there were elements of the novel that ultimately failed it in my eyes.

Set in a very atmospheric country Ireland, The Wren Hunt introduces the concept of two ancient magic practitioner’s; augurs and judges. From what I could wrap my head around, both groups practice magic through the use of natural means and rely on nature to harness and use its essence to fuel their power and abilities. Honestly, for the most part I struggled to really comprehend much of what Wren and her people did as well as the age old feud they had with the judges. I feel like Watson could have potentially set things up better whilst still harnessing in the Irish folklore and heritage she wove into the story. The Wren Hunt was still easy to follow as long as I didn’t get too caught up in this.

It wasn’t easy connecting with the characters of The Wren Hunt either. Though Wren was nice enough, I didn’t really care for anyone else within the story and found them bland and lacklustre. I liked her love interest Tarc and thought him likable, but I also struggled with the fact that he himself seemed to be a pivotal part in the plot development. Romance aside, I wanted Wren to make her choices based on what she learnt about the judge world and its people, not just because she liked a boy. All of Wren’s driving forced changed when she fell for Tarc and even though I appreciated their love story, I feel like the story could have benefited if it wasn’t written this particular way.

Despite my misgivings, there was something alluring about The Wren Hunt that kept be reading. Featuring a dreamlike aura and being rich in imagery, The Wren Hunt is a unique read for those who dare to try something a little different.

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by publisher (Thank you guys!)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Australia
Format: Paperback
Australian RRP: $14.99
Release Date: February 8th 2018
Purchase: Bookworld | Booktopia | The Book Depository | Amazon
Final Thoughts: Though it didn't blow me away, The Wren Hunt was a unique story that might appeal to readers wanting something a bit different.