Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited when I got approved for the arc of this novel. The cover is beautiful and the concept behind this book is EXTREMELY relatable being someone who is Chinese herself. I have experienced the Anti- Asian hate crimes that were caused by the pandemic that the main character in this book also goes through. Thank you to the author's note that expresses this frustration.

I have read both The Scarlet Alchemist and its sequel and immensely enjoyed it. I was intrigued to see how the author would tackle horror. She did give us a taste of horror in her last fantasy novel. Those of you who have read it would know.

The book was both scary and addicting to read. There is quite a bit of body horror in here. Being someone who cannot even watch horror movies, I was sucked into this world every time I opened the book. There is a mystery involving a killer in this book that the main character Cora is trying to solve and she is joined by her friends/co workers Harvey and YiFei. I love the relationship between these three people. Their interactions throughout the book were some of the lighter moments.

Cora is a complex main character who is dealing with a lot of emotions. Sometimes she cannot express those emotions into words and communicate that to others. I found her very relatable at times. There were a few plot points in this novel that shocked me. The author does not hold back. I gasped when I came across a certain part.

The author's writing is as good as I remember it from The Scarlet Alchemist and it's so easy to read. I am excited to read the author's future works and I would recommend this to people who enjoy reading horror or someone who wants to read something different.