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A World Apart
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Expected 17 Nov 26Win a free print copy of this book!
1 day and 01:12:51
10 copies available
U.S. only
A spellbinding queer romantasy debut, available for a limited time in a deluxe special edition, that weaves a tale of forbidden love, magical dimensions, and impossible choices--perfect for fans of Divine Rivals and A Marvellous Light.
Star-crossed lovers bound by magic. But will their devotion set them free-or doom them forever?
London, 1866. All Kit Finchley wants is to master the magic that keeps eluding him – and to live a life not dictated by title or expectation. When a miscast spell tears open a doorway into the Veil – a liminal realm where Wilfrith and his family have been trapped since a fateful bargain with the Faerie Queen 800 years ago – Kit stumbles into a love he never imagined. His connection to Wil is immediate, impossible, and undeniable.
Determined to free the boy between worlds, Kit risks everything, desperate to bind the realms without breaking them. But the Faerie Queen does not take kindly to adversaries, and all magic has a cost...
Star-crossed lovers bound by magic. But will their devotion set them free-or doom them forever?
London, 1866. All Kit Finchley wants is to master the magic that keeps eluding him – and to live a life not dictated by title or expectation. When a miscast spell tears open a doorway into the Veil – a liminal realm where Wilfrith and his family have been trapped since a fateful bargain with the Faerie Queen 800 years ago – Kit stumbles into a love he never imagined. His connection to Wil is immediate, impossible, and undeniable.
Determined to free the boy between worlds, Kit risks everything, desperate to bind the realms without breaking them. But the Faerie Queen does not take kindly to adversaries, and all magic has a cost...
368 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication November 17, 2026
About the author
Meghan Nesmith
5 books41 followersMeghan Nesmith is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Guardian, and Teen Vogue, among others. Originally from Vancouver, she now lives in Boston with her husband and two daughters. A World Apart is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Did Not Finish
August 17, 2026DNF @25%. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the arc! Some spoilers ahead!
Ok, second DNF in two days, which I'm not thrilled about, but you guys know I'm not one to read something I'm not enjoying, so here we are.
Starting off with the fact that I really liked the premise of this book; the worldbuilding is there and it is quite interesting. The two main characters are also intriguing and did make me want to read and know them better, specially Kit. But my DNF is based on everything except them, basically.
First, something that has absolutely no consequence at all but made me go like is that one MC is called Wilfred and another is William and the former's nickname is Will and the latter's, Kit. Was there like, no other name possible? I guess maybe they are meant to be foils or mirrors of each other and the name is supposed to reflect that, but I didn't dig it.
The writing style was too much sometimes, too flowery, made me think many times “are you sure that's the metaphor/analogie you want to make right now?” Some examples: “Her tongue like a moth at his throat” (this is a KISS); “A grating sound. Like wind through a rib cage”, that’s certainly not what I think when I think about a grating sound and also, would wind through a rib cage be grating? I’d imagine it'd make a deep sound because the ribs are somewhat apart. Anyway. You see how the writing does absolutely nothing for the story in the sense of pulling you in and immersing you into this fantastical world? I read the rib cage one and wasted 10 minutes on my phone trying to figure out the actual sound it would make. Unfortunately, youtube does not have a video on it. That's time I could be reading this book, but I wasn't.
I also thought there's too many adjectives. Like, it does feel like everything is adjectivized to hell and back, and this a debut, which would make sense since this is a common problem with debuts. The most egregious examples would be this combination of adjectives the author sometimes does, as: a cat is a “snub-nosed, moth-eaten ball of fur” (and what's its color? we still don't know that); a boy is a “knock-kneed, wide-eyed boy” (sic, on the repetition of the word boy). These two examples were, like, two pages apart. This falls in the perfect middle part between too many adjectives and too flowery of a language.
Now, onto every single other character that is not our MCs: I did not like them. Seriously, maybe I'm too sensitive or too much of a normal person to act like that, but they all sound so egotistical and cruel, it's bizarre.
I do not believe in magic, sure, but, besides telling them to be aware of scams or cults, if my best friend came to me saying they felt the sense of magic since they were a child and became an apprentice of a magician, I'd not laugh in their face? Because I'm not fucking rude? I would not make their interest the butt of a joke constantly, wouldn't make them feel ashamed of their hobbies. But this is the behavior of the sister and the best friend of our Kit (who is the William but not the Will). I was reading and I was going insane. This is how you treat one of the people you most care about in the world, continuously? It's a nahh for me dawg.
