Wildwood Review

Wildwood by Colin Meloy is the first book in the Wildwood trilogy. This is a middle grade fantasy series.

This first book is about 12 year old Prue McKeel. She lives in Portland, Oregon and next to it is the impassable wilderness; a place all children know not to go. One day her baby brother is carried off by a flock of ravens and she sets out on the mission to find and rescue him. To do that, she must enter the impassable wilderness. A schoolmate, Curtis, follows her in and the adventures ensue. 

This was a delightful read. I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. The writing was rich and lively. The characters were interesting and multifaceted. The plot was well crafted and never too predictable. It is quite a long book (over 500 pages), which I think is too long for a middle grade book. However, I really enjoyed seeing all that both Prue and Curtis went through and how it felt like it told both of their stories not just Prue’s (even though she is the main character). We really get to know them and see how they grow and learn and how these adventures change them. I like that, for a trilogy, it still had a good solid ending (I have a thing about cliff hangers). It has a similar feel to books like the Narnia series, just not in the Christian genre.

As a disclaimer: this is the first book in a trilogy, so come the end we are still left with some questions unanswered. The main overall book plot is resolved, but there are other new things brought up through the story that aren’t (to be answered in the future books I am sure). And isn’t that what makes a good first book: resolve first book plot, but set up and/ or tease plot for following book(s) to keep us wanting to read more?

I really enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to read the second one.