The Good and the Green Book Review
Nature can be cruel. Nature is a beautiful and wild thing. It cares not for good or evil, for light or darkness.
It just is, and we are at its mercy.
Synopsis
A city girl trying to make the rent finds something priceless in a cozy cottage in the magical kingdom of Wilderise When Alison Lennox learns of her surprise inheritance of a country estate, she knows exactly what to do: sell it. Her late father set her on the path to career success and gleaming dwarven high rises, not backbreaking labor and leaky thatched roofs. All she needs to do to keep her life on track is get in, flip the cottage, and get out, hopefully with a pocket full of coin for the effort. The only problem? Everything in the nearby village is annoyingly charming. The quaint shops, the sweet little old ladies, the adorable talking cat. And reclusive doctor Keir Ainsley is the worst of them all. At first, he’s good and irritating, and he’s definitely wrong about where his property ends and hers begins. But then he has to go and save her life from a DIY disaster. And then he shows her that under his bristly exterior, there’s a tenderness that feels familiar and right. But the town does have a problem. A mysterious vine is spreading through the land, choking out everything in its path. “Cute cottage; minor overgrowth issue–probably not poisonous” isn’t going to work as a real estate listing, but that’s not all that’s wrong. The deeper her connection to Keir and the town grows, the further she strays from the life her father wanted for her. And she’ll have to dig deep into the town’s thorny past to have any hope of stopping the vine.
REVIEW
Book 1 of the Wilderise Tales series, The Good and the Green by Amy Yorke is a cozy fantasy with a touch of romance and cottagecore feels. A story about found family, small-town living, and personal growth, the novel features a grumpy-sunshine trope, magic and mythology, and a talking cat!
In a world inhabited by magical beings, set in a time that feels like a mix between the 18th century and modern era, Alison Lennox is a city-living human living paycheck to paycheck, fighting to progress in her career as a number-cruncher. Following the death of a distant cousin, she unexpectedly inherits some property in the country, far away in the land of Wilderise. Hoping to rent out the property for some extra income, Alison is surprised to find it in an… extreme state of disrepair caused by the town’s “overgrowth” issue. Even more, her reclusive neighbor, the mysterious Keir Ainsley, is an interesting enigma, swinging from irritating to charming at the flip of a switch. With the help of newfound friends, Alison works to help the town solve their vine problem and restore her cottage, uncover the man beneath the mask, and truly discover what makes her happy.
While I savor the unhurried pace inherent to narratives of this genre, immersing myself in this particular book took a bit longer than expected. At first, the world-building is intricate, yet insufficiently explained, and initially, the narrative and dialogue struggled to captivate. However, the story gained momentum around the quarter mark, and despite some awkward moments, the interactions between the main characters resonated with a charm reminiscent of a Gregorian historical romance novel. As the story unfolded, it became fairly wonderful, particularly after the halfway mark, warranting a 3.5-star rating. I can’t wait to read the stories to follow!
Expected publication date is 2 February 2024.
Author Profile
Amy Yorke is an author of light and cozy fantasy and lover of all things magical and romantic. She is half English, half American, and she offers her sincere apology to readers of both languages for her idiosyncrasies in word choice. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, playing video and tabletop games, and chasing after her three cats.
TL;DR
- Rating: 3.5 stars | Genre: Fantasy | Pages: 311
- Book 1 of Wilderise Tales series
- Cozy fantasy with touch of romance
- Cottagecore feels
- Found family, small-town living, personal growth
- Grumpy-sunshine trope, magic and mythology, and a talking cat!
- Pacing picks up around quarter mark
- Intricate, yet insufficiently explained, world-building at first
- Reminiscent of a Gregorian historical romance novel
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