Also, on the subject of Kit's sister, Teddy, a woman, 24 years old, restrained by her position and her age and her sex, as aristocratic women of the 1800's were: you don't get to demand sacrifices from your loved ones that you yourself would not be willing to make. I already had my doubts about her considering her behavior (see paragraph above), but her cruelty kind of reached a peak to me in the marriage conversation with Kit. The fact that she did not want to marry and had been scaring away suitors for many years, and now that she realized she was a spinster and the family coffers were low and needed someone to actually be responsible financially for her, she corners Kit and calls him a child because HE is not interested in marrying, much less marrying rich. It felt so horrible to read that conversation, her constant calls for him to “grow up” and her mentions of the privilege he has for being a man (which allow him to hold off on marriage for, at least, another decade if not two and still be in good standing in society, so fucking ridiculous argument), and won't he just marry rich already so he can support his sister and SHE doesn't have to marry then????? Are we insane? What the actual fuck?? The fact that she has no sympathy for the fact that he is younger than her and does not wish to marry, just like her, is crazy. And they have an older brother who is married too! Why is he not in this convo? Maybe I'm not being considerate enough of her position, but I just found that so absurdly unkind and ultimately so self-centered that I almost quit the book right then and there. And the deal is the framing of the book: this scene is meant to show how immature my dude is. Nah.
On the other side, in Will's world (Wilfred's, that is), he and his sister share a lover. Ok, there's a limited amount of people and they’ve known each other for 800 years… but seriously? That's the first fucking thing that we learn about Will and his close relationships, that he regularly fucks the girl who is in an on-and-off relationship with his sister. My dude, c'mon. Maybe I'm too much of a monogamist, but I did not like that.
Also, I get it, maybe it's a trauma response of being trapped there for 800 years, but if my brother came in saying something different happened, I'd just not jump out and immediately start attacking him. Maybe let him speak first? Then he goes to talk to this old woman, who invites him to sit down next to her on the bed then just fucking pushes him off the bed for completely no reason, in the middle of a normal conversation… does nobody knows how to act anymore?
Getting into a little bit more in the characterization and how it was written, the interactions between Will and his people are a bit strange at time. It does not feel like 800 years have passed. Like, the repeated references to Will's pre-trapping behaviour… it's been 800 years. Yeah, he was a bit of a little shit when he was a teenager, you know, 800 years ago?
And to finish this with a bang, the fucking faerie queen is making greek mythology references? That whole chapter from the POV of the queen, I’ve found it quite ridiculous. Does not fit the tone of a immortal faerie queen, nor is it slightly necessary. It's a two page chapter, cut it out. “Makes a girl wonder why she bothers”, girl, give me a break.
Anyway, I'm not rating this because I read like 25% of the book and tend to only rate dnfs that I read +50%. However, considering the small amount that I read, the significant quantity of little things that kept really fucking annoying me explains the dnf. You can't base your book on interesting worldbuilding and MCs if every person your MC interacts with is the most bothersome motherfucker in the planet. Nevertheless, I am very aware I am a demanding reader, it is why I rarely read debuts for the sake of being debut books; I will get annoyed easily and I will DNF the book, I do not do hate reads nor have immense patience like some of my many friends here in this site. I trust this book will find its ideal target audience because I feel like many people would enjoy this story and not be as vexed with its flaws as I am. I hope all the best for this author and should they publish another book, I'll take a look.
Ok, second DNF in two days, which I'm not thrilled about, but you guys know I'm not one to read something I'm not enjoying, so here we are.
Starting off with the fact that I really liked the premise of this book; the worldbuilding is there and it is quite interesting. The two main characters are also intriguing and did make me want to read and know them better, specially Kit. But my DNF is based on everything except them, basically.
First, something that has absolutely no consequence at all but made me go like is that one MC is called Wilfred and another is William and the former's nickname is Will and the latter's, Kit. Was there like, no other name possible? I guess maybe they are meant to be foils or mirrors of each other and the name is supposed to reflect that, but I didn't dig it.
The writing style was too much sometimes, too flowery, made me think many times “are you sure that's the metaphor/analogie you want to make right now?” Some examples: “Her tongue like a moth at his throat” (this is a KISS); “A grating sound. Like wind through a rib cage”, that’s certainly not what I think when I think about a grating sound and also, would wind through a rib cage be grating? I’d imagine it'd make a deep sound because the ribs are somewhat apart. Anyway. You see how the writing does absolutely nothing for the story in the sense of pulling you in and immersing you into this fantastical world? I read the rib cage one and wasted 10 minutes on my phone trying to figure out the actual sound it would make. Unfortunately, youtube does not have a video on it. That's time I could be reading this book, but I wasn't.
