i'm just gonna get it out: this book is wonderfully written and i didn't like it. 

there is a peaceful and calm flow to rachel griffin's writing that is wonderful to read. she seems to effortlessly create emotional ranges in her characters, embracing their angsty and messy parts. i love angst so i love her writing in this way. her character's are flawed and traumatized and real. it was the same way in the nature of witches and i liked that book as well.

BUT

there are some directions taken in the plot of this book that i strongly disagree with. they weren't necessary and they were handled poorly.

first, the MC is introduced leading with her trauma and i don't believe that the trauma is ever actually addressed in such a way to allow the ending that this book landed with. she has trauma, she falls for a boy, she works to save boy, and she is better. pffft, screw that. give the poor girl some on-page therapy.

this second one i'm going to hide because spoilers...

Pike being forced to become a mage was not only an egregious assault but also unnecessary. both Iris and Pike could have had their emotional arcs without him becoming a mage, and the author could have very easily allowed the curse's magic to transfer to anything in that damn forest other than Pike. yet the author chooses to assault this traumatized boy with the magic he fears? for no good reason.

i'm gonna end this review here because i'm trying to not angrily dwell on books that i dislike. but it's hard because i did like this book? i love angst, i'm a sucker for it. but i cannot and will not get over the poor choices of this storyline. sorry. bye.