Very strong writing. Very strong concept—but the concept also seemed too big for the author to wrangle. (Spoilers)
I was instantly swept in by the author’s lovely prose and was expectant of a great time. I also kept seeing mentions of a perilous journey to the west. I expected to be thrilled. But this book suffered immensely from repetition. 70% of the book was Will and Fenna going in circles (both in thought and dialogue) about how Fenna no longer remembers Will and if she’ll ever remember him.
Over and over. It was maddening. I understand that it’s the heart of the plot and that we totally should be reminded of it, but REMINDED is the keyword. Not repeating it like we’re stuck in a loop. We either spent most chapters in their heads as they went over this again and again. Or any time we managed to move to a new scene, it ended with the same conversations.
Didn’t anyone beta read and tell the author? And so we just wasted time that could’ve been used to explore their steps toward healing, having the same thoughts/dialogue.
And the worst part was that when Fenna finally decided she was growing affections for Will, THAT felt jarring and out of nowhere. Because the time that could have been used to build up to it, was wasted. There were hints of her feelings growing about 70% in, but she ended even those with determined feelings to find Will another woman so he moved on. It would’ve been better if she had first stopped wanting to pair him off with someone, realized the thought made her ill, before she then had the moment of realization that she loved him.
Quite a bit more things felt over-stressed. I first liked Will’s nerves about being the only doctor on the trail, and the one everyone depended on. It was a realistic fear. But then it got too stressed, sounding like he didn’t have any training to rely on at all. He began to sound as if he was really a bricklayer who was just given a scalpel and thrown into a hospital. Bro, you trained for years to be a doctor—there should be some confidence.
I first liked Fenna’s insecurity about not really belonging anywhere. But that too was overstressed until it became annoying and even when someone obviously loved/wanted her, she would doubt it. And have long thoughts of how she didn’t really fit.
I could’ve liked Fenna but the author didn’t quite hit the balance with her character. She spent most of the book doubting people’s goodness and rejecting Will and mentally detaching herself from people who actually wanted her close, that it overshadowed the few good traits she had. Even helping Will heal people could’ve made her likable, but she ended up quitting the job just so that she could avoid Will.
You can help SAVE lives, miss, but that’s the petty reason you decide not to?
I did like Will. I liked his patience and gentleness, and abiding love for Fenna. Although the age gap was… yeah. It was alright the second time, but the first time, it made me uncomfortable.
I loved the tension of Will knowing Fenna was his wife and having to watch other men flirt with her while wanting to unalive them. I loved the moments where his possessiveness slipped, or when he gave in to the familiarity of loving her even when she didn’t quite understand. I liked the scene where he blearily told her she was his wife. There was so much potential but the author didn’t use it up.
I didn’t think the brothers were set up well enough for me to be curious about their stories. The only side characters set up well were Molly and Mam. Even Ben had no personality, so seeing the author call him ‘grumpy’ feels like a stretch. But I like the writing style, so I’ll probably check the book out and hope it’s better developed!
I liked the setting too. I wished at least 60% of it had been set on the trail. All that time set in the city felt slow and so boring. I think most of the story could’ve happened on the trail, with Will and Fenna having their late night meetings after a rough day of traveling. And more time exploring the journey instead of squashing it all together with a string of disasters (I enjoyed these though!) at the end.
I really liked Mam, and it’s so sad that she died. I don’t like Molly. I thought I would, but she’s truly a brat and just does “too much”. I stopped liking her when she took Fenna to that bar and Will broke his hand
Oh yeah, that was one of the many inconsistencies in the book. Will broke his hand and in two days, seemed fully healed. Never thought of it again, used his hand normally, until he got into another fight. And somehow the finger wasn’t totally destroyed in that one. SO many things didn’t add up.
- Like how a random yet upstanding priest in a neighboring town agrees to wed two young couples in secret with his wife as their witness. And then the explanation was that he saw ‘they were obviously in love.’ Uh if they were so in love, why didn’t their parents let them have an open wedding? It would have made more sense if the pastor had been a shady man who had collected a bribe. Or if he’d somehow known Will personally in the past.
-The “no showing of ankles as a lady” bit felt so randomly thought up and added, that it was inconsistent and annoying.
I can’t recall them all but the more inconsistencies, the more I realized the book wasn’t very well researched or edited.
All that said, I kept coming back to it and that’s why it gets three stars!