mayastef's reviews
175 reviews

Lovely little story, definitely read AFTER Curious Tides, no major spoilers but I think looking back on why Romie’s character made certain choices is more interesting than being first introduced to her via her own POV.

My main beef with this book is the ridiculously high standards that I had going in based on the comparisons to Ninth House and A Deadly Education. I own and adore both of those series so I had unreasonably high hopes for this book. While this book is good and I see where the comparisons to those two lie I think it's more fair to just call it a dark academia book centered around lunar magic and secret societies. Let it stand on its own for itself.  
With that being said my actual comments on the reading experience are mostly positive especially once I got into it. I think there's a good amount of symbolism and parallels woven into this story that flies over my head just due to the sheer volume of magic-related world-building. The actual world building is not extreme but the magic system being so aligned with the moon and tides and there's gods but the gods are also tides and then theres also flowers involved and sub disciplines and and and.... It was a bit overwhelming at first. Once I got a bit more of a grip on it the book became more enjoyable but it is something to note. 
Character-wise the dynamics between characters are pretty YA classic but with enough twists to keep it moderately new and fresh. Emory is probably quite relatable to many younger girls/women due to the themes throughout the book of her feeling less than and unwanted and mediocre just because she doesn't hang the stars in the sky like her larger-than-life best friend who gets all the attention. By the end of the book, I loved Baz and wanted more of his storyline because just as the plot got a hair predictable his storyline started to veer into places I never would've guessed.
Lovely casual queer rep going on in here as well. 
Overall would recommend and will be reading any more books in the series.

The world is so rich and it has that folktale rhythm to it where there’s always forward progress occurring even if new challenges come up. A bitch loves a retelling and also a bitch LOVES a red string of fate moment. ALSO a cast of characters that find and love each other against all odds? shut the fuck up I'm in. I sped through the character intros a bit too fast because I was not registering who was going to be important (everyone is) but that’s MY FAULT!!

The setting was so rich that i felt immersed in the world beneath the sea, it felt like reading in a watercolor painting. The romance didn’t eat the rest of the feelings in the plot up but did stayed integral to the plot which I enjoyed.

A fantastic read that finally pulled me out of my reading slump. It has many tropes/themes that I love in a book and it does all of them well but not necessarily the best I've ever read. When a book is so in my wheelhouse my standards get even higher since I have so much to compare it to. My only real complaint about this book is that some of the fantasy elements have such an intense lore buildup of seeking out information about the spooky mysteries that when the mystery unravels it doesn't hit as hard. I don't think I did a great job explaining that but I'm uncertain how to explain it. 

It's a short and quick read. It's nothing to write home about but it also was not a waste of my time. The vibes are cool the story makes sense and it's nothing that makes you think too hard about understanding what you're trying to read. I just needed a quick lil book to yank me out of a reading slump and this did the job.

First off I am so grateful to have received this ARC and I did have a good time reading this book. I give this book somewhere around 4-4.25 stars, overall fun but I have some complaints.  My first mistake was thinking that this book was a stand-alone. I have seen other reviewers led to believe the same so maybe there was a disconnect in the marketing somewhere. I think my major issues with this book boil down to me thinking I was reading a stand-alone while the author was actually setting up for a duology. Before I get into my complaints I need to give credit where credit is due and praise this book a bit. 

I think that the care that went into creating the historical setting is so obvious and really shines throughout the book. The scenes are described so richly and with so much attention to detail regarding ancient Egypt and the nineteenth-century setting. I really enjoyed Inez and Whit’s banter with one another and had a great time with their general dynamic. It is an enjoyable story to read, it had me staying up late trying to unravel the mysteries plaguing Inez. 

My major issues with this book were the pacing, the twists, and the magic system. The book starts out very fast-paced with lots of action and information coming at you and slowly grinds to a near halt as you progress through the story. It really felt like the starting pace could've made this book a stand-alone but the author decided to start stalling to have enough action for book 2. I will not get too much into my opinions on the twists to avoid spoiling anything. I think that books can have too many twists and I’ll leave it at that. I was really disappointed in the magic system in this book, I’d almost prefer it wasn't there at all. Magic continually felt like a second thought throughout the book and was never really explained all that well. 

At the end of the day, that epilogue sealed my fate and I will be reading the next book.

I dont know where to start or end with this review. SO MUCH happened in this book and its all wild and fun and crazy but oh my god is it a lot. I feel like I lost some of the contents of the book to the sheer volume of information. I guess that's good for the rereading potential of the series but the crescen city books can be daunting the first time around. Overall please read them! read ACOTAR first for sure (please just blindly trust me on that one) 

The actual plot of this book is 5 stars, but the worldbuilding at the start is brutal. You just gotta push past it, and it will all make sense eventually it doesn't require too much true understanding. 
If I was trying to sell you on this book I'd say that its about an unlikely group that teams up to solve the mystery of gnarly magic crimes plaguing their city. If you want a fat ass fantasy read that will wound you emotionally but also sitch you up and heal you with the power of love and true friendship this book is for you!!!!

Long story short I had such a great time with this book and any of my major complaints are related to my own (wrong) preconceived notions of the book. I’ll go over my personal issues just in case you happen to have any of these same notions. My main beef was that I thought this was going to be a more direct Arthurian legend retelling with the main characters falling into more traditional stereotypes of characters from the original legends. I did actually enjoy the actual direction of the book better where the characters just share some name similarities to the legends and live in a world where King Arthur is part of their history. This misunderstanding worsened my other major complaint about the book which was that the character development wasn't immediately as strong as I wanted it to be. I was trying to fill the gaps in early character development with traits from their namesake characters in the Arthurian legend and that DID NOT work well. 

I am a big-time character reader and by the end I loved all of the characters. I think they each were able to be developed and have their personalities shine through but I will not lie some parts certain characters were a bit insufferable. They were insufferable because of their own personal demons and their insufferable-ness was part of their character arc so it was ultimately for the good of the plot but mildly frustrating to read. 

I personally enjoyed each character being in different stages of accepting their queerness and having to work through their personal demons to find love and joy. At the end of the day, this book is a fun medieval romp through shenanigans, tomfoolery, and finding oneself. 

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is definitely the type of book that just throws you into the deep end and expects you to figure out how to swim in terms of understanding the world this book is set in. I was briefly annoyed by this but quickly got over it because immediately understanding the fine details of this world was not necessary to enjoy the story and its progression. Everything I wanted to understand I did understand, I wasn’t left with any burning plothole questions. 

With that being said I loved everything else about this book I loved the characters and their relationships with each other I loved the premise of the story, and I loved this book even when it hurt me. I had so much fun with the story while simultaneously getting my heart ripped out. Please read this book if I elaborate any more on everything I loved about this book I will just end up retyping the whole book.