libraryofthieves's reviews
474 reviews

 I really appreciated the causal bisexuality of Cleo’s character - it was never presented as a choice or something confusing, just something innate to her. It was really refreshing, especially in a YA book.
 

I liked the concept of the magic system and Dahlia's character but I found Cleo often frustrating with her choices. I also didn’t find either of the relationships very convincing and I’m not sure why she ended up with who she did at the end. 

 I liked the concept of this but it just didn’t work for me. The writing was often cheesy and some of the plot points just felt cringey to me. Some elements felt unnecessary or out of place like they were adding for the sake of checking off tropes. I also didn’t like how only a few words were spelled differently like ‘magick’ or ‘dragun’ - it felt like they were just thrown in for flavour and weren’t needed. Some of the other language and tone used felt too modern and took me out of the story. The world-building could have been stronger - it felt like modern characters dropped into a poorly realized fantasy world. 

There were so many plot twists at the end it just felt crammed in. Some of them could have come earlier in the book as the middle kind of dragged with not a lot happening. It was like everything needed to be wrapped up quickly and just got shoved in. The big twist at the end also just felt kind of dumb but maybe its just because the trope feels so over done to me. 

  This was a bit different from what I normally read but I enjoyed it. I liked the vaguely magically elements and centering of queer characters without the need to really define them - it felt pretty true to the time period and characters. The writing and pacing were good. Overall it was a pretty unique story and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely read more from this author. 

 

It was pretty good but it didn't really stand out to me. I liked June and Levi's relationship and the themes around grief and figuring out your path. I really hated Griffin (obviously) but I also don't understand why she would stay in a 10 year relationship with a man who has never said 'I love you'...