allthingseryn's reviews
645 reviews

Unexpected alliances were quite frustrating to read as a couple of very intelligent characters made some dumb af decisions trying to garner power. But, I get it. I’m definitely intrigued by the fractures foreshadowed in what I thought would be unbreakable alliances. Onward to book 3!

This book had so much to say about being trans and self-acceptance. It also tackled domestic violence and its potential impact on a child-kinda. While the themes were powerful, the structure didn’t work for me. The alternating POVs and past-to-present shifts were fine, but within those, there were even more time jumps, making it disorienting. The book felt like it wanted to be both a mystery and litfic, but it diluted the emotional weight of the story. I almost wish these two families had been given their own separate space to develop.

And then the ending—grrrr😠The reveal was something I saw coming early on, and when it finally happened, it felt rushed and underwhelming and just made zero sense (to me) given the rest of the story. After reading the authors’ notes, I respect the challenge they set for themselves in telling the story this way. I appreciate what it was trying to do with its good intentions, but the format held it back imo.

It has been a long time since a book, especially fantasy, had me in a complete and total chokehold. I didn’t even have the desire to juggle reading multiple books because this one kept my interest from start to finish. 

I would not change a single word, character, or event (even those that were hard or heartbreaking moments!) 

I said I was done with series that are longer than 3 books. Apparently, I lied. On to the novella!