Readcommendations

by Ruth Emmie Lang
Reviwed by SA

Upon finishing this book, I thought: Wow, this was beautiful! And it’s one I’m going to recommending to many friends, despite the fact that it didn’t entirely click for me. Even so, it was evidently a fantastic novel full of magic.

Summary

Orphaned, raised by wolves, and the proud owner of a horned pig named Merlin, Weylyn Grey knew he wasn’t like other people. But when he single-handedly stopped that tornado on a stormy Christmas day in Oklahoma, he realized just how different he actually was.

That tornado was the first of many strange events that seem to follow Weylyn from town to town, although he doesn’t like to take credit. As amazing as these powers may appear, they tend to manifest themselves at inopportune times and places. From freak storms to trees that appear to grow over night, Weylyn’s unique abilities are a curiosity at best and at worst, a danger to himself and the woman he loves. But Mary doesn’t care. Since Weylyn saved her from an angry wolf on her eleventh birthday, she’s known that a relationship with him isn’t without its risks, but as anyone who’s met Weylyn will tell you, once he wanders into your life, you’ll wish he’d never leave.

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance tells the story of Weylyn Grey’s life from the perspectives of the people who knew him, loved him, and even a few who thought he was just plain weird. Although he doesn’t stay in any of their lives for long, he leaves each of them with a story to tell. Stories about a boy who lives with wolves, great storms that evaporate into thin air, fireflies that make phosphorescent honey, and a house filled with spider webs and the strange man who inhabits it.

There is one story, however, that Weylyn wishes he could change: his own. But first he has to muster enough courage to knock on Mary’s front door.

Musings

It’s taken me a few days to finish writing this review, because I had to let my thoughts simmer about it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, but when I put it down, I didn’t feel an immediate urge to pick it up again. Perhaps the slow magic was what drew me back to it, the simmering style of the author that fills your heart with warmth.

Overall, the plot is simple: it’s the life of a man names Weylan Grey, who apparently can speak to animals, control the weather, make plants grow… fantastic gifts, which all make for a fantastic character. We see his life through the eyes of different people he meets along the way (always two at a specific point in time, with hints clueing you in to what happened while he was away). It’s also a love story, between him and a brilliant woman named Mary.

Despite the fact that there are dangerous hurricanes, wolves, and snowstorms, the novel still has this odd sense of tranquility. It’s calm, slow paced. The story moves along in a gentle, steady way, like a quiet walk through a forest. You can’t help but love Weylan, his comical confusion with the rest of mankind (the running gag of the business cards had me in stitches) and his ease with animals.

I think it’s the love story that messed with me the most. Now I won’t say anything here because of spoilers, but the ending, while it looked cute and romantic, at second glance rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I’m too picky. I should just be happy for them.

\It’s one of those are cases where I preferred how the author told the story over the story itself. Beautiful book, nonetheless. For fans of magical realism, love, and wolves.