The Wren in the Holly Library
Written by: K. A. Linde
Red Tower Books
2024
The Wren in the Holly Library takes readers to a dystopic New York filled with vampires, monsters, magic, and steamy romance.
The latest from Red Tower Publishing, The Wren in the Holly Library, takes some time to pick up the pace as it develops the story, world, and romance.
Storytelling
Now, don’t get me wrong, I did like The Wren in the Holly Library, but I struggled with it.
For a novel that is supposed to be, in part, about a heist, the first half of the story drags. Kierse is on the job right at the beginning, which directly aligns her with Graves, who is not just your regular run-of-the-mill monster. No, he’s a warlock, which goes against everything Kierse knows. The saying goes, “Monsters, not magic.”
And now she has agreed with him to keep her friends safe and help this dashing and dangerous man steal a spear from an organization of monsters who seek to be back at the top of the food chain.
It’s an exciting plot line, but the pacing lags for the book’s first half. Some high-tension scenes raise the pacing early, but when Kierse moves in with Graves, the story falls flat and struggles to hold my attention.
It is interesting how the story builds up as Graves has assigned her reading to help better prepare her, and the stories and folklore foreshadow much of what happens later in the novel.
However, for a novel classified as romantasy, there is little romance, or romance built up in that first half. Graves and Kierse have limited interactions with one another besides her, noting how attractive he is whenever he enters the room.
I will say, however, that some of the more exciting parts of The Wren in the Holly Library are the interludes that break up the story and give some backstory and insight into the plot without giving anything away.
Final Thoughts
The Wren in the Holly Library is not a bad book, but it does suffer from inconsistent pacing early on. There are some intense moments early on, but the pacing falls flat after that, and the story seems to drag on until that halfway mark. After that, the story takes off and gets into the romance and the nitty-gritty.
A Little Slow | The Wren in the Holly Library Review
The Wren in the Holly Library takes readers to a dystopic New York filled with vampires, monsters, magic, and steamy romance.
Cynthia Ayala
Cynthia Ayala-Bujnicki majored in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Editor-in-chief of Cyn's Workshop, she loves to read and write while tending to her pepper plants. She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, two kids Dante and Selene and two furbabies Mr. J the Kitten who Thinks He's Batman (yes, that is his full name) and Nyx.
