The was one of my most anticipated reads from 2021 and it didn't disappoint. This is all about those bleak, dark and tragic gothic vibes paired with painful beauty. You get lovely descriptions of beautiful flowers in the secret garden, moonlit kisses, and Violetta's new lace dresses and then in the next scene are met with viscous mud, dark water running down walls, and blood sacrifice. The atmosphere is topnotch and it's definitely a little creepy at times.

The one thing that did annoy me was Violetta herself. She is so self sacrificing and self-righteous that she annoyed the living daylights out of me at certain points in the book. She kept doing stupid things and seemed to insist that only she could do anything of note. But I will say, her romance with Rowan was absolutely adorable. Their banter was so entertaining.

Overall, this did end up feeling like a very dramatic and dark mixture of "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Secret Garden." It was good and I would read the second one, though Violetta isn't a heroine I'm keen to read from again anytime soon.