I enjoyed this story. (Most) characters were lovable. All iconic. The main character was as rather annoying at times, but it was mostly about her complaining about her life on the first page, and I found it annoying as she literally described most my childhood (ie, shopping at goodwill, and working with pigs on a farm kinda deal) and acted as if that was the end of the world. Also, you’d think after the tenth thing of danger, when the others would tell her to hide or run, she would. But she never did and that annoyed the crap out of me.

If I hadn’t been asked to read this, I would have DNF’d the first chapter due to some writing peeves. But besides that, it was an enjoyable read once the story actually started and I’ll be reading the second book soon.

More of a fairytale/Alice in wonderland vibe than I was expecting. Also more of a middle grade vibe than I was expecting. But I’m certainly hooked enough to continue with the series! Ash is a clasiccccc I’ll eat that up every time. But overall pretty predictable/derivative tbh. 

I think if I’d found this when I was younger I’d like it more. Something about the balance of how much it portrays the darker side of Faerie (or not) just isn’t working for me. Also she’s pretty quickly interested in Ash when they’ve barely met, and I don’t like insta-love (or very quick attraction) as a trope.

I've been wracking my brain the past few days, trying to remember how many times I've actually read this book. I know for a fact that I've read it twice before, but there's a chance it was actually three times. I kept starting this series and never finishing it. Terrible, I know. But it's officially time to get through all four books and dive into the spin-off!

I was discussing the book with my buddy-read partner this morning and we really covered so many bases as we chatted, so I'm going to dive into those things a little more in this review.

The first of which is that this is definitely a plot-based book more than it is character-based. Aside from some in-depth descriptions about Robbie and Grim, we don't know a huge amount about the other characters, including our MC, Meghan! This is a little odd to me because they're really important and yet we know virtually nothing about them - not even hair colors (or sometimes even names in the case of Meghan's mom). The most we know about Meghan is that she loves her half-brother and wears a lot of old clothing. Oh, and she's totally unlikeable.

Going further into the last point I made - Meghan is not a character that you feel yourself rooting for. Yes, you want for her to help Ethan, but mostly, you'll be face-palming over her naivety and teenage emotions that cause rash decisions. What are these decisions, you might ask? How about running straight into faerie courts, kissing people who say they'll kill you, and not trusting your best friend. Those are just a few examples.

My favorite characters in the book are the ones that have the most descriptions: Robbie and Grim. They're witty, sarcastic, loving (in their own ways), and want the best for Meghan, even if that means making tough choices to help her grow. 

This book definitely appeals to a younger audience (duh, it's YA fantasy about a newly 16-year-old) but it's still fun to read as an adult. I picked it up on a Sunday afternoon and flew through it in one sitting. It doesn't take a huge amount of brain power or focus to enjoy!

I look forward to finally moving forward and finishing the series!

It was a simple story it gave off the vibes of a book that you would read for a novel study. Not the greatest but not the worst.