I also thought there's too many adjectives. Like, it does feel like everything is adjectivized to hell and back, and this a debut, which would make sense since this is a common problem with debuts. The most egregious examples would be this combination of adjectives the author sometimes does, as: a cat is a “snub-nosed, moth-eaten ball of fur” (and what's its color? we still don't know that); a boy is a “knock-kneed, wide-eyed boy” (sic, on the repetition of the word boy). These two examples were, like, two pages apart. This falls in the perfect middle part between too many adjectives and too flowery of a language.
Now, onto every single other character that is not our MCs: I did not like them. Seriously, maybe I'm too sensitive or too much of a normal person to act like that, but they all sound so egotistical and cruel, it's bizarre.
I do not believe in magic, sure, but, besides telling them to be aware of scams or cults, if my best friend came to me saying they felt the sense of magic since they were a child and became an apprentice of a magician, I'd not laugh in their face? Because I'm not fucking rude? I would not make their interest the butt of a joke constantly, wouldn't make them feel ashamed of their hobbies. But this is the behavior of the sister and the best friend of our Kit (who is the William but not the Will). I was reading and I was going insane. This is how you treat one of the people you most care about in the world, continuously? It's a nahh for me dawg.
Also, on the subject of Kit's sister, Teddy, a woman, 24 years old, restrained by her position and her age and her sex, as aristocratic women of the 1800's were: you don't get to demand sacrifices from your loved ones that you yourself would not be willing to make. I already had my doubts about her considering her behavior (see paragraph above), but her cruelty kind of reached a peak to me in the marriage conversation with Kit. The fact that she did not want to marry and had been scaring away suitors for many years, and now that she realized she was a spinster and the family coffers were low and needed someone to actually be responsible financially for her, she corners Kit and calls him a child because HE is not interested in marrying, much less marrying rich. It felt so horrible to read that conversation, her constant calls for him to “grow up” and her mentions of the privilege he has for being a man (which allow him to hold off on marriage for, at least, another decade if not two and still be in good standing in society, so fucking ridiculous argument), and won't he just marry rich already so he can support his sister and SHE doesn't have to marry then????? Are we insane? What the actual fuck?? The fact that she has no sympathy for the fact that he is younger than her and does not wish to marry, just like her, is crazy. And they have an older brother who is married too! Why is he not in this convo? Maybe I'm not being considerate enough of her position, but I just found that so absurdly unkind and ultimately so self-centered that I almost quit the book right then and there. And the deal is the framing of the book: this scene is meant to show how immature my dude is. Nah.
On the other side, in Will's world (Wilfred's, that is), he and his sister share a lover. Ok, there's a limited amount of people and they’ve known each other for 800 years… but seriously? That's the first fucking thing that we learn about Will and his close relationships, that he regularly fucks the girl who is in an on-and-off relationship with his sister. My dude, c'mon. Maybe I'm too much of a monogamist, but I did not like that.
Also, I get it, maybe it's a trauma response of being trapped there for 800 years, but if my brother came in saying something different happened, I'd just not jump out and immediately start attacking him. Maybe let him speak first? Then he goes to talk to this old woman, who invites him to sit down next to her on the bed then just fucking pushes him off the bed for completely no reason, in the middle of a normal conversation… does nobody knows how to act anymore?
Getting into a little bit more in the characterization and how it was written, the interactions between Will and his people are a bit strange at time. It does not feel like 800 years have passed. Like, the repeated references to Will's pre-trapping behaviour… it's been 800 years. Yeah, he was a bit of a little shit when he was a teenager, you know, 800 years ago?
And to finish this with a bang, the fucking faerie queen is making greek mythology references? That whole chapter from the POV of the queen, I’ve found it quite ridiculous. Does not fit the tone of a immortal faerie queen, nor is it slightly necessary. It's a two page chapter, cut it out. “Makes a girl wonder why she bothers”, girl, give me a break.
Anyway, I'm not rating this because I read like 25% of the book and tend to only rate dnfs that I read +50%. However, considering the small amount that I read, the significant quantity of little things that kept really fucking annoying me explains the dnf. You can't base your book on interesting worldbuilding and MCs if every person your MC interacts with is the most bothersome motherfucker in the planet. Nevertheless, I am very aware I am a demanding reader, it is why I rarely read debuts for the sake of being debut books; I will get annoyed easily and I will DNF the book, I do not do hate reads nor have immense patience like some of my many friends here in this site. I trust this book will find its ideal target audience because I feel like many people would enjoy this story and not be as vexed with its flaws as I am. I hope all the best for this author and should they publish another book, I'll take a look.
