K. Ancrum

Best friends August and Jack struggle to cope as one spirals into madness.

The Wicker King

The Wicker King is a psychological young adult thriller that follows two friends struggling as one spirals into madness. 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. An Imprint Book “Ancrum delves into the blurry space between reality and madness. A haunting and provocative read that will keep teens riveted.” —School Library Journal “Teen fans of moody psychological horror will be entranced.” —Booklist “Give this to readers who like complex, experimental fictions about intense relationships that acquire mythic resonance.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books “An eerie piece of realistic fiction whose characters revel in intense emotions.” —Kirkus Reviews “An eerie and mesmerizing thriller that questions the space where reality and perception overlap, The Wicker King is a spine-tingling read that will have you riveted.” —Caleb Roerhrig, author of Last Seen Leaving and White Rabbit

Mari

Caroline Williams

This ripped my heart out and I was NOT expecting that.

kelsey

“how do you live like this?” “where we are, it is light. from where i’m standing…it is warm enough.”

so, i read this book all in one sitting, and it absolutely  wrecked  me. i want to go into clinical psychology and this book was a reminder of kids, well they're basically my age, but still of people I want to help. people that feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders and they don't know what else to do, or just people that are alone and have no one else to turn to. it reminded me of that.

i wanted to talk more about the mental health representation in this book. jack is suffering from a hallucinative degenerative disorder; august by the end of the book definitely has anxiety from thinking he is responsible for his mom and jack and possibly ptsd from all the stress of trying to complete the quest.

but, the most important message of the whole book, to me, is 
  getting help does not mean you are weak
.

the majority of the book august takes cares of jack and his mom. it's just what he's always done. but, it starts taking a major toll on him when jack gets worse and worse. he refuses to ask or get jack help. no matter who tells him. the help is forced on him, then he learns about the tumor that caused jack's disorder and how if they didn't catch it soon his disorder would be permanent and he'd get worse. from there he realizes if he would've gotten help, they wouldn't be in any of this mess.

so important lesson learned, getting help is okay, no one will think lesser of you.

also, the relationship between jack and august is nothing i've seen before. i mean, it's (spoiler) best friends to lovers, but jack is kind of possessive over august, but it's mostly due to this fantasy world that's in his head.

but their love for each other is beautifully crafted. jack has been in love with august for a long time, since before his mental illness becomes more and more prominent, as told here:

 “how long have you been waiting for me?” the words tore themselves roughly from his throat. 
jack closed his eyes and hung his head in despair. it had been before all of this, then. maybe even earlier. 

jack waited for him, waited for august to love him back. maybe he couldn't stand to fall out of love with him, or he knew he couldn't love anyone else.

but god, that declaration of love from jack, it brought tears to my eyes.

 “i love you and we don’t need the other world to keep that. it’s just true,” he said. “it always has been. in this world and the next. they could take everything away and leave us with nothing, and i would still love you.” 

one last thing, the only constant between what jack saw and what was real, was august. and  oh my god  it just makes me feel things.

this book was too good to put down. definitely deserves a 4 star rating.

Lila Roberts

** spoiler alert **
           hoooooooly shit, im actually like speechless at how good this book was, read it one sitting, could quite literally not put it down. the whole thing being a story about love and mental health and what you would do for the person you care about most WHILE ALSO BEING A KID LIKE HOLY SHIT. I totally thought this was going to be some YA magical realism type of book but it was so much better. K. ANCRUM YOU HAVE A NEW FAN OVER HERE OMG !!!

Dani

Review to come but: wholesome, codependent boys with a penchant for trouble? Sign me tf up. I adored every bit of it and read it in one afternoon. Jack Rossi you soft beautiful boy. 4.5 stars.

