Creepy and gothic, charming, entertaining. A nice read.

This book was a suuuuper slow burn in the beginning and the last like 100 pages is where the action was. Meh, it was ok. Wouldn’t read again though

This book is described as a fairy-tale gothic. I’ve finished the book and I can’t explain what a fairy-tale gothic is. Interesting creatures: mermaids, a witch, kelpie, shape-changer, and mechanical entertainer add a devil’s deal and a weird and interesting tale is spun.

Amazing, as all her stories are...

The last remaining descendant of a once-powerful family with unusual ties to the sea flees a dangerous marriage. I was slow to warm to this and never got much above tepid. Some of that is the structure--this is more raggedy than other Slatter I've read, with a rambling narrative that makes for sequential (and not especially complex) reveals. Some of that is that the speculative, surprisingly fantastical elements of the worldbuilding are more interesting than the actual events of the plot. But the real culprit is that I don't like water as an aesthetic, be it beautiful or scary. And this is so much about aesthetic: very gothic, much mermaids; it's probably the weakest Slatter I've read, but she's got great vibes, and vibes could sell this ... if I were a better audience, but I'm not.

It's different from what I usually read bc it was a lot more dark but i liked it.

Okay, looking back I think I want to up this one to 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it and it was sufficiently creepy and dark (the setting was really cool, too)… but so slow. So. Slow. Which... isn't a bad thing, but it did drag a little too much before reaching the best parts. I didn't just "like" it, but it wasn't my favorite ever, so, 3.5 stars.