cornerfolds
Written on Jul 16, 2020
Written in vivid micro fiction with a stream of consciousness feel and multimedia elements, The Wicker King explores a codependent friendship fraught with madness, love, and darkness.
When August learns that his best friend, Jack, shows signs of degenerative hallucinatory disorder, he is determined to help Jack cope. Jack’s vivid and long-term visions take the form of an elaborate fantasy world layered over our own - a world ruled by the Wicker King. As Jack leads them on a quest to fulfill a dark prophecy in this alternate world, even August begins to question what is real and what is not.
August and Jack struggle to keep afloat as they teeter between fantasy and their own emotions. In the end, each must choose his own truth.
- ISBN10 1250101557
- ISBN13 9781250101556
- Publish Date 1 November 2018 (first published 31 October 2017)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 5 April 2024
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Square Fish
- Format Paperback
- Pages 336
- Language English
Reviews
roundtableknight
Written on May 18, 2020
~
What I expected from this book: mental health issues, maybe some angst (maybe a happy ending).
What I got: a heart wrenching story of two broken boys who only have each other, and try to make due as their world falls apart.
I ordered this book from my library on a whim due to a recommendation I had from someone, and so my knowledge of the context of this book was next to none besides the synopsis given. This book isn't terrible complex, but what it doesn't have in complexity it makes up for fully in emotional anguish. Jack is one of the main characters, but you never get to see his point of view; you see instead August's, his best friend, point of view as the story goes on and the danger of the situation gets progressively worse. And because of that, you get to essentially see both characters. August knows Jack so well that it feels like what is happening to him we see through August, as well as learning about August's own troubles and past.
The ending of the novel had me scrambling for context of what was going to play out between the two boys and their imaginary world. I won't spoil anything, but it was amazing. The only reason that this doesn't get a five star review is due to the limited knowledge we actually have of not only the side characters, but also the August and Jack. I wish it could have gone into more detail, and I felt like some friendships were rushed. But other than that, it was an amazing read.
bookperson
Written on Jan 4, 2020
moraa
Written on Dec 26, 2019
I'm very biased now. Going into this, I did not know just how much it would deal with themes of mental illness and mental health.
But I will say that the depiction was adequate and I walked away from this better than I thought I would have.
A worthy read.
alindstadtcorbeax
Written on Mar 3, 2019
Holy F. What a heart wrenching, beautiful queer love story. One of my favorite books ever, hands down! I just want more more more more Jack & August ...I’m begging for more here. Oh and did I say more?
1. More because I loved the book,
2. More because I loved August,
3. More because I loved Jack,
4. More because I loved Jack & August,
5. Also more because the ending?!?! How could she do us like that, man?!?! So short! Way too short!
I feel as if the end of this book is like one of those awkward encounters with someone you don’t know in public that go pretty much like this:
Ending: Oh, Hai!
Me: H—
Ending: Oh sorry, thought you were someone else! Bye-eeee *walks away.*
Me: *thinks wt actual f? Mmmk. How rude.*
Also Me, 2 Minutes Later:
*pines for MORE again and whines on goodreads*
That’s why it lost .5 stars. In case anyone was, um, wondering.
I’m pretty sure throughout this review my undying love for both Jack & August is quite, quite, prominently, obvious, lol- but I also loved the book’s formatting, I loved the story, I loved the writing, and I loved the fact that well... I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but I really, really loved the ending (with the exception of the topic of my rant above).
____________________
Also; I just want to quickly say:
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IS SO, SO, SO, IMPORTANT ! ! !
To any of you out there struggling with any type of mental illness (and anyone at all):
You are not flawed; you are perfect. You are beautiful. You are you, & you are lovely.
* Please don’t be afraid to seek help if you suspect you may have symptoms of ANY mental illness .*
____________________
Back to the book:
GOODNESS; I loved well, most of the characters although the character building of the supporting characters is a bit weak IMO. But I’m just in love with the main characters, Jack & August (with their “faults” that aren’t truly their fault, and 100% aren’t actual faults at all. I mean, these are kids in high school- Ignored by both their parents & teachers leaving them with no real resources to properly address the situation and surely no help to rely on. So; they are left to their own devices and a feeling of NEEDING to make things right.
Jack’s state is obviously much more serious than the two realize, and most definitely not just, as August puts it at one point, “bad,” which naturally, August does not, and could not be aware of, or even know how to handle the situation. So, Instead of seeking real help, they do the only thing that they see as an option- to go on the quest calling to Jack in his version of the world, which August, nor anyone else, can see, desperately hoping that completing said quest will “fix Jack
and all of his other problems. August helps him because he sees no other way, and he is desperate for Jack to get better, for the aforementioned reasons.
