Early Review: A Wicked and Beautiful Garden (Witches of the Island #1)

A Wicked and Beautiful Garden (Witches of the Island #1)
By Katie McGarry

Publication Date: May 5, 2021
Date Read: May 2, 2021
Genre: Adult – Paranormal Romance
Source: eARC from Katie McGarry
Format: E-Book
Pages: 308

From Goodreads:
Twenty-eight year-old Cassie Strega can’t escape fate.

All she wants is to live a normal, quiet life delivering the babies in her small town. But when she discovers she comes from a lineage of witches, her life becomes extraordinary—in the gravely dangerous type of way.

Then, she’s reunited with her first love.

Orion, the sultry Fae warrior who broke her heart years before, is searching for a baby. Not just any baby, but the queen of the Fae who will one day lead them in their final battle against the demons determined to rule the world. The same baby who has been calling to Cassie for help in her dreams.

Fighting the intense attraction of their former blood bond, Cassie and Orion work together to find the child. But when the heartbreak that nearly destroyed Cassie nine years before looms once more, she’ll have to decide whether getting involved in the supernatural war is worth losing everything, including her life.

“You are the most important being in my world, Cass. I’ll move heaven and hell for you in a heartbeat.”

I was so incredibly excited to hear about A Wicked and Beautiful Garden. I have been a huge fan of Katie McGarry for so many years. From back when she published her first YA Contemporary Pushing the Limits I have been a huge fan and read pretty much everything she has published to date. Pushing the Limits is still one of my all time favourite books and one I re-read often. As fantasy is my all time favourite genre I was so excited to see her take on a paranormal/fantasy tale. I so wanted to love this book… so much! I really wish I could say this one blew me away, but it didn’t. I did enjoy it but something just fell a little bit flat for me.

A Wicked and Beautiful Garden follows Cassie, a midwife and nurse living in a very small town. She seems to have a special sense and can sense certain things about her patients. Suddenly she discovers not only is she a witch, but everyone knows and they are on a witch hunt. She is suddenly put in the protection of the Fae Warrior who broke her heart ten years ago. They must work together to find the baby that will become the Fae Queen. But can she do it while protecting her heart and her life?

This book has an amazing premise and I actually really loved the action and the plot of this book. It was really intriguing from the start and I was so hooked and curious as to what was going to happen. It has such a strong start and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen. I loved the concept of the fae and the witches and there possibly being other creatures in our normal world that we just weren’t aware of yet. I loved the aspect of people just waking up one day and knowing that Fae or Witches existed and nobody really knowing why. One thing Katie did a phenomenal job of was showing prejudice against these creatures. It was really symbolic of real world issues and I think she portrayed that wonderfully.

The thing that fell flat for me in this book was the romance. I just didn’t ‘feel’ it. This is a second chance romance and I have to say this is not a trope that I read a lot. I can’t even think of another second chance romance that I have read. I just felt like I was being told about these feelings and this epic romance rather than being shown it. I didn’t really believe the relationship and I didn’t get swept up in the romance like I usually do. I know I should compare as it’s totally different but if you take Katie’s debut Pushing the Limits I felt so much for those characters, I loved them and I felt every emotion that they did… with this one I just… didn’t. I didn’t feel like I could connect with the characters and even when there was swoon worthy moments they just didn’t feel authentic to me. Instead of feeling them all and swooning like usual I was just like… oh, cute.

As the romance kicked in mid way through the book I began to grow bored and lose interest a little. I pushed through and I am glad that I did as I do really like this plot and I will definitely read the next book. It just fell a little bit flat from what I was expecting. I’m hoping this changes in book 2. Maybe it was just me and I wasn’t in the mood for this kind of read. I will definitely be reading this one again to see if my feelings towards it change. It has an amazing premise and I have high hopes for the next book but unfortunately I just ended up feeling a little bit deflated.

“I love you, Cassie. I never stopped. You’re a part of my soul.”

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