I really enjoyed this look into another character in the Mulvaney Universe. The writing is lovely, as I’ve come to expect from Onley James, and I loved the explanation for Calliope’s presence in Wyatt and Linc’s book being included.

My only issue was that Arlo’s reactions felt very… off? It’s a novella, so I know there isn’t a lot of room for development, but I definitely feel like the first explicit scene could have been omitted or maybe changed to a conversation because of the type of violence Arlo had seemingly very recently experienced. I enjoy spice as much as the next person, and I’ll write a lot of things off as shock for the MC, but that first scene just felt uncomfortable. (That’s entirely my own opinion, though—maybe even a pet peeve, honestly.)

Other than that, this is such a fun read! This has my second-favorite prologue of the series, as well as a fun sort of “outsider POV” for the Mulvaneys et al.