Read
August 15, 2026I feel bad because, well honestly I feel bad reviewing any book badly, but I was going to make a list of things I liked and things I didnt like and I couldn't think of anything for the likes list. I cant even give it a star rating cause it'd probably be a 1.
Kit had the personality and appeal of a dirty gym sock. He was SO annoying to me, incredibly self centered and narrow minded. Wil and his mentor kept telling him how he was destroying himself and didn't know what he was getting into but why should he listen to people with more experience in these matters. Wil was...fine I guess? Apparently a bit hot tempered as a youth, 800 years ago, not super clear what he's like now except he keeps going off to the woods to daydream while his family starves.
Also the romance between them is...non-existent? Maybe I'm too demi for this shit but they meet the once very quickly and then they both simply become obsessed with each other and then it evolves into them being in love with each other but WHEN??
As another reviewer said, the sister is a hypocrite who berates Kit for not getting married and saving her from being sent off to the countryside because she's already run off every man in the country, but has no regard for how Kit might not want to get married. And it's all about how women can't do anything and have way less rights (yes, mood, agree) but as far as I can tell she's just been doing what she wants anyways??
There is a LOT of telling in this book that does not match up with the showing.
Anyways, I only just barely finished this because I skim read the last half and it did not stick the landing. . I feel bad because I don't like to tear into someone's hard work so badly and I do really want more books like a Marvellous Light but just...not like this
Kit had the personality and appeal of a dirty gym sock. He was SO annoying to me, incredibly self centered and narrow minded. Wil and his mentor kept telling him how he was destroying himself and didn't know what he was getting into but why should he listen to people with more experience in these matters. Wil was...fine I guess? Apparently a bit hot tempered as a youth, 800 years ago, not super clear what he's like now except he keeps going off to the woods to daydream while his family starves.
Also the romance between them is...non-existent? Maybe I'm too demi for this shit but they meet the once very quickly and then they both simply become obsessed with each other and then it evolves into them being in love with each other but WHEN??
As another reviewer said, the sister is a hypocrite who berates Kit for not getting married and saving her from being sent off to the countryside because she's already run off every man in the country, but has no regard for how Kit might not want to get married. And it's all about how women can't do anything and have way less rights (yes, mood, agree) but as far as I can tell she's just been doing what she wants anyways??
There is a LOT of telling in this book that does not match up with the showing.
Anyways, I only just barely finished this because I skim read the last half and it did not stick the landing. . I feel bad because I don't like to tear into someone's hard work so badly and I do really want more books like a Marvellous Light but just...not like this
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
*AUTHOR, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW*
Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Most of what I read is queer romance or fantasy with queer characters, it's my jam, but this really annoyed me:(
Firstly, and most importantly, I did not believe the romance. I 100% think that Wil fell for Kit because it was the first time in 800 years that another human could actually see him, and Kit fell for Wil because he was FASCINATED by this world with magic and Wil was the first person he saw in that world. If the first person they saw was literally anyone else, I think they would have fallen for them instead. And then in a very short period of time they are sleeping together and infatuated with each other but it's very "tell don't show" so we don't get to see any of the actual growing of their trust and relationship. You're telling me they're falling in love, yet we have barely seen them interact? How and when did they learn to trust each other? Where was the bonding? Wil in particular has been tricked and abused by a fae queen and I find it hard to believe he would insta love a random man who he can't be sure isn't another trick. I just cannot shake the feeling that both these guys would have fallen in love with the first person coming through the rift, whoever they were.
I do not understand the need to have Wil have slept with basically the whole group he's trapped with. According to the book they spent whole seasons just fcking. And he sometimes sleeps with a woman who his SISTER also sleeps with (and his sister is IN LOVE with.)
Another reason I think the romance isn't believable is that Kit falls in love SO EASILY. When a pretty woman in his own world shows interest in his magic, Kit immediately falls for her. Like 0 to 100 in a few pages because she is suddenly interesting to him because she also believes in magic. Even though Kit is IN LOVE with Wil, he ends up KISSING this woman that he barely knows. It's so strange and felt like cheating to me but also like the author was trying to make it a love triangle when it wasn't needed or believable for him to fall so quick. It actually annoyed me tbh because how is he gonna act like saving Wil is his whole reason for existing but then kiss someone else at the first chance.
At one point Wil voiced some of the problems I had with Kit and their romance, to Kit's face, and yet nothing came of this because Kit got upset at the mean comments and so Wil comforted Kit?!Wil literally said "don't think I'm blind to how you look at me. You'd turn away if I passed you on the street in your world. I'd not be worth the dirt on your shoe" and this is never addressed.
