Colin Meloy

Carson Ellis

Under Wildwood

Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. And then things get really weird. You see, on every map of Portland, Oregon, there is a big splotch of green on the edge of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it. And this is where the crows take her brother. So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood. Wildwood is a spellbinding tale full of wonder, danger, and magic that juxtaposes the thrill of a secret world and modern city life. Original and fresh yet steeped in classic fantasy, this is a novel that could have only come from the imagination of Colin Meloy, celebrated for his inventive and fantastic storytelling as the lead singer of the Decemberists. With dozens of intricate and beautiful illustrations by award-winning artist Carson Ellis, Wildwood is truly a new classic for the twenty-first century.

The Wildwood Chronicles

Wildwood

A sweet, Narnian adventure. As an adult familiar with the tropes, it felt long-winded at times, but I look forward to sharing with my niblings. 

Emiley Jones

Rich

It was a great story and alot like narnia. It took a while for me to finish it
But I really enjoyed it. My favorite character(s)
Were the Bandits. It would probably be a book
For ten years and older.

Lauren Tabor

I'm having a really hard time rating this one, initially I gave it a 3 star rating but I think I want to give it less. There were some big things I really disliked in this book but there were a couple of things I really liked. So I might have to sit on it a little bit. 
My absolute favorite thing about this book is the artwork. I think this is some of the best art and art that I have loved the most in a book, I wish the whole thing was a picture book and we could've forgotten the story part. The story itself was whimsical and fun and magical. I also enjoyed that it was set where I live. But the good things end there. 
Honestly I felt like it was a rip off of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This book is so aesthetically beautiful that it was easy for me to pretend that I was loving this the whole time. But this was over 500 pages of nothing. The story was there, but it was swallowed by useless descriptions. The descriptions were incredibly lengthy for no apparent reason, it really took away from the actual story. It really could have and should have been 300 pages less and it would've been way better. For being a middle grade book this had a ton of big words that I didn't even know the meaning of and quite lofty writing for 12 year olds. It was just too much. At the halfway point I wanted to give up, but because I've had this on my shelf for years and I've always looked at it and thought it was so beautiful that I could've give up on it. Honestly, the last half I mostly skimmed. Like I said there were paragraphs after paragraphs just describing things and it was all just way too much. I really thought going into this it would've be something I loved just based on the art (obviously judging a book by its cover really messed me up this time lol). 
Prue's parents were actually the worst. They let their 12 year old daughter just go all over town on 'adventures' with their BABY. She put him in a wagon and carted him all over the place, she would just leave notes telling her parents she took Mac and they went on an adventure and they never batted an eye. First of all, it was like they didn't care about him at all, and second of all they're from the city and it's not safe for a 12 year old girl and her baby brother to be running around all over the place. They were totally uninvolved in everything. This whole thing was their fault and they didn't even try to help fix it. 
I'm sure other people would love this and I applaud you if you're one of them, but it's just not for me.

Nadine 

The good - could consider the whole book as an extended vocabulary lesson of adjectives piled one on top of the other. Some kids seems to enjoy it.
Meh? What do you get when you cross narnia with Ruppunzil with every anthropomorphic tale since and before and between. 
It was long, very long. And the audiobook version is read by Amanda Plummer who must have the most annoying voice ever for listening to at any speed from 1x to 1.75x nothing sounded good

Jason Porterfield

I had pretty high hopes for this book, being a fan of Mr. Meloy's work with the Decemberists. While he has a lively imagination and a pretty good feel for creating characters and writing dialogue, he leans a bit heavily on familiar fantasy tropes. I could look past that were it not for his use of the English language. Meloy's a smart guy and he knows a lot of words. Unfortunately, he tries to fit them all into this book, sometimes in structures that simply don't work. For instance, the use of the phrase "vastly dominant" to describe an army on the cusp of victory, or a main character falling into an "immediate slumber." Usages like that are strewn throughout the book and were nearly enough to make me put it down unfinished. Vivid descriptions are great, but in many cases he just clogs the text with adjectives and adverbs that do little more than slow the pace. I probably won't seek out the rest of the series.

Pela Kolsto

Amazing. Absolutely superb. The words inspired me and gave feeling. A great read! Can't wait to read the next book!

Laurel Ann Smith

4.5 stars! It was a bit slow for me to care about the characters even though I really liked them from the beginning, but once I was deeper into the story, I fell into an autumnal, magical world! I thoroughly enjoyed this read and will definitely read the next in the trilogy.

Jade Flynn

Read for my Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L 2019 (read a book with a land animal on the cover). It could've been a hundred pages shorter but it's such a joyous read that's full of bureaucrats, Bandit Kings, talking animals, friendship and whimsy.

"Prue and Curtis are thrown together again to save themselves and the lives of their friends, and to bring unity to the divided country of Wildwood"--

A worthy sequel to Wildwood that sets up the story line for the final instalment, I wish I could frame some of the illustrations.

When her baby brother is kidnapped by crows, Prue McKeel begins an adventure that will take her and her friend Curtis way beyond her hometown and deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peace-loving mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. What begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood. Wildwood is a spellbinding tale full of wonder, danger and magic. It combines the thrill of a secret world and the buzz of modern city life. Original and fresh, yet steeped in classic fantasy, this is a novel that could have only come from the imagination of Colin Meloy, celebrated for his inventive and fantastic storytelling as the lead singer and songwriter of The Decemberists. With dozens of intricate and beautiful illustrations by award-winning artist Carson Ellis, Wildwood is truly a new classic for the twenty-first century.

Stephanie Haynes

Meh. Not great, not terrible. The writing was nice but the story didn't do much for me.

Kevin S Perrine

Edyta

November 2020 
We had to stop reading this book because it's too scary for A.

I'm reading this engaging story with Artemis in the evenings. I'm looking forward to the next two books.

Francisca Rubio Wenk

ℰ.

Grace Elizabeth

Clair High

Nick Truden

Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. That is, until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one's ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it. So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Under Wildwood

Reviews