2024 is the year of codependent - life changing friendships for me actually,

envie,

Geoffrey Froggatt

This book feels personal to me especially after I was diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia. The Wicker King is a psychological young adult thriller that follows two friends struggling as one spirals into madness. 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. This book reminds me of one of my favorite indie horror movies, They Look Like People, in the sense that it is about two boys who reunite and find solace in each other as one of them spirals into madness, later revealed to be mental illness. Content warning for mental illness, forced institutionalization, toxic relationship, child abuse, panic attacks and homophobia. I loved the depiction of both characters, and the exploration of a toxic relationship that is detrimental to one’s mental health. I read this physically and my copy of the book had white pages that slowly became black, which really added to the story and atmosphere. I loved that the relationship that the two boys have is queer coded but the story remains centered in their toxic friendship. I felt like a lesser book would have focused on a romantic relationship that spiraled and it wouldn’t have had the same effect as this book had on me. I do feel like a lot of modern audiences wouldn’t understand or appreciate this book if they hadn’t experienced mental illness themselves or if someone they loved didn’t. I highly recommend this book for people who have gone through this or if someone you love has, as I feel like it gave a realistic depiction of someone spiraling and someone exacerbating another person’s mental illness. I found the ending to be realistic. I really admire the author for writing about a sensitive and tough subject for a younger intended audience.

Magdalena Oßenberg

This is the first english book I bought for myself about three years ago and rereading it made me feel some sort of nostalgia.
It is a great dark and thrilling young-adult book and I really enjoyed it. Both times.
So I can olny recommend this book, especially to those who love dark and twisted stories.

Nessa Luna

Oof. I read so many raving reviews about this book, heard so many people say it was absolutely amazing... But I just did not like this book. I wasn't a fan of August or Jack as characters and the story just felt like a jumble with the super short chapters. Normally, I really like short chapters, but this just felt like the story was all over the place. I will still check out K. Ancrum's other books (and I do also have the novella that goes with this book, so I might read that right now), but unfortunately, The Wicker King just wasn't my favourite.

Alexa M

3.5
this was entertaining and a quick read but i didnt get much out of it!

Aishling

I think I’d rate this a 3.5 stars. 
I just finished it so I’m still trying to process my thoughts and feelings on it. I enjoyed it but it didn’t live up to the hype I’d created myself over it.
I wish there was more after the end of the book, I’d like to know what happened and how they lived after everything.

a solid four. no less, no more. basically the raven cycle meets these violent delights.

Lorelei Petcu

The Wicker King just...completely messed me up. It feels like I got nothing out of it and like I got the whole world out of it, at the same time. 

This book is important and raw and probably one of the most real books I’ve ever read, even if half of it happens in an imaginary world. 

This book didn’t make me cry and it didn’t make me smile. It made me think and, most importantly, it made me look inside myself.

I had a lot of trouble connecting with the writing. I had also struggled with The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum, so I know now that her writing style is not for me. The chapters are very brief and feel like vignettes. The writing style is choppy.

Unfortunately, I also did not enjoy the relationship in this book, which happened to be the central narrative. August and Jack have a very unhealthy and codependent relationship. August is overly devoted to Jack and also enables and excuses his bad behavior. Jack is more than happy to let August fawn over him and allow him to put himself into danger for him. 

I found it strange how August was so focused on Jack all the time and then randomly there were scenes of him sleeping with Gordie and Rina. Rina, in general, seemed tacked on to their dynamic and I struggled to see why she was even there. At first she didn't even want anything to do with them but then she was totally fine with letting them have access to her apartment when she wasn't even home. 

I also found it unrealistic that August and Jack were ordered to not be near each other but then put into the same facility. It would have been so easy to keep them apart had they just been put in different places. The therapist helping them see each other was pretty unbelievable. August even successfully getting an insanity plea in the first place made no sense. One psychologist hired by the prosecution could have easily stopped that. I just found so many things to be implausible about the entire scenario. 

The mixed media was a nice touch. I do wish it was better incorporated into the story, though. I read the book physically and audibly at the same time. I had to pause the audiobook for all but one of the mixed media elements because they were completely missing from the audiobook.

I didn't hate this book but I didn't particularly like it, either. I was intrigued and interested at some parts, but the writing and the characters made it hard for me to enjoy most of the story. 

Kayla

I had a lot of trouble connecting with the writing. I had also struggled with The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum, so I know now that her writing style is not for me. The chapters are very brief and feel like vignettes. The writing style is choppy.

Unfortunately, I also did not enjoy the relationship in this book, which happened to be the central narrative. August and Jack have a very unhealthy and codependent relationship. August is overly devoted to Jack and also enables and excuses his bad behavior. Jack is more than happy to let August fawn over him and allow him to put himself into danger for him. 

