Literally sitting here at a loss for words. Having a moment of, wow that was an absolute masterpiece of a read. I NEVER wanted it to end.  How do I move on... How do I put words together to truly convey ALL that this book was for me... I'll start by saying I have been an avid fan of Keri's work for years. I have devoured the entirety that is her backlist. But this book! THIS. BOOK. Blew all those out of he water for me at this present moment. Like how is this even possible?! Her work speaks for itself. And it is truly an impeccable thing what she does. She can create worlds and characters and languages (yes languages all her own) that just hit every part of your senses. You can see the world she creates by her descriptive manner. You can feel catapulted into the very emotions of the characters. Utterly spell bounding, captivating and SO addictive!!!
This book has EVERYTHING and the kitchen sink in it. Its gothic, fantasy, pnr vibes even and some horror-esque feels and OH SO MUCH more. It has a romance that is for the damn ages! I won't go into all. Just know I now have a new absolute forever book bf, that is Zavander. OMG! The romance in this is veryyyyyy slow burn. Mmmm yumm the slowest of burns done perfectly. I mean it has to grow being these two start out as strangers, then build into enemies. So it takes time. Trust me it is a million times worth the wait in gold!  The fantasy in this book is like no other. It is distinctly unique to Keri. This is like nothing I have seen Keri write before but yet it has her written all over it. It has magic, gods, worlds colliding, power, even a portal of sorts. The cult vibes that is the one town, just chefs kiss. I could go on and on all that is this book. But I don't wanna spoil anything.  The story has these layers upon layers that build and build and have you just addicted and  wanting more. Wanting answers. NEEDING book 2! 
Characters in this are fantastic. I was hooked on so many of the side ones as well as the main fmc and mmc. And to boot the way Keri went about the POVs of the main characters is like never seen before by the likes of me. But wowwww I was loving how it read and felt to me. AMAZING!  Each of these characters are there to entertain and that they do! You have moments of solace all the way to laughter. You get it all and then some. And you'll be right there enthralled by it all. or at least I was! 
The words and languages in this book are like Keri loves to bring to life. Trust me you'll be using that glossary. Yet she has a way of working in the meanings as you read. How Keri can come up with a language that is truly just for  this world is beyond me. But every time she does it I find myself so enthralled within the words. It's something she does that is solely hers and unique beyond my realm. 
So strap in and devour this world and these BEAUTIFUL creatures of characters Keri created. Trust me it's a journey of magical chaos you do not wanna miss out on!!!! I will now be staring at a wall for the foreseeable future. What a way to end my month of reading for August. Went out with a MASTERPIECE! I will not move on from this one and I will now be haunting Keri until I have book 2 in my hands, ha I am kidding..... well kind of.... ;) 
Hopefully from all this rambling you got a sense of I FRICKIN LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! Keri is a dang genius and I am here in awe for anything that she creates!!!