Vanya and the Wild Hunt - Sangu Mandanna - ★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Sangu Mandanna

SERIES: Vanya #1

GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: March 11, 2025

RATING: 3.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy with a neurodivergent lead and plenty of magic. Too many characters, not enough character development. Diverse mythical beings from global folklore, though they could have been used better. Great incorporation of the setting. Chosen One trope, which gets a bit annoying. First of a planned series. Cliffhanger ending. I liked it, but not as much as I had hoped.

Plot Preview:

Eleven-year-old Vanya, a British-Indian girl with ADHD, stays with her bookseller parents in a mostly-white part of England. She doesn’t know much about their past, nor does she know why some books in the alcove talk to her. When her family is attacked by a strange monster, Vanya discovers a couple of her parents’ secrets. For safety and protection, Vanya is whisked off to a magical school based in the Nilgiri mountains of South India. Named ‘Auramere’, this school was also her parents’ alma mater, and probably the only place where she can escape the mysterious Wild Hunt. But soon Vanya realises that Auramere might not be the safe place her parents thought it would be. It is now up to her to make sure that the monsters don’t strike again, but if they do, to be prepared for it.

The story comes to us in Vanya’s first-person perspective.

I have been a fan of this author ever since I read her adult fantasy works – they are cutesy but work well as cozy fantastical entertainers with loveable characters. However, she first gained acclaim for her middle-grade fantasy series (that’s on my TBR), so when I saw this new MG novel by her, I was delighted. Turns out, it has all the right ingredients, but perhaps some of the individual quantities could have been adjusted to deliver better.

Bookish Yays:

🦌 Vanya. A protagonist who is realistic to her age. She is impulsive and outspoken, endearing and frustrating. A mostly worthy lead for such a story.

🦌 Vanya’s parents and her bond with them. I love how she is open to communication with both her parents even though they obviously have secrets. Her connection with her father is the best, almost as cute as her father’s wacky nicknames for her.

🦌 The majestic Nilgiris. A big thank you to the author for using the Nilgiris as the location of Auramere! We often see the Himalayan mountain range in fiction, but India has so many more majestic ranges. (Someone please write a story set in the verdant Sahyadris! It’s such a perfect setting for a crime thriller!) The story makes great use of the location to create an immersive atmosphere, especially during the adventure and magic sequences.

🦌 The secondary human and animal characters in the book. Loveable in nature, inclusive in scope. To be clear, the inclusivity was just token in a couple of cases, but the rest was good. A special shoutout to Kasha the goose!

🦌 The positive representation of adults, which is getting rarer in middle-grade fiction. It was great to see this story depict responsible adults who know their role in a child’s life and who acknowledge their mistakes without deflecting the blame.

🦌 The B&W illustrations – quite intricate and gorgeous. The depiction of Auramere is especially stunning.

Bookish Okays:

🔮 The world-building is fabulous, but it isn't made full use of. There are too many locations detailed out, many of which aren’t even relevant to the core plot. Perhaps some things could have been reserved for subsequent books.

🔮 Similarly, there are too many episodic adventures, a few of which seem to be straight out of Harry Potter’s world. The first 60-65% is especially disjointed. Some scenes are definitely entertaining, but the clutter of concepts could have been trimmed in order to build up the pacing.

🔮 It is good to see ADHD get representation through Vanya. However, the depiction is very heavyhanded, as if readers need to reminded over and over that Vanya has ADHD but it is okay and she can still do great. Beating the same point repeatedly defeats its efficacy. Further, though we are told so many times that she has ADHD, we don’t see it in play for the most part. In many of the scenes, she functions without any issues. As such, the ADHD doesn’t feel like a natural part of the plot but like it’s forced in. I do appreciate how Vanya is open to her therapist’s advice and also love the inclusion of sensory issues, which most books don’t mention.

🔮 The fabulous mythical beings from around the world. Called the ‘Old ones’, these cover several legends surely familiar to many of us who read world fantasy and folklore. I loved seeing two of my favourites get fairly active roles in the plot. But here’s the thing: children (and many adults) won't know a majority of them. There isn't much description provided, so all we have in most cases is their name, which isn’t always familiar. No doubt these mythical beings are fascinating, but will children stop a story midway to check out the character’s antecedents? Perhaps a glossary at the end containing at least some basic info on them would have helped.

🔮 Auramere as a school. Fascinating in setting, in magical functionality such as the use of runes and the magical doors, and in extracurricular activities such as the monsoon games. But it is a school! I would have loved to see at least some teachers and classes in action.

🔮 The ‘Chosen One’ trope is never my favourite, but it is even more annoying in middle-grade fiction. Children get the wrong idea when one child puts themselves at risk without consulting adults and still ends up saving the day. Luckily, Vanya has at least one familiar to assist her. But with so many characters in the book, it would have been great to see more teamwork than solo endeavours.

🔮 The cover and the title both set slightly incorrect expectations. The scene on the cover from the middle of the book, so it somewhat spoils the surprise of the flying stag.

🔮 The passing of time in the story is quite rushed and surprisingly extensive. Months pass by without us even noticing; all we get is vague clues like “over the last few months”. At the same time, the pacing is on the slow side.

🔮 Personal issue: The use of the word ‘Amma’ to refer to the head of Auramere was a bit confusing to me. Amma is typically ‘mother’, so every time a character referred to Amma, I thought of Vanya’s mother as the story was in Vanya’s POV.

🔮 Minor issue: The titular name “Vanya” is actually short for Lavanya, a beautiful Indian name meaning ‘grace’. So I am a teeny bit disappointed that the book uses Vanya. For one, ’Vanya’ is a legitimate and fairly common Slavic name, so it makes the protagonist sound more Russian than Indian. Also, the ‘vanya’ of ‘Lavanya’ isn't pronounced the same way as ‘Vanya’ the whole name. But most readers will pronounce it the Russian way, which is a distortion.

Bookish Nays:

⛰ The titular “Wild Hunt”. Comes up multiple times in the book and I am still not clear what it is. 🤔 Surely at least some basic detailing could have been provided, given how vital it is to the plot.

⛰ Too much secret keeping. When characters repeatedly don’t answer questions but change the topic just to avoid revealing a secret, it gets annoying.

⛰ The cliffhanger ending. I get that this is the first of a series, but even such books need some closure. One can't open multiple subplots and keep every single one of them dangling! It makes the first book feel only like a foundation instead of a story by itself. Middle-grade books especially shouldn’t have such major cliffhangers.

Overall, I am not sure if my expectations from this author were too high, but the book ended up just in the ‘like’ category for me. It had potential to create a far bigger impact, but by spreading itself thin and not clarifying any of the major tracks, it ends up somewhat okay. I still like the setting, the characters, and the ‘Old Ones’, so I hope the next book improves on the character development and tightens the plot.

Recommended to middle-graders who would enjoy magical beings and adventurous action and wouldn’t mind open endings.

My thanks to Macmillan Children's Books for providing the DRC of “Vanya and the Wild Hunt” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.