Frances, the ward of the King’s wizard, Billington, teeters between the privilege of the higher society surrounding her whilst also holding the fatal secret of her origin. In a land where each of the four prevalent species–mortal, witch, elf, and mer–have blood exclusive to their kind, Frances’s blood is gray. With the King outlawing and hunting gray bloods, this secret sets her apart and casts her down from those seemingly her peers.
Started Reading – May 1, 2022
Finished Reading – May 30, 2022
Rating: 3.5 stars!
When her mentor disappears under mysterious circumstances, Frances bands together with her estranged friend and previous romantic entanglement, X, and traverses the land of Vale on a long journey. On the way, she makes friends, foes, and recognizes the truer nature of the company she keeps along the way.
The prose is solid and compelling, works well in its job to illustrate the story, and is one of the highlights for me. It holds the reader’s attention with medium to fast pacing, and the world-building and magic systems are well-developed too.
While Frances aligns with the “Chosen One” type main character, this doesn’t detract from her position and suitability as a good protagonist. Her struggles are clear and relatable. She takes initiative in a time and place where she is treated as inferior and simplified into a figure rather than a whole, unique person by those she holds closest to.
On top of this, the other characters introduced throughout the story have enough substance that they too are intriguing, and will hopefully get to blossom further in later installments. I’d love to explore more into each of the Rottontoes and see their development. Outside of Frances, Ezrah and Cornelia were the characters that drew me in most, particularly more so than X (who has quite the character arc).
The Wizard’s Ward is a well-done young adult fantasy novel and definitely worth a read for fans of the genre, with its strongest qualities laying in the writing and all of Vale’s potential for future installments.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!
Have you read, or do you plan on reading The Wizard’s Ward by Jules McAleese? Did you like it? Why, or why not? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
Little Bit of All That 
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[…] one of the few high fantasies I’ve read this year not penned by Leigh Bardugo, I found the prose in this novel delectably descriptive, and the setting and magic system charming […]
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