Needless to say, Jack AND August are BOTH extremely ill, in their own completely different ways, which is revealed little by little, as the book progresses. August’s issues are a little more subdued in comparison to Jack’s, but are none-the-less still there and still just as important.
With all of that said, both boys are just trying to LIVE, trying so very hard to fix the sh*tty situation(s) that they have, quite literally, found themselves in.
They deal with these problems the only way that they know how to. I mean... how could two young kids (seniors in high school) who have been neglected by every single adult in their life and have only had each other for the better part of their lifetimes- be anything BUT extremely loyal to one another, and also extremely & ridiculously ill-equipped to handle the issues at hand?
None of this changes that fact that both of them are so, so, beautiful, so incredibly beautiful, in so many ways. I’m just enamored with these two.
Additionally; The Wicker King covered two parts of the Rubik’s cube that is me, for me (though more #2 than #1 here):
1. The part of me 7 years after graduating college w/ a degree in Psychology: The journey here was both fascinating & eye-opening (I am pretty sure Jack had schizophrenia? It’s been a longgg time lol- and I would never want to misdiagnose!), especially because I’ve never been take on a magical journey through a fictional depiction of something like that, ever! What an original, heart-wrenching story (yes I still was a sap; I just don’t feel defined by my degree anymore and I’m way more in tune with my, & other people’s, emotions... I guess that kinda happens on your freakin way to turning 30 this freakin July.
Kelly
Written on Jan 24, 2019
August is a young man who feels like an impostor in his own skin. After his parents separated, August's mother developed a deep depression and retreated to her basement where she spends her days watching game shows. From a young age, August had learned to fend for himself by becoming self dependant and taking care of his mother. Unable to work and with only meagre support cheques from his father, August sells drugs to make ends meet, his side project well known throughout the wealthy student community. It's his friendship with Jack that sustains August, caring for his friend in a world that was created for them and them alone.
We get to know Jack through the eyes of August, who often views his friend with rose coloured glasses. Jack is popular, attractive and athletic, not to mention not even remotely in the same orbit as August. But somehow, their friendship works. Growing up, the boys liked to explore their surroundings, from the surrounding forest to abandoned buildings, Jack with his crown made of sticks and makeshift sword, August his loyal champion by his side. But Jack's childhood games have become increasingly disturbing, his imagination existing between two separate worlds sharing the one space. He sees people and objects within his vision from another time, no longer a game and claims the residents of this historical plane need his help to find an object. An object that will save their world. It begins to blur the lines between fantasy and mental illness as Jack experiences delusions, luring August into a world he can only experience through Jack's illness.
August and Jack's friendship takes an intense turn while playing in the forest, August slips into the river only to be rescued by Jack. An act of bravery leads August to believe that he now owes Jack, his life, his spirit and whatever Jack will now ask of him. Jack begins to feed upon that toxic devotion and begins to lay claim over August, often resorting to physical intimidation and abuse that August has become dependant on. Similar to being in an abusive relationship where the victim may believe they are deserving of abuse or that toxic possession is a way of expressing love by their abuser.
August and Jack are very much a product of their individual environments. Although Jack is from a wealthy family, his parents are often travelling or simply absent. August feels a deep responsibility to care for Jack, understanding his feelings of abandonment and isolation. On the surface of what seems to be a friendship of codependency, is a dangerously toxic love story, an all consuming love that threatens to destroy them both. Written with a passionate intensity, I was swept away by the relationship and hopeful that these two abandoned beings would survive their ordeal.
It was messy, complicated and utterly brilliant. I was enamoured by August and Jack and consumed by their relationship. Beautifully written with a dark, brooding realism rarely seen within young adult fiction, The Wicker King is phenomenal.
girlinthepages
Written on Jan 6, 2019
As expected from both the description on the book design, The Wicker King is a tale of two teenagers spiraling into darkness, feeding off of each other's situations in a co-dependent relationship. There's Jack, more of the golden boy figure who's mental health is slowly deteriorating, and August, his unlikely friend since childhood who ends up along for the ride. The story chronicles their retreat from reality and into the world created by Jack's hallucinations that can only be truly known to them. The story was honestly much more disturbing and intense than I expected, not because of the hallucinations or almost paranormal feeling at times, but rather because of the co-dependency between August and Jack and August following Jack into his alternate world to a point where his involvement is more dangerous than Jack's because he has no control as he can't "see" what Jack does. The story is stark and raw in a way that I often haven't seen in YA fiction. While Jack and August's relationship is frightening in its intensity at times (and due to its circumstances), I did love seeing this unconditional love that they had for each other manifest in different ways, and their relationship is such a unique one. Though the story focuses on August and Jack's relationship, I also liked the portrayal of their friends who were on the "outside" and not involved with Jack's imagined world, but who all tried to help in their own way (Alex, Rina, the twins, etc.)
