I liked this a lot up until the end, I think.

It's a fantasy world, but it's surprisingly realistic for one - war, after all, is very similar whether it's fought by monsters or planes dropping bombs. Even Roman and Iris's letters to each other would be the same if sent by post rather than magical typewriter, although it would be harder to receive them. Still, the little scene with Iris going into a magical shop was almost out of place for me, because magic didn't feel that normalized otherwise.

It's a war story, and as such it has its own horrible and terrifying scenes, but it's also a romance between two teenagers. I liked the romance, but I admit that the "big step" was way too soon for me, and it would have felt better in the sequel.