I found it strange how August was so focused on Jack all the time and then randomly there were scenes of him sleeping with Gordie and Rina. Rina, in general, seemed tacked on to their dynamic and I struggled to see why she was even there. At first she didn't even want anything to do with them but then she was totally fine with letting them have access to her apartment when she wasn't even home. 

I also found it unrealistic that August and Jack were ordered to not be near each other but then put into the same facility. It would have been so easy to keep them apart had they just been put in different places. The therapist helping them see each other was pretty unbelievable. August even successfully getting an insanity plea in the first place made no sense. One psychologist hired by the prosecution could have easily stopped that. I just found so many things to be implausible about the entire scenario. 

The mixed media was a nice touch. I do wish it was better incorporated into the story, though. I read the book physically and audibly at the same time. I had to pause the audiobook for all but one of the mixed media elements because they were completely missing from the audiobook.

I didn't hate this book but I didn't particularly like it, either. I was intrigued and interested at some parts, but the writing and the characters made it hard for me to enjoy most of the story. 

Leonor Ribeiro 

Everything “Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe” wish it could be. Absolutely breathtaking.

Callisone Dozier

This book was amazing. The writing was beautiful and the prose was raw and real. Plus the 1st the pages became rough and dirty, sometimes I had to too the book closer to the lamp just read the words, it was amazing. The dark the pages, the dark the story. It was an amazing way to bring the reader into the desperation and madness.

marilynn

ruined my life and turned me homophobic i hate gay people

Akansha

Tw: Anxiety, Panic attack, PTSD, Depression, Parental neglect, Degenerative Hallucinatory Disorder, codependency, Pyromania

Two kids who were neglected so much that they started being there for each other in whatever way the other one needs. This book is so heavy on triggers so if you read it please be very sure you can sit through it. 

In the authors note, Ancrum mentions "Now, August and Jack are fictional. They wind up okay in the end. They’ll learn how to love each other with fingertips, instead of claws. They will build a home and a life together, and there they will heal and grow." Yes they will but I hope everyone who had to go through anything remotely similar heals as well.

The Wicker King is a psychological young adult thriller that follows two friends struggling as one spirals into madness. "An eerie and mesmerizing thriller that questions the space where reality and perception overlap, The Wicker King is a spine-tingling read that will have you riveted." —Caleb Roerhrig, author of Last Seen Leaving and White Rabbit 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. An Imprint Book Praise for The Wicker King: "An eerie piece of realistic fiction whose characters revel in intense emotions . . . . A haunting story that bravely explores friendship and mental illness." —Kirkus Reviews "Reluctant reader—friendly flash fiction and packs a punch despite its brevity. . . . Like Libba Bray's Going Bovine, Ancrum delves into the blurry space between reality and madness. . . . A haunting and provocative read that will keep teens riveted." —School Library Journal "A haunting story that bravely explores friendship and mental illness." —Kirkus Reviews "An eerie and mesmerizing thriller that questions the space where reality and perception overlap, The Wicker King is a spine-tingling read that will have you riveted." —Caleb Roerhrig, author of Last Seen Leaving and White Rabbit

Flavia Louise

the reread didn't help. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I will get rid of the book.

Christian Huss

Tiffany Robinson

I thought this book was so good! I really liked the mixed media aspect of the story and how the pages went from white to black as the story progressed. I thought it brought another dimension to the story.

Candyce Kirk

Wow! This book was a lot different than I expected, but all I can say now is wow. Full review to follow soon!

Antonia Sonntag 

4.5 stars
This may have been the first time an author's note made me cry?

So this took me a little while to get into, this is very much the kind of book in which the most important things happen between the lines, so while the writing was addictive from the start it took a bit for the emotional impact to truly take hold.

This was weird and it hurt and I loved it.

Juliette Raven 

I really don't know what to say I really enjoyed it the different formats, the characters, the relationships, how mental and physical health is tackled.

How far can imagination travel, that was a book to read!

Carmen Hew

I just- wow. I flew through this and my whole reading experience was really emotionally charged. I ugly cried, felt despair, and just, learned more about myself through August's pain. 

I wish I could gift my younger self this book and tell her that she's not alone and that she need not hold all the burden on her own.

The Wicker King

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