The narrative is formatted uniquely, including many multi media elements (playlists, pictures, copies of police reports, etc.) which add a level of intrigue and make the pages fly by. The actual narrative is told through a series of mini vignettes that only last a few pages at most but are like snapshots into August's life, becoming more intense and desperate feeling as the story progresses. It added the perfect urgent, anxiety inducing tone to the book that was helped along with the color change in page and text (although it became difficult to read at times because of the coloring, but I have a feeling this may have been due to the print quality of my paperback).
While this story isn't the kind I'd typically reach for, I really, truly appreciated the author's dedication and note at the end. You can tell she wrote this story with the intention of reaching teenagers who may be on their own or struggling or treading water the best they can, showcasing that even those with the best intentions and aspirations can get weighed down or make the wrong call but it's OK because they're doing the best they can. That is exactly the situation August was in throughout the course of the novel (and is even described as a "weird, young dad")- he's desperately trying to take care of himself and his peers when he's really at a stage where he needs to be cared for, which I think is just as important of a message as the great mental health rep in this book.
Overall: The Wicker King was a quite yet powerful read with an intriguing format and an ironic twist at the end. While it's personally not the type of book I'd typically reach for and therefore isn't a forever favorite of mine, I think it will resonate with many readers as a 5 star read and I'm very thankful that I read it. This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages
leahrosereads
Written on Jul 8, 2018
THE WICKER KING is a spectacular story. August and Jack are incredibly well written characters that provide for some decent gay representation. (I think. You may want to check for an own voices review to confirm). And while their love and friendship is definitely more on the abusive spectrum, it's all consuming and understandable based on their living situations. These two young men are completely neglected and only have each other. It's powerful, even if it's problematic.
The fantastical elements to this story really added a whole new level to what I thought this was going to be about. Those elements of what is real or not made this story even more special.
While I really liked the stylized pages to the book, some of the later chapters were a tad hard to read for my eyes. I just added a second light though and that helped me adjust to it all a bit better.
I definitely would recommend this to anyone that likes hard hitting contemporaries with/without fantastical elements. Definitely going to keep my eye on Kayla Ancrum in the future!
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Jul 7, 2018
Just... wow.
It's been five hours since I finished reading The Wicker King and my chest is still heavy and these boys are still at the forefront of my mind. When I started reading today I was on page 60, and I wasn't planning to finish it. I was in the middle of a thousand other things and I was just taking a short break. That turned into a really long break, and two and a half hours later I blinked and looked up from my book and wondered what the hell I just went through.
The Wicker King is the story of two boys who make terrible judgment calls. They don't do the smart thing, but the more you read of them and their lives the more you understand they probably couldn't, because their entire lives, they were the only ones taking care of each other. August and Jake simply don't believe in anything but each other. It was heartbreaking and nerve wrecking because you know that if they just get help things would be better, but you understand.
The relationship between the boys is complex and wrapped. They are wrapped around and in each other. That's an aspect of the book that I loved, and I definitely want to see more of these characters, after the events of The Wicked King.
And Jack is allowed to be completely mad, not two ways about it, which I love,even if he gets cured in the end. The fact the author sprinkled enough hints of this through the novel, letting us as the readers understand far before August or Jack does that his hallucinations are a symptom and not the illness made thing both harder and easier. Harder because I knew he needed medical help, and Jack & August's refusal to seek professional aid made me anxious, but also easier because I didn't feel "cheated" by the end when he was returned to normal.
This book is also a very unique experience, using not only mixed media but also a unique writing and presentation style that took me a moment to get used to but then captured me completely.
I'm having a hard time explaining how I feel about this novel and these characters. Maybe the best thing I can say is that I will probably re-read this one, perhaps even before the year is over.
PS I'm two for two on Cait recommendations and so I pretty much will read aNYTHING this girl recommends.
