Reviews

Is this my favorite book? No. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of this story. I love books that switch perspectives, although I did find myself having a hard time remembering who this chapter was about as it wasn’t a clear pattern of POV switches. There were other times where it felt like the characters had no common sense. I did really like the “world building” more so for the different groups of humans or non-humans introduced throughout. I wish the author did a deeper dive into the different types of spirits or darklings, but I guess there’s only so many details that can go in a book such as this without making it long and tedious. Overall, I would recommend this as an easy and fun read! I’m unsure if this actually spoils anything because I mention darklings, but I’ll hide it anyway :)

thewordslinger's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I'm struck by this feeling that she's the embodiment of my heart, and she's walking around outside my chest, and I'd do anything to protect her, no matter the cost.

Ugh, shut up. That's so friggin' adorable.

I've officially read everything Ms. St. Clair has ever written at this point...and I have to admit, as much as I like the A Touch of.../A Game of... saga, and as wild as King of Battle and Blood was, and as much as I adored Mountains made of Glass, this sort of murder mystery, spooky YA fantasy is probably the best of them all, writing wise. Maybe that's because it's not filled with smut? I dunno--but I thoroughly enjoyed this.

It's got all the great fantasy elements you'd expect to see in a book like this--it reminds me a lot of JLA's earlier works (particularly her Harbinger series). Hell-hounds, Raven shifters, evil dark smokey entities that like to possess people, mysterious, dubiously moraled shadow-governments, creepy graveyard witches, and a girl with the ability to turn ghosts into pocket money? Say less!

I will say I don't think the book needed the Greek Mythology references. I've read that this is supposedly an Orpheus/Eurydice re-imagining, but frankly, I don't see it. And the plot stands pretty well on its own without all of that.

It's not perfect, perhaps. It took me a little longer than I might have liked to figure out what was going on in the beginning (the intro to Shy's character POV was a bit of a shock, because the reader's thrown head first into the battle-training shape shifter world without any warning. I was like "wow okay so this is THAT sort of book, lol). But the action and intrigue builds nicely, the stakes are reasonably high...frankly, I couldn't stop reading this.

hillarylikesbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

hellodebbies's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I really enjoyed the book and its narrators !
The story was interesting and kept me going and I said that as someone who isn't a fan of paranormal. The characters were loveable and interesting but there wasn't a lot development expect for Anora (not too much compared to other).
Some plot twists were very predictable but still I enjoyed them because it was well executed and led to other twists.
Overall it was a really good and I would read the next one

Content Warnings

aspenwheeler's review against another edition

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5.0

bought only the first book out of this series as I was hesitant if I was going to like it.. after reading it all in less than 2 days, I’m ready to buy all of the books.

The split pov’s is one of my favorite styles of writing. To be able to have insight from both main characters is refreshing.

batchelder95's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

art3mis_prim3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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