Wick and Arrow

by Mary Shaffer

We can’t unchange. It’s the one thing we can’t do.

Wick and Arrow live in a cage in the boudoir of the Queen of the Giants and have never met any humans except each other. Then a wizard takes one of them away. As Arrow faces the world outside the cage without the boy who taught her to be human, her need for survival leads her to do something unthinkable: pretend he never existed.

For the next seven years, Arrow strives to become a normal human girl… until her facade goes up in flames. Finally confronting the impossible demands of an unbreakable love, she finds herself at the center of a game she and Wick have been calculated to lose since their birth. When love becomes a weapon, has it already been destroyed?

With echoes of “The Snow Queen,” this folkloric fantasy takes inspiration from the quirky, wonder-filled, deeply poignant storytelling of Tolkien’s immediate predecessors. Like all good fairy tales, its disarmingly playful tone allows it to probe raw truths about the human heart: the loss and restoration of innocence, the cost of love, and our perennial longing to be fully known.

Genres: Fiction

374 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2025

About the author

Mary Shaffer is the author of Wick and Arrow, a folkloric fantasy inspired by "The Snow Queen."

The daughter of a visual artist and a high school English teacher, Mary grew up in a hundred-year-old farmhouse in rural Minnesota. Now she lives in a hundred-year-old house in rural Wisconsin with her cat Sebastian, named for the maddeningly charming character from Brideshead Revisited.

Mary earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts with an Emphasis in Theatre at St. Olaf College. She also holds a Masters of Arts in Theology from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. In addition to being cofounder and artistic director of Missed the Boat Theatre, she is a spiritual director and teacher on the interior life.

Her artistic philosophy and practice is heavily influenced by the work of Jacques Maritain, especially his Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry.

Reviews

[Grace (alatteofliterature) · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child, I frequently opened up a large illustrated collection of Grimm’s Fairytales. Gruesome and inspirational and detailed, these stories opened up my world and also taught many moral lessons. Rarely do I find this combination of magic and understated instruction in modern stories.

A subtle retelling of The Snow Queen, the story of Wick and Arrow is an instant classic in the veins of the Chronicles of Narnia.

After escaping the Queen of the Giants, Arrow encounters other humans and does her best to learn how to live a normal life. When she’s confronted with her place in the wizard’s game, she has to act to save Wick and herself. I implore you to start reading for the friendship of Wick and Arrow and to stay for the snark of side characters you’ll meet along the way.

I love this quote and believe it to be the perfect summary:

“A bookish monk, an apprentice wizard, two lovesick humans, and a loyal griffin, off to fight the most powerful magicians in the world.”

The main characters never lose sight of hope throughout their adventures. This is a story for those craving a good old-fashioned fairy tale.

Thank you to Mary Shaffer, Inscape Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. It's a poetic and fantastical tale of love in a world full of wonder. The writing was majestic. The characters unique and distinct. The book structure exciting.

[Alex Brownrigg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot wait to reread! This book hits all the right notes when it comes to whimsy and depth. It is not childish but has a childlike quality to so many of its ideas, your inner child will surely enjoy. But at the same time it hits hard on topics of guilt and sin and love. You can feel the manipulations and motivations of characters both good and evil. But Mary Shaffer does the fantastic job of showing, not telling. Her ability to show and not tell is present in everything. She manages to express such complex ideas in ways I only wish I could and give words to thoughts you didn’t know how to express. When I say this book is about love, it is not the cheesy Disney love, it’s real love, real issues, real trauma and how love can heal. I cannot wait to reread and connect all the dots on the teasers and Easter eggs she plants as you go.

[Elizabeth Bina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bottom line up front: read this book if you want to go on an adventure with delightfully odd characters who will make you laugh, cry, and think deeply about what it means to be human.

I made the mistake of starting Wick and Arrow in a really busy time of life, and found myself sacrificing precious sleep because I refused to leave these characters. This book made me laugh out loud. It distracted me on my walk home from the bus stop, as I gripped my copy in hand during a remarkably tense scene. It made me cry. It brought me hope.

