In M. L. Blackbird’s A WISH TOO DARK AND KIND, a handful of immortals scattered across the globe each receive an invitation to a party hosted by a wizard, Arnaud Demeure, who can grant their truest wish, and, of course, they each accept. From magick schoolteacher witch Alex to lonely werewolf Daniel to gentleman spy Leto, each immortal person has their own secret motivation for attending the party and their own hidden past relationship with Demeure. When they arrive at Demeure’s labyrinthine palace, they are thrust into an Agatha Christie-like mystery fueled by Demeure’s cryptic intentions and his drive to perform a dark ritual. Traveling through the rooms of his palace and experiencing the nightmares he can make the visitors see in their minds, the group of eight immortal beings—each with their own unique magic abilities—must work to stop Demeure from fulfilling his dangerous goal and discern which one of them is secretly working with him.
A WISH TOO DARK AND KIND merges genres with elements of dark fantasy, a closed-room mystery, and a horror novel. The teacher character Alex describes the story’s unique system of magick in depth to a questioning character so that the audience may learn and understand it alongside him. One character’s ability to remove her eyeballs—another growing in its place—and to place them in walls to spy on people is an example of the fun, provocative body horror present in the book that both builds on character and forwards the plot. However, the number of characters tend to overwhelm the text. Some are more fully realized, and because there are so many individuals, those with less developed personalities and those with fewer appearances can get lost in the shuffle. Alex’s abrasive snarkiness, stubborn attitude, and frequent presence makes her a strong leader in the story, and Daniel’s angst makes him likable, while Celeste and Ioan are provided little time to reveal their personalities. The most successful characters are deeply layered and possess gray morals that make the book’s progression more interesting as secrets are exposed.
The book’s plot is as labyrinthine as Demeure’s perplexing palace because of the complexity of the characters’ backgrounds and relationships. While Blackbird’s expressive writing style uses eloquent language with precise word choice to depict the characters’ compelling actions, their reasons for these actions feels elusive. Their story is layered with journal entries Demeure wrote throughout history, telling his own complex, emotionally wrought story, which provides a captivating structure to the book but interrupts the already busy plot.
M. L. Blackbird’s ambitious dark fantasy A WISH TOO DARK AND KIND has a strong voice and a provocative structure, but too many characters with too complex backstories make the plot sometimes difficult to grasp.
~Aimee Jodoin for IndieReader