Book Review: A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig
Release Day September 9, 2025
Release Date: September 9, 2025
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Spice Level: 1.5 out of 5
Cover Grade: A
A LAND SO WIDE by Erin A. Craig is about Mistaken, a village high north in the cold and the wild. Mistake’s residents are both cursed and blessed, surrounded by Warding Stones that protect them from deadly creatures. Some natural and some unnatural. The nightmarish Bright-Eyeds are repelled by the wards, and the dark nights are safe for the people trapped inside.
Greer stands out in town as unusual; she has strange talents and maps the woods during the day. She dreams of exploring beyond the pull of her prison. The only thing she loves about Mistaken is Ellis, her chosen love. But when the day comes for their joining, Ellis somehow walks beyond the Warding Stones after sunset.
Devastated and confused, she watches one of the Bright-Eyed pursue him, and she is determined to save him and bring him back. Greer finds a way to break free and heads into the wilderness, defying her father’s wishes, facing shocking truths the deeper she travels.
Verdict:
Haunting! Erin A. Craig depicts a tangible, vibrantly dark world that is as beautiful as it is treacherous. A complexly romantic tale of love, loss, and fighting for your own purpose. This unearthly folktale was hard to put down; I could feel the pull and push of its magic. Has become one of my new favorites. (9.5/10)
Thank you, Pantheon, Penguin Random House, and Erin A. Craig. I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Similar Titles:
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill - 🎧
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 🎧
Other Books by Erin A. Craig:
House of Salt and Sorrows - 🎧
House of Roots and Ruin - 🎧
From the Publisher:
Publisher: Pantheon/Penguin Random House
Hardcover 368 pages
Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
Fiction / Fantasy / Romance
Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
Description:
Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village 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. Determined to rescue Ellis, she figures out a way to defy Mistaken’s curse and begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But there, Greer is hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding and 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 seize her own future.
Author Bio:
#1 New York Times best-selling author Erin A. Craig has always loved telling stories. After getting her B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, in Theatre Design and Production, she stage managed tragic operas with hunchbacks, séances, and murderous clowns, then decided she wanted to write books that were just as spooky. An avid reader, decent quilter, rabid basketball fan, and collector of typewriters, brass figurines, and sparkly shoes, Erin makes her home in West Michigan with her husband and daughter.
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