Growing up, I didn’t read fantasy or sci-fi because I thought they were “weird” and I thought my books were more “realistic” (embarrassing! I was reading teen lit about wealthy private schools!) The delight of Wick and Arrow is how real it truly is. The characters are beautifully developed and relatable, even if they have magical powers. This story reminded me to stop and notice the magic of daily life, especially sunrises.

Don’t read this book if you have an important deadline coming up. Read this book if you’re looking for a fresh adventure with witty dialogue, twists and turns, and explorations of what it means to be human.

[Meg Pilcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely contemporary fairytale grounded in a strong sense of moral good; Wick and Arrow is soulful, poetic, and an absolute page turner!

[Bernadette O'Keefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you looking for a novel that gives you a feeling like reading The Chronicles of Narnia, with its simple yet profound world-building, but it also doesn't shy away from addressing the complications of "True Love" in a messy world?

This book gave me such joy while also challenging me to go deeper. I don't want to give spoilers, but I will say that this story, which seems like just a fun adventure-fantasy-love story on the surface, gave me both a mirror and a compass for my own spiritual journey. I've sometimes used fantasy books to escape the grittiness of the world. Here, Mary Shaffer gives us this magical version of our world so we can take a step back from the particulars of our own journeys while not losing sight of them. Personally, I readily connect to aspects of both Wick and Arrow. Arrow and Wick's journeys push them to face some gritty realities, and these scenarios are portrayed in a refreshingly honest way. And while it gets intense at times, the narrative itself doesn't lose hope. True Love is a growing, redeeming, shackle-shattering, life-building thing.

This novel also piqued my literary interests because of the way it's crafted. It doesn't take the path of a traditional, straightforward narrative; rather, it builds in pieces, much like we might build a historical narrative using 1st and 2nd-hand sources. The story progresses and weaves through several frameworks: storybook-style narrative, "found" documents like letters and diary entries, real-time action descriptions, flashbacks, and poems. If not done well, this could have been very disorienting for the reader. I found that each thread continues very well through the narrative. The places I had questions earlier were revealed or resolved later on, which I found quite satisfying. I haven't completed my second read of my preview copy, but I am confident that I'll be able to find even more treasures and connections. The re-readability of this book is quite promising!

I cannot wait to have a hard copy of this book to keep on my shelf and to show my friends. I really do think this book is a great sample of what contemporary Christian Literature and Artists can offer.

And lastly-- I cannot get enough of Wizard Dan and his sass.

[Elizabeth Greenop · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson or the fairytale The Snow Queen, then you may enjoy this book too. It is a sweet tale of the unbreakable love between two people and what that love symbolizes for the world. The world tries its best to tear apart a truly unbreakable love and this story filled me with so much hope that Wick and Arrow would be reunited again and that their love would remain true. How much love can one heart bear and contain?

Wick and Arrow are separated as children, after living their entire lives thinking they are the only two humans in existence (they live trapped in a cage by giants). They must find their way back to each other with the help of wizards, centaurs, griffins, and all manner of magical and nonmagical beings. But they have lived so many years apart and they have changed...can a chasm that wide be bridged?

"We can't uncharge, that is the one thing we can't do." (Wick and Arrow) This has made me think deeply about love and relationships; we change everyday and yet love surpasses that change. Our family, friends, significant others still love us even when we change--and we love them when they. change. I think the change can also be characterized as growth too, love is constantly there, but it too grows and changes as we do--even as love stays the same.

This is a medium paced novel told from a variety of viewpoints (including letters and diary entries!) and it is just a fun and cozy read. I am very grateful for the ARC I received, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jenna Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book felt like it unveiled the hidden spaces of the human person through its beautiful imagery. It reminded me to learn from the childlike part of myself and to let that curiosity explore the world.

I wouldn't expect anything less from Mary than to show myself more of who I am.

[Shannon Rouston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal writing, gripping story. I cannot recommend this book enough!!