It wasn't until I was immersed in the world, that I realised just how much I was going to adore this book. It is all the things I love, The dark gothic fairytale setting for one, from the very beginning I loved spending time getting lost in the bone forest among the dark creatures and spirits. It's also filled with mentions of folklore, such as the irshi, jinn, ubir and uylak. The main characters are very reminiscent of Hades & Persephone, with their warring magical energies of life and death, light and dark. 

"The forest released a deep sigh the moment Zerryn entered. It was a subtle shift in the air, the mere sway of the branches stretching to scrape the sky before gently tracing the dirt, almost as if they were welcoming her home. The trees shifted to make way for her like earthen escorts sent to bring her to the demon who ruled their land."

There are so many beautiful quotes throughout the book, including words of wisdom often spoken from one woman to another. I appreciated that our main character was able to forge bonds with women at unlikely times.

I enjoyed seeing the arc of the monster becoming a man in Zerryn's eyes and her in turn losing her innocence and naivete. He wasn't the traditional morally grey leading man we have come to expect from fantasy romance books, mostly due to his hair, additional eyes and limbs but the strangeness of his appearance faded once I became familiar with his character as a reader.

I wasn't totally satisfied with the resolution of the plot surrounding the main character's magic, however, I do feel like this book had an overall satisfying ending. Although the plot or tropes themselves weren't groundbreaking, each stop along the way of the journey brought fresh life to the story through magic, folk and legends, which lent uniqueness to the story and kept me engaged until the very end. 

Thank you Northern Light Press and F.M. Aden for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.