I enjoyed this more than I thought I would! The author blended fantasy and mystery well, which are my two favorite genres. The story itself was engaging, and Astrid Scholte's writing is easy and smooth. However, even though I was engaged in the plot, I did not like all of the reveals and how the story wrapped up. Also, the world building scenes were heavy handed, and took me out of the story a bit; I would have preferred if this background details were unveiled throughout the story itself. Overall, an engaging read- I will read what Scholte writes next. Hopefully more fantasy standalones, because we need more of those!