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Book: “A Land So Wide” by Erin A. Craig
Publishing Info: Pantheon, September 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious Scottish lumber merchant, the tiny town on the edge of the American continent is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever.
Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Swiftly realizing that the stories she was raised on might be more myth than fact, Greer figures out a way to escape Mistaken for the very first time. Determined to rescue Ellis, she begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But Greer is being hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding, as well as her own origins.
Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: a stunning celebration of one woman’s relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love—and claim her own future.
Review: I haven’t read many books by this author, but the one I did read I absolutely loved (“The Thirteenth Child”). While that book was particularly up my alley with its original fairytale feeling, the writing throughout was incredibly strong and I loved the romantic subplot. This all being the case, I was super excited to check out the latest book by Craig coming out this fall, especially since it was her adult debut!
Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. Which is pretty surprising, because looking at the book description, this one definitely should be for me! However, there were some important factors not included in the book description that really played with my expectations vs. reality. Let’s start with some positives though! Overall, I still found the quality of the writing itself very good. The prologue was fire and perfectly set up this creepy woods and the claustrophobia of the village and its people now trapped within it, essentially. As the story expanded, I enjoyed a lot of what we learned about this world itself and the beings who inhabited it. Some of these twists were definitely not of the sort that I expected (the types of magical beings, especially), but I was happy enough to go along with it, as I thought the interpretation here was interesting.
However, I really struggled with both the romance and the main character. Like I said, the prologue was excellent, and after that strong start, I went in to the main plot of the story with high expectations. The prologue was mature, dark, and epic, setting up what I thought would be an excellent adult fantasy novel. However, the very next chapter when we meet the main character and are introduced to the current time and cast of characters, I immediately had concerns.
Gone was that adult voice. Instead, while I was told that Greer was in her late 20s, she immediately read as a teenager. Her thoughts, actions, and dialogue all read as incredibly immature, and I really struggled to take her seriously as an adult woman. I get that part of her arc is that she is rather naive to start with, but this felt like more than naivety and really just like she was a teenager instead. Perhaps if I had been primed for a YA fantasy story, this might have bothered me less. But I can’t even say that for sure, as much of what Greer was saying and thinking would have been fairly immature and annoying even in a teen book. I know this is Craig’s debut with an adult book, but I’m struggling to see what changes were made to this text to age it up from her typical YA books.
The pacing was also fairly slow. On one hand, I don’t mind slower books, but, like I said, there was a mismatch between the book description and reality. In that, the book summary emphasizes Ellis’s disappearance into the forest and Greer’s subsequent quest to find him. It makes it sounds like these events happen early, with the main focus of the text centering around Greer’s time looking for him. Instead, this event doesn’t even take place until nearly halfway through the book! Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own, but some readers may find themselves frustrated, having picked up a book marketed as one woman’s quest only to find that that story is only the last half of this entire book.
Lastly, there was a love triangle introduced out of nowhere. And man, did I hate it. Obviously, it’s well-document that I don’t enjoy love triangles. But this one felt egregious, in that I felt like the entire romantic rug was pulled out from under me. Again, the story is set up to be Greer’s quest to find and save the man she loves! And much of the first half of the book is devoted to the foundations of this relationship. And then, randomly, this second love interest is introduced, completely undercutting the romance and love story of the first relationship, the one that is meant to serve as the core of the book plot that was advertised to me in the first place. Beyond that, there were some weird dynamics in this second relationship that I didn’t particularly enjoy. In the end, by the time I got to the end, I was less invested in the love story than I had been at the start. And that’s never what you want.
So, yeah. Unfortunately, this one was a pretty big whiff for me. I know that Craig is a talented author, so I’m not quite sure what happened here. Part of me wants to blame this on her shift to adult fantasy, that perhaps she took the wrong lessons to heart when trying to make this jump. Adding a love triangle and minor amounts of spice isn’t what’s important to adult fantasy. Instead, your characters have to…you know…read like adults. Fans of this author may still want to check this one out, especially if you enjoy love triangles. But I don’t think this one quite hit the target it was aiming for.
Rating 6: An unfortunate love triangle and a main character who read as much younger than her years really tanked this one for me.
Reader’s Advisory:
“A Land So Wide” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2025.
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