This book was so 2000’s scene culture I could almost smell the Hot Topic pleather through the book! I haven’t read a vampire book in a long time and so really enjoyed it. I love how rough around the edges Tana is and not in a suave “always has her shit together” way but like a “holy shit I’m getting by by the skin of my teeth that could’ve gone SO HORRIBLY WRONG” kinda way. She also is so fundamentally good and kindhearted even though she does have this darkness lurking inside her. I think that darkness pairs really well with Gavriel. I loved his character and I could never quite pin him down. The other supporting characters like Winter, Midnight, and Aidan all really bugged the crap out of me. They were all just really self centered and annoying. Aidan was toying with her freedom by taking her marker and leaving a quarter in its place. Of course her staying was integral and she isn’t the kind of person to leave people behind but home girl was on the brink of insanity so I don’t blame her for wanting to leave. The only characters that I thought were helpful were Jameson, Pauline, and Valentina. I enjoyed Jameson with his white crow and Valentina the trans femme goddess and would read a book or short story just about them! Lucien was a really reeeeeally good villain. He really did feel manipulative and powerful and glamorous. He is so charismatic he makes you feel like you can trust him and that it’s ok because your goals “align” but he’s working in the background to take you down.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the time jumps to when Gavriel was with Lucien and I feel like that could’ve been covered in one chapter. It fell into that POV time jump hole that makes me disinterested in that chapter so I really really want to skip it but some of his backstory was relevant so I would’ve been ok with like maybe one chapter closer to the reveal that he had killed the Spider...you know...the man that tortured him for ten years in French catacombs. I also was kinda pissed at Pearl but I understand that she had to come so that the marker Tana was going to use to get out had to go to someone else. The only other thing I had an issue with was how fast daytime seemed to slip by. At one point Tana woke up and then did something that should’ve only taken like fifteen minutes and then it was already dark outside? Super nit picky but that’s how it is with this book cuz I really had no other issues with it.

The whole infection deal with the free for all quarantine zones was really cool to me and almost felt like a zombie apocalypse infection. When they were going into the Coldtown I was seriously worried for them because they built up these Coldtowns so well. You could tell people romanticized them with the parties and the feeds that Midnight and Pearl talk about but with all the paperwork you have to do and the psych evaluation and everything is so daunting. Once you go in you can’t come out and it’s a brutal town that you can’t just leave if you decide it’s scarier than you thought.

I really wish there was a second book so we could see what happens to Tana and how her romance with Gavriel develops. I really love them together and overall I really loved the vibe of this book. It was so well written and I will sing it’s praises forever!