Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the e-arc ✨

The author did an amazing job at setting the gritty atmosphere with 1920s jazz clubs, gangsters and masquerade balls. I liked how the characters were portrayed, Elise is a privileged, naïve girl who wants to think her family can do no wrong, and Layla is a strong independent girl with a soft side whose life changed when she got turned into a reaper. The lore is interesting, if a little underdeveloped even for the first book in a series, and the intersectionality between race, class and Reaperhood was explored well.

I didn’t mind the romance tropes, the main one being childhood friends to enemies to reluctant allies to lovers, but I couldn’t connect with them as a couple. The pacing was a bit all over the place which is unfortunate because the mystery to solve was interesting, so many plot points didn’t hit the way they could’ve. Overall, it’s a strong debut for which I’m excited to read the sequel, but I preferred the fantasy over the romance.