EDIT (10/2024) This author has falsely claimed to be indigenous. I do not support authors who cannot respect and honor other cultures. Especially if they write stories with characters from those cultures.

There were plenty of elements I loved about this book, but there were also a few that I really didn't enjoy.

What I liked: I loved the pacing, it was fast and kept me hooked throughout the whole book. The setting was amazing, it was perfectly eerie, I couldn't have imagined a better location for a haunted castle. The horror wasn't extreme, which for me personally is great! I was able to read this book at night without having to keep the light on. 

What I only kind of liked: The romance between Pen and Neil was interesting... There were moments were I loved them and their interacts, and you can really feel the pining for each other. But there were also areas where their relationship in general had the potential for more. I feel like their emotional conversations could have lasted longer or at least not been cut short by ghost shenanigans. The mystery aspect was "meh." It was shallow and predictable. But this wasn't a make or break for me, I went into this book for the romance. 

What I hated/thought was completely irrelevant to the story: The fact that Pen through the book at Neil.... I hated that. I also didn't like when Pen threw her shoe and it (accidentally) hit Neil. I feel like there are other ways of showing hatred for someone. Pen also could have apologized a lot sooner.

I appreciated the diversity of the characters and the commentary on being in the publishing industry as a BIPOC author. 

I look forward to seeing how this series and the author themselves evolve!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.