The Way By | By Holly Walters

My thoughts

Narrative and Plot

The Way By has a unique style of narration that feels similar to that of a fairy tale. Given the nature of the story, this is intentional and justifiable. However, there are also many long, abstract passages that didn’t hold my attention for very long.

There are a lot of amazing ideas in the story. The freestyle world-building is left open to the reader’s imagination, yet it is described with meticulous detail. The way each thread of The Way By and The Stumble slowly progresses and connects was quite the journey. However, the pacing was too slow in the first half and only picked up in the second half. Once it gained momentum, the plot became much stronger.

Characters and Conflicts

We have our own set of “chosen ones.” However, if I’m being honest, I only really cared about the characters introduced initially—Alice, Madam Bel Carmen, and, of course, the Waysmith. The others were introduced much later in the story. While these later characters were vibrant and took center stage in the latter half, they overshadowed the primary characters with whom we spent a considerable amount of time in the beginning.

The fantastical elements and The Way By journey itself feel like an abstract experience that may or may not take place in an imagined world of our own making. However, after a certain point, the abstract concepts and allegories started to pull me out of the story. Perhaps this was because I was reading the book on a deadline, or maybe it’s because I didn’t want to focus so much on grasping complex ideas while reading a fictional novel.

This story might be more suitable for advanced high fantasy readers. While I am an avid fantasy fan, I haven’t read too many adult fantasies to confidently comment on that. As a layman, however, many of the ideas in The Way By remained abstract until the very end.

Conclusion

The Way By was a one-time read for me. However, I would still recommend this book to readers who enjoy high fantasy with abstract and mystical elements. It is refreshing, entertaining, and philosophical all at once.

About the Author

Disclaimer : I received an EBook in exchange for an honest review for TheWriteReads blog tour.