Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May (audiobook)

Pages: 416 

Publisher: Orbit 

Released: 31st of March 2022 

In the aftermath of World War I, a naive woman is swept into a glittering world filled with dark magic, romance, and murder in this lush and decadent debut.

On Crow Island, people whisper, real magic lurks just below the surface. 

Neither real magic nor faux magic interests Annie Mason. Not after it stole her future. She’s only on the island to settle her late father’s estate and, hopefully, reconnect with her long-absent best friend, Beatrice, who fled their dreary lives for a more glamorous one. 

Yet Crow Island is brimming with temptation, and the biggest one may be her enigmatic new neighbor. 

Mysterious and alluring, Emmeline Delacroix is a figure shadowed by rumors of witchcraft. And when Annie witnesses a confrontation between Bea and Emmeline at one of the island's extravagant parties, she is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where the boundaries of wickedness are tested, and the cost of illicit magic might be death. 

What I Have to Say 

There was just something about this book that put me off it. I think a big part of it was the narrator, who annoyed me by making everything sound so tragic, but I don't think it was just that. The story just didn't quite hit the mark. 

It's a real shame because I was really interested by the alternate history setting and the way witchcraft fitted into it all. It was a really skilfully created world with witchcraft slotted into the first world war and the prohibition period after it. I was really interested to read all that, but the story didn't quite live up to the premise. 

There was also one piece of music that they played over certain chapters that just completely creeped me out. I couldn't concentrate on what was being said because I was made so anxious by the music. 

All this added up to a not very enjoyable experience, but I hope that other people might like it where I didn't. 

2 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with this copy for review.