The book mentions some really dark stuff, like the fae queen stealing members of Wil's group and making them dance or sleep with the other fae; one time Wil's sister comes back pregnant and miscarries at 7 months??? There's chapters from the fae queens pov but I didn't like any of them. They're just flowery language and her saying how clever she is and that everyone's her pawn. I could not give less of a f about her, she's nasty and uninteresting. And then later in the book Kit has sympathy for her because he realises the fae queen's daughter passed away, but there is no way I would show empathy for her after how she treats people, and also her daughter dying is literally her own fault because of how obsessed she has become with this group of people. ALSO WHY IS THIS ANCIENT FAE QUEEN LITERALLY GOADED BY A BOY?! All it took was him saying "prove it" and she did....
also lol at Wil making Kit promise to look after his family, and Kit literally leaving them to fend for themselves immediately???
Kit becomes stronger in his magic and very egotistical; I think the author thinks she is doing a cool "mc becomes power hungry and corrupted by power" thing but it's actually giving the Spiderman 3 emo Spiderman moment...
Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Most of what I read is queer romance or fantasy with queer characters, it's my jam, but this really annoyed me:(
Firstly, and most importantly, I did not believe the romance. I 100% think that Wil fell for Kit because it was the first time in 800 years that another human could actually see him, and Kit fell for Wil because he was FASCINATED by this world with magic and Wil was the first person he saw in that world. If the first person they saw was literally anyone else, I think they would have fallen for them instead. And then in a very short period of time they are sleeping together and infatuated with each other but it's very "tell don't show" so we don't get to see any of the actual growing of their trust and relationship. You're telling me they're falling in love, yet we have barely seen them interact? How and when did they learn to trust each other? Where was the bonding? Wil in particular has been tricked and abused by a fae queen and I find it hard to believe he would insta love a random man who he can't be sure isn't another trick. I just cannot shake the feeling that both these guys would have fallen in love with the first person coming through the rift, whoever they were.
I do not understand the need to have Wil have slept with basically the whole group he's trapped with. According to the book they spent whole seasons just fcking. And he sometimes sleeps with a woman who his SISTER also sleeps with (and his sister is IN LOVE with.)
Another reason I think the romance isn't believable is that Kit falls in love SO EASILY. When a pretty woman in his own world shows interest in his magic, Kit immediately falls for her. Like 0 to 100 in a few pages because she is suddenly interesting to him because she also believes in magic. Even though Kit is IN LOVE with Wil, he ends up KISSING this woman that he barely knows. It's so strange and felt like cheating to me but also like the author was trying to make it a love triangle when it wasn't needed or believable for him to fall so quick. It actually annoyed me tbh because how is he gonna act like saving Wil is his whole reason for existing but then kiss someone else at the first chance.
At one point Wil voiced some of the problems I had with Kit and their romance, to Kit's face, and yet nothing came of this because Kit got upset at the mean comments and so Wil comforted Kit?!Wil literally said "don't think I'm blind to how you look at me. You'd turn away if I passed you on the street in your world. I'd not be worth the dirt on your shoe" and this is never addressed.
The book mentions some really dark stuff, like the fae queen stealing members of Wil's group and making them dance or sleep with the other fae; one time Wil's sister comes back pregnant and miscarries at 7 months??? There's chapters from the fae queens pov but I didn't like any of them. They're just flowery language and her saying how clever she is and that everyone's her pawn. I could not give less of a f about her, she's nasty and uninteresting. And then later in the book Kit has sympathy for her because he realises the fae queen's daughter passed away, but there is no way I would show empathy for her after how she treats people, and also her daughter dying is literally her own fault because of how obsessed she has become with this group of people. ALSO WHY IS THIS ANCIENT FAE QUEEN LITERALLY GOADED BY A BOY?! All it took was him saying "prove it" and she did....
also lol at Wil making Kit promise to look after his family, and Kit literally leaving them to fend for themselves immediately???
Kit becomes stronger in his magic and very egotistical; I think the author thinks she is doing a cool "mc becomes power hungry and corrupted by power" thing but it's actually giving the Spiderman 3 emo Spiderman moment...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Did Not Finish
August 12, 2026Unfortunately I had to soft dnf this at the 98 page mark. It was just too cosy and historical for me, this is a me problem and not a reflection of the book or writing itself and it was easily flowing with an interesting plot. I do have a friend who this would be perfect for and I have recommended it to her to read instead on release 😊
Want to Read
August 18, 2026tbr #goodreadsgiveaway
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