This book is both a prequel and a sequel to Fallen Thorns. Whilst this book has been carefully edited so that it works as a standalone, I feel as though I got more out of this book because I had read Fallen Thorns; I knew where Ben and Casper’s stories were heading and so certain phrases and moments had a higher emotional impact on me.

At the heart of this story was Ben and Casper’s romance and I just loved it so much, they are so good together and they just deserved the world. Because I knew that Ben is killed (quite brutally, I might add) at the end of Fallen Thorns, I got a pang of sadness every time they referred to being together forever and it particularly stressed me out when we got to the part of the book which overlapped with Fallen Thorns because you could feel the narrative inching closer and closer to disaster. It hurt so much seeing the utterly devastation that Casper goes through at the end of the book as well as having to cope with survivor’s guilt.

I really loved this book and kinda love, kinda hate that we got a glimmer of hope in the author’s note at the end of the book where Baxter alludes to the fact that Ben’s story is not over. As much as I don’t usually love the resurrection trope, I want Ben and Casper to be able to get to see the happiness they have been denied. Here’s to hoping 🤞🏻