Mckenna’s never thought much of her nightmares, but on her seventeenth birthday, a vivid dream of burning at the stake awakens her dormant abilities, thrusting her into a world where faeries are real, spirits hold a grudge, and a High Priestess obsessed with a 16th-century prophecy is tracking her every move.
Now, her overprotective dads, Seán and Andre, are forced to tell her the truth—they know who her birth mother is, and her life is not the surrogate story she’s always been told. Abigail, Mckenna’s mom, is some sort of mystic, and Mckenna, a Wise One.
Whatever the hell that means.
With the help of a persistent little wren and the company of a newfound friend, Mckenna journeys to Ireland in search of her mother and real answers. Along the way, she learns to harness her innate magic and trust her intuition, as best she can anyway—Cillian, a kind and passionate delegate who crosses her path, is proving much harder to read.–from the description of The Wise One
Only her mother could truly help her halt her ill fate and prepare her for what’s to come… before she gives in to the darkness she knows is buried deep within.
Disclaimer: This book was procured and read through BookSirens. Many thanks to BookSirens and K.T. Anglehart for the chance to read it! Please see my full Disclosure and my Review Policy for more info.
History is my obsession; I absolutely adore everything from mythology and folklore to famous battles and political figures. But Celtic mythos and history is one of my favorite areas. So, when I saw that Anglehart’s debut novel was based on Celtic history, I just had to pick it up!
And I am happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed with that choice.
Review
Overall, I found the storyline of The Wise One to be compelling. The twists were plentiful, and the storytelling was captivating enough to keep my interest piqued. And Anglehart did a beautiful job weaving in the more historical aspects of the story! Sometimes, such references can feel dry, but they didn’t in this book. (Although, admittedly, that could be my own personal bias.)
I loved the characters, too. Each of them added something to the story and felt like a genuine person. Also, although they felt a little odd at first, I enjoyed the perspective shifts; they added another layer of understanding and emotion to the plot that I liked. Being able to explore different points of view made things more interesting, for sure.
A couple of things about the book were a little odd, though. Some of the writing seemed wonky in places, mainly just a few minor grammatical errors, and things felt somewhat choppy at times. There weren’t too many of those instances, though, and they didn’t ruin the book at all; I definitely still enjoyed it!
TL,DR Recommendation
All things considered, this was a good book. Despite some minor faults, I enjoyed reading it, and everything from the plot to the characters to the historical aspects was amazingly well done. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a good urban fantasy novel, but especially to those with an interest in the history of the Celts!
Also, as a side note, there’s a cool list of reference books and recommended reading at the back of the book, which I personally am excited to check out! It’s definitely an awesome addition for anyone interested in reading more about Celtic and Irish history.
Find it here!
