Wild Beauty: An Enchanted Garden You Would Want To Discover

Having read and loved Miss Meteor – a magical novel Anna Marie McLemore co-wrote with Tehlor Kay Mejia, I immediately picked up her next book Wild Beauty, and it did not disappoint! Filled with fairytale tropes like family curses, enchanted gardens, and forbidden love-along with an appropriately modern exploration of sexuality and love in today’s society-this fantasy novel is a great choice for anyone searching for their next great read.

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Wild Beauty Synopsis

For years, an enchanted garden called La Pradera has been tended to by generations of Nemeolvides-women who only bear five daughters. They have been trapped inside these gardens for years, and have a tragic habit of making their lovers vanish.

Wild Beauty follows the five latest Nemeolvides who all fall in love with Bay Friar, a charming maiden they’ve grown up with. Afraid that she’ll disappear, each of them have offered her their most prized possession in exchange for her protection from their curse.

One day, the Nemeolvide named Estrella comes across a strange boy named Fel who’s wandered out of the garden. The stranger has no memory of his name or past but he immediately feels at home in the garden, as though he belongs to this enchanted place. For generations, the garden has never done anything even remotely like this. Could this be the miracle that they’ve been waiting for? Could this boy bring back each of their lost lovers?

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Wild Beauty: A Fantastical Romp

A lot of fantasy or magical realism novels use magical settings as literal places for a story to take place but Wild Beauty takes a slightly different path. La Pradera-the garden-starts off as a more ambiguous setting. It is described as an enchanted garden full of different flowers adored by guests around the world. So what makes La Pradera specifically unique?

“We made it our home,” Estrella said. “So now we live here.”

The setting itself has a personality of its own. The stories explained throughout the course of the novel about how it first came into being is fascinating. I was also intrigued about the fact that this garden was the place the Briars used to banish relatives that they wanted out of their way.

McLemore made use of vivid descriptions and rich imagery to make readers feel as if they were in the enchanted garden along with its characters. It’s been so long since I was transported to something that truly felt like a magical realm.

Because of the writing style, there were a few times where I found that I couldn’t grasp the information being provided without finishing a full chapter. I found myself having a bit of a struggle for the first 3 chapters, but adjusted to the narrative style over time and found myself rather enjoying it. That kind of plot device suited the story well.

The magical setting really aided in highlighting the dynamics of the characters in Wild Beauty. I loved how once they were properly fleshed out, the story just fell into place. The dialogue between characters was natural and smooth, which helped greatly in the overall flow of the storyline and added an element of realism to an otherwise unbelievable story.

Nemeolvides Women

The Nemeolvides had experienced quite a few hardships in the supposedly safe haven of La Pradera. They spent their lives believing that they owed the place their whole life but in reality, both the garden and women worked hard to nurture one another. The garden gave them a home in a world where they were treated as daughters of demons or witches. In return, they helped the garden to flourish.

“Maybe that’s why it wants to keep you. Because you make it beautiful.”

Matriarchal structures where strong women are raised by other strong women was evident which is really familiar to many Latinx people. This element added a deeper layer to the story. Readers can see how these women love one another regardless of their situation.

This in turn explained why they were so willing to accept Fel in their lives. The true identity of Fel was only discovered by chance, when the Nemeolvides found an embroidered design in his clothes which had the letters F-e-l embroidered. His existence became more justified as the story progressed by showing how he recognized little things in the garden. I loved this aspect of the story, which allowed so much of the setting to take center stage without de-valuing the overarching plotline.

I felt the warmth and hospitality of La Pradera, which was reflected by the women taking such good care of Fel. One aspect that wasn’t quite as apparent was the depth of their curse-until the story told me so I wouldn’t have realized its severity on my own. It was then that I truly felt pity for them for having to go through something they had no chance against.

Final Thoughts

Have you ever been in an enchanted garden? It felt pretty great to explore the magical garden of La Pradera. Wild Beauty surprised me with its luscious setting, well-thought out characters, memorable personal conversations, and heartwarming realizations books often exclude.