Jo
Written on Jun 3, 2018
I was really surprised by The Wicker King by K. Ancrum, as it wasn't the story I expected. With the way the book is described, I thought it was going to be a contemporary novel mixed with a high fantasy story. But it's not; it's completely contemporary, with August going along with what Jack's seeing because he thinks that will help. Despite the surprise that The Wicker King wasn't what I expected, it was bloody brilliant.
However, despite being brilliant, it's not a book I enjoyed. The Wicker King is intense. A game Jack and August used to play as a child has become much more to Jack now; he's seeing the world of the Wicker King over the real world. As his hallucinations get progressively worse, he can barely see our world at all. In his world, he is the Wicker King, and there's a prophecy written on the walls. The powerful stone has gone missing, and without it, the world is growing weaker and darker, and if the stone isn't put back by his champion, August, Cloven King, a dark and evil king, will attack and take over. To Jack, this is completely, completely real, in the sense that he can see it all; he knows he shouldn't be seeing it, but because he is, he can't help but be affected by what he sees - and it scared him; not so much that he's seeing it all, but what he sees. As the world grows weaker, the things he sees get scarier, and the more he starts losing control. He ends up barely holding on by a thread. And he thinks, maybe, if he and August fine the stone and put it where it needs to be, maybe the hallucinations will stop. And August goes along with it, because he doesn't know how else to stop. He's worried if he tells adults and those in authority, Jack will get locked up, and August can't have that, because he needs him.
It's really interesting how The Wicker King is told. Even though it's not in verse, it reminded me very much of a verse novel; the chapters are very short, most around a page or less, and it's less a narrative that flows from one chapter to the next, and more looking at snapshots of moments in their lives as Jack gets progressively worse. Throughout the book, there are photos, notes, a map, police reports, mix tapes and CDs, detention slips, and so forth, all that look so real, like photographs of each of these things. And they don't just give an interesting element to the story, but make the story feel more credibility, that Jack and August are real people, and all these things are the evidence. The formatting of the story was incredible, to; the pages offer a visual representation of Jack's decline - the worse he gets, the more the pages change from normal, to slightly smudgy around the edges, to darker smudges that spread over the pages, until eventually the pages are completely black with white text. So even before you read the chapters that are coming up, you anticipate Jack getting worse, because you can see it coming.
Because there are so many extra elements added to the book - the photos, the notes, etc - The Wicker King is a very quick read, and I found, with the narrative as it is, just short, snapshot chapters, I didn't get to become emotionally attached to August and Jack like I would have liked. I cared, but it was at distance. Even so, this story was so intense , it was overwhelming. Putting aside August's hallucinations for a moment, their relationship is just so unhealthy. Thankfully, Ancrum wrote an author's note that helped me understand their relationship better, but I spent the book thinking these two should absolutely not be friends. Jack has his moments where he turns really nasty, and is actually quite violent to August. He thinks of August as his; there's a moment when they're kids and August almost drowns in a river. Jack saves him, but he's angry that August nearly died, telling him he's not allowed to go, because August is Jack's. Yet in his most vulnerable moments, he clings to August like a child to their mother. And August looks after Jack, and takes care of him, like a parent would. But at the same time, he needs Jack to tell him what to do. Jack makes demands, and August does them. Even if, once Jack's hallucinations become much worse, Jack demands he does more and more dangerous things - things that could end his life. They desperately need and crave each other, because their parents aren't around; Jack's parents are always away on business trips, they are never home, and August's mum has Agoraphobia, and will not leave her basement. Not only will she not leave her basement, but she also seems to have checked out emotionally; when August tries to talk to her, she cannot tear her eyes away from the TV, and it's like she's barely listening to him. Neither Jack nor August have their parents, so they try to get what they need from each other. Their co-dependent in a big way, and it's massively unhealthy. I can't even begin to describe the need they have for each other. The thought of being apart doesn't bear thinking. And it's because of this that August tries to help Jack, though does so in completely the wrong way; instead of getting him help, he goes along with Jack in trying to fulfil the prophecy.
It's probably no surprise that, as the story goes on, their relationship evolves, even if August is oblivious to it. It's quite clear that Jack is in love with August, and to the reader, it's also obvious that August is in love with him, too, but he doesn't realise it, because their relationship is so screwed up, and because he doesn't have many examples of love in his life. Everyone around him can see it accept him; people talk to him about it, without actually saying "you're in love with/attracted to Jack!", but because they don't come right out and say it, he has literally no clue what they are talking about, and they're very strange conversations for him.
