I spent a lot of time thinking about how to rate this book while reading the second half of it, and have finally settled on a four. Because, yeah, I had some issues, but it was fun to read. A whole lot of fun, right when I needed it most.

Said issues range from petty complaints about the love interest’s name to genuine criticisms of the protagonist and certain scenes. Most all of the holiday royals we meet or see mentioned have solid names that also serve as subtle nods to their respective holiday, and Hex seems rather lame in comparison. It feels more like a name for a black cat, or for someone’s goth OC whose main personality trait is Being Goth, than one for an actual character you want people to take seriously. I can’t help but think there are a multitude of Halloween-themed or related names that would’ve been better.

Moving from petty to genuine, I never got attached to Coal the way I did to Hex, Kris and Iris. I can’t pinpoint exactly what I disliked about him, if anything, or if something got in the way of me liking him. All I know is that, while his character development was quite impressive, he didn’t make a lasting impression on me like the others did. He was just… there. My favorite thing about him was the interactions he had with characters I did like. I know that sounds bad, and I feel bad about it, but it’s true.

Continuing that, I have what might well be the oddest critique of a book I’ve ever made—the sex scenes were incredibly vague. I don’t mean this in an “I’m disappointed they weren’t spicier” way. I mean, quite literally, they were vague, and it was weird. Not a single mention of any words one might expect in such scenes, anatomical or otherwise. On multiple occasions, I had to reread paragraphs to figure out exactly what was going on, and I’ve read enough filthy smut that I really don’t think it was a me problem. It felt like the author was afraid of giving too much detail, so she tried to give as little as possible instead. I think she would’ve been better off writing fade-to-black, and then some cute cuddle scenes afterward. I would’ve been perfectly happy with that. In fact, I would’ve been thrilled. (Honestly, I’m salty we didn’t get any cute cuddle scenes in the book as is. I wanted to see the boys being soft, and I was denied. Rude.)

And yet, I did still enjoy the book. Coal and Hex had great chemistry, and I loved watching them fall in love. There was considerably more plot and world-building than I was expecting, which was a nice surprise. A hidden world of holiday kingdoms nestled within our own is such a fun idea, one I believe was set up quite well, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of other holidays in future books.

I also really, really hope I get to see more of Hex, because I adore him. I liked him as soon as he was introduced, and then I read a bit more, and suddenly, he was my favorite character. I don’t know what happened, only that he’s a precious cinnamon roll that absolutely must be protected. And I would really like to be his friend. And give him a hug. 🖤🖤🖤

Representation: