I hate saying this because I do genuinely like T. Kingfisher and I know everyone adores this book, but it was a miss for me.

Despite having so many elements that I typically enjoy in a story—the found family, the endearing and quirky characters, the grown protagonists, the gentle romance element, the dark fairytale subject matter—I was struggling to push through the entire time I was reading. I’m not sure if it was just the slow pacing but I could not force myself at any point to be invested in what was going on.

I don’t think it was poorly written at all, I simply think it wasn’t for me.