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Rating: 5/5 Stars
Title: The Wicker King
Author: K. Ancrum
Synopsis:
Jack once saved August's life…now can August save him?
August is a misfit with a pyro streak and Jack is a golden boy on the varsity rugby team—but their intense friendship goes way back. Jack begins to see increasingly vivid hallucinations that take the form of an elaborate fantasy kingdom creeping into the edges of the real world. With their parents’ unreliable behavior, August decides to help Jack the way he always has—on his own. He accepts the visions as reality, even when Jack leads them on a quest to fulfill a dark prophecy.
August and Jack alienate everyone around them as they struggle with their sanity, free falling into the surreal fantasy world that feels made for them. In the end, each one must choose his own truth.
Written in vivid micro-fiction with a stream-of-consciousness feel and multimedia elements, K. Ancrum's The Wicker King touches on themes of mental health and explores a codependent relationship fraught with tension, madness and love.
Initial thoughts:
These last few months, I have seen The Wicker King floating around my Instagram feed and I was intrigued by the synopsis and thought the cover looked really cool. I kept putting off reading this book though until I saw that my coworker at the library had purchased it. When I saw it featured on our shelf, I felt it was a sign to finally read this book (even though I hadn’t finished the Illuminae Files yet).
Just from the inside cover, I knew that this books was going to be a wild ride. I also noticed that the pages grew darker as the story progressed. That visual in itself was stunning and I was ready to descend into the madness of the book.
Plot:
What I liked:
Where to even begin with this book. To be honest, I thought that it was a perfect portrayal of mental illness, neglect, isolation, and toxic relationships. The progression of the book was steady and flowed perfectly. I liked how each segment was a page or two long detailing only the importance of things that were occuring within the book. As the book continued, I found myself enamored by the changes that were present in the protagonists as well. Observing the transition, I felt sad for both of the boys as they tried to piece together things on their own to the best of their abilities. The bond that the boys share is almost all encompassing causing many issues in its own way. They lived for each other and ended up hurting more as time progressed and Jack grew sicker and sicker.
What I didn't like:
To be honest there wasn’t anything I can say that I disliked about the book. This was a beautifully written book that pushed at controversial topics in a unique way.
Characters:
August: Issues x10. I was so sympathetic for August and worried about his take on his position in the world. His way of coping and working things out could have been better overall, but he was just as broken as Jack if not more so.
Jack: If August is Issues x10, then Jack is Issues x1000. I was very worried about this kid for the majority of the book as I knew that things were going downhill for him. His character shifted so greatly as the story changed.
Rina: I really liked her character and she was very sensible. I wish that I would have gotten to see more about her overall.
The Twins (Peter and Roger): I liked them and their way of handling things. They both cared so much and wanted everything to turn out well.
Overall:
This is a book that I know I am going to be reading again as time rolls on by. This book was fantastic and held my attention completely. I felt as though I were engrossed in this world that Ancrum was writing out through August and Jack. I felt very sympathetic for the protagonists and found some things in the book hitting very close to home for me. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in thrillers and any kind of psychological stories. It was very well put together and I am excited to read the side story that comes along with this book and look forward to reading more from K. Ancrum.