i heard a lot of good things about this book and have seen it popping up on social media. i got it on sale on a whim and decided to try it out while in a reading slump recently. 

the book started off a little slow for me, since there are a lot of characters introduced in a short amount of time and makes it a bit difficult to keep track of who is actually relevant. 

probably about 4 chapters in this book really took off for me. it definitely brought me out of my reading slump with the world building and mysterious magic system of the providence cards. i was hooked pretty quickly from the interactions between characters and trying to figure out how the magic works along with the main character, Elspeth. 

i am glad i didn’t read this book until now, only because the sequel is releasing in 2 weeks. the book ended with a bit of a cliffhanger but one that just makes me all the more excited for the next book. 

i will say i found some earlier parts of romance to be very cringey, but it got way better as the book went on. im rooting for

Elspeth and Ravyn to find a way to stop king rowan and get back to each other, although the shepherd king might hinder that.

after i finished this book i immediately preordered the next. i am counting down the days until it comes out, since i think it will have very good autumn vibes as it builds up to the winter solstice.