Okay I absolutely loved this book! Jack Whitney has created my favorite new fantasy world. Haerland’s lore and history was well thought out even if a bit confusing at first. The prologue was handy to refer back to throughout the story. The characters were well developed and the chemistry and friendships felt genuine off the page. While there are many explicit spicy scenes, there is the perfect balance of plot to the smut. Without spoilers, the ending left me shaken and eager for the sequel.

From a critical lense, this text definitely needs an editor. There are several grammar errors, redundant phrases, duplicated words, and misspellings. It’s a large novel and all authors become blind to these types of mistakes after working on something so diligently. I know this book is self published so the errors are understandable. I devoured this book for the plot and world building in spite of the errors. Hopefully she gets picked up by a publisher or does enough sales to employ her own editor in the future.

(The author does not exaggerate when calling this book a “dark high fantasy”. Typical high fantasy elements are present eg multiple races to follow and complex world building. TW for violence, murder, SA, domestic abuse.)