Trying to help Jack affects August's own mental health. By the end of the story, he has anxiety, and this part of the story was done so well. His worry for Jack, watching him deteriorate even more with each passing day, and the dangerous things they keep doing take their toll, and he starts having panic attacks, and they were just so well written. August also stops eating, and develops stress fuelled anorexia, as Ancrum confirms in this interview. He becomes too stressed to it, though Jack seems to think he's forgetting to eat. He loses quite a lot of weight very quickly, and people are beginning to notice and comment on it. Jack starts to worry about him, and at one point will only talk to August about something if August eats the apple Jack gives him. He also becomes a pyromaniac. This was very interesting to me, because I didn't realise pyromania was a mental illness. I just thought a pyromaniac was someone who liked fire and burning things, but pyromania is actually an impulse control disorder. For August, he needs fire. With everything that's going on, he gets more and more overwhelmed, and it keeps building up and up and up, and he's left with this uncontrollable desire to light a fire, and once he's lit a fire and watches it, there's this sense of relief and release, and he's able to let go, temporarily, of everything that has built up. It's almost as if he doesn't light a fire, he will explode. And for the most part, he's not actually endangering anyone; it starts off small, without him even realising, with cigarettes. Then it moves on to setting fire to books, to then gathering wood in a clearing in the forest, and starting a bonfire, that he will stay and lie next to all night, watching until the last embers burn down. It was fascinating to read, but also heartbreaking. All his mental illness develop because he has no-one to turn to, really. He would normally turn to Jack, but it's Jack with the problem, and he's dealing with this all on his own. It's probably also important to state that co-dependency is also a mental illness, so there's a lot that both Jack and August are dealing with - though, Jack doesn't have a mental illness, we discover, there's something else going on, which is why he knows he shouldn't see what he's seeing.
There was one moment that really illustrated to me what Jack is dealing with. As I said, he knows he shouldn't see what he's seeing, but he does, and it's taking over what's real. For example, when they visit Rina, a woman they befriend over the course of the story, instead of seeing her house, he sees a hill, and when they're in the house, they're on top of the hill lying on the grass. He doesn't see the house at all. The only thing that really anchors Jack is August. He sees real people, but they get confused with his hallucinations, so it's confusing, but August is always August - even if he is wearing a mask sometimes, or a strange uniform. August is the one thing he can count on to be true. Then, once, when they're in the woods, Jack becomes terrified and orders August to run. He's pulling them along, and they're running as fast as they can as if they're being chased - because as far as Jack is concerned they are. He is absolutely petrified. Once they're "safe", August wonders what would have happened if he hadn't run.
'August looked thoughtful. "I wonder what would have happened if I'd just let it get me," he mused, rubbing his chin.
"We're not figuring that out."
"Why?" August insisted.
"Because we're just not, you insufferable asshole."
"I mean, technically, I can't touch anything in your world. Chances are, it wouldn't be able to touch me either."
"What if? I just had to watch you get violently eaten? Then I completely lost the ability to see you? What about that?" Jack spat angrily.
August went silent.' (p213-214)
For me, this clearly illustrated to me that he doesn't believe that what he's seeing is real, but he can't help reacting to what he is seeing. He knows it's not real, but that doesn't mean that his hallucinations won't have a profound affect. He knows that August won't be hurt by his hallucinations, but what if the narrative of his hallucinations wipes August out of existence? It doesn't really matter that he would know August is actually safe when he's staring down at his bloody, torn apart body, if it meant for him, August was gone. What if it would really mean Jack wouldn't be able to see August any more? Who would he have then?
I implore you to read the interviews with Ancrum on With Love for Books and The Royal Polar Bear Reads, which go into more depth about the mental illnesses August has, Jack's condition, and the nature of their relationship
The Wicker King is a pretty diverse novel. Jack has the condition that's leading him to see hallucinations, both Jack and August have mental illnesses (Jack's being the co-dependency), both are bisexual, and August is biracial - though we only know this because on a police report for August, under race it says "mixed", but it's not mentioned otherwise. And for bisexuality and anxiety, The Wicker King is an #OwnVoices novel.
The Wicker King is an incredible novel, but it's a hard read. What Jack and August experience is so intense and overwhelming, and it's so heartbreaking knowing they don't really have anyone else to turn to. Watching them trying to figure things out for themselves when everything is spiralling out of control, making bad choice after bad choice, and putting themselves in dangerous situations, my heart couldn't help but go out for them. Despite the distance I felt, it was impossible not to care about them, and worry about them. The Wicker King is a book you won't be able to put down, and I can't recommend it enough.