Review: The Wicker King (K. Ancrum)
Full disclosure: I picked this up on a complete whim (and because of Cait's review) while waiting at the library one day and devoured it in a whopping 2 sittings, or something like that. This is not my normal type of read. I think it's fairly obvious that I have a tendency to stick to science fiction and fantasy and worlds that do not exist in any way, shape, or form. But... I gave this 5 stars. So that gives you an idea of how much I liked this book, despite all the odds against it.
This book was just... wow. The writing style isn't what I normally enjoy, as it was a bit choppier and shorter than I am used to, but I feel like it fit with the general tone of the book quite well. Part of the whole premise is that August doesn't quite know what to do when his friend, Jack, starts to hallucinate, sliding between the fictional world of the Wicker King, and the real world. August wants to help his friend, but doesn't know how. Does he give in to the fantasy, and pretend that it is real? Or does he seek outside help? I really felt like the position that August was in is representative of how many people, teenagers and adults alike, feel when confronted with situations like these. He is so out of his league and has no idea what to do, and so he winds up going along with Jack's hallucinations, which then opens up the pathway to talk about codependency and unhealthy relationships.
And talk the author does, in what I believe to be a way that really opens it up for discussion. August would literally follow Jack to the ends of the Earth and back, and if Jack jumped off a cliff, August would go right after him. This book does a great job of showing the dangers of a relationship like that, and how it can be damaging to both the leader and the follower. As Jack descends farther and farther into madness, the things that he asks August to do, and the fantasies that he weave, get more and more complicated and complex. It just spirals out of control, deeper and deeper again.
I can't really talk about the ending (like at all) without spoiling anything, which irritates me more than just a bit because I really, really want to talk about it. But let me just say that the ending is not at all what I expected. Like at all. And this ending is what really made me love it, because it just highlights how deceptive everything can be.
This book was great. It may not be my normal read, and I highly doubt that I'm going to suddenly abandon my science fiction and fantasy, but it was very nice to be able to read a book outside of my comfort zone and be as in love with it as I was.
Seriously. Read this book.
5/5 Stars