The Legend of the Golden Raven (The Wicker King #1.5) by K. Ancrum

GoodReads|Amazon|Barnes&Noble

👑 The Wicker King (The Wicker King, #1) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Content/Trigger Warnings: Mentions of divorce, neglect, hallucinations, mental illness, allusions to institutionalization

“Remember to be kind, bunny.”

Did I immediately pick this novella up after I finished reading The Wicker King? Yes, yes I did and I’m living my best life right now! This was such an important piece to add to The Wicker King because we never see Jack perspective of things. Sure, we had the mixed media, but we never got to see the things exactly like Jack was. And this novella gives us that experience. It’s very much Alice in Wonderland vibes and if you read this novella, you know what I mean.

I loved this novella so damn much! The Legend of the Golden Raven is a retelling of The Wicker King told from Jack’s perspective, where we really get to see the fantastical world that Jack sees coexisting with our own. As I mentioned, this will feel similar to Alice in Wonderland and it’s such a unique feeling especially with the way Ancrum wrote this novella. In this novella we see the way Jack sees August, the way he loves him, and we see them reuniting. And we also get Rina. If you’re like me who fell in love with Rina in The Wicker King, then you’re going to love seeing her in this novella! When she plays her viola for Jack while he climbed into bed with August, I completely lost it! She is my new fictional crush. She truly is a beacon of light for these two boys.

“You’re the love of my life, you know,” he said bravely. August just looked at him and shrugged. “I know.”

I think my only complaint is the shortness of this novella. I know it’s supposed to be a novella, but I feel like we could have received a more pages with some extra details. I also think many readers will dislike the two parallel worlds which has two different writing styles. I think many readers will be confused by that or not enjoy this novella as much.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I think I will always want more with these characters especially Rina. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one day she’ll get her own novella one day. And of course, I’m going to recommend this novella and anything by K. Ancrum because their writing is fantastic. Truly, no one is out here doing it the way K. Ancrum is and I don’t know what we did to deserve her, her writing, and the stories that are created, but it truly is a blessing!