I decided to pick up this novel after hearing nothing but great things about it on TikTok. I’m also researching comp titles for my own work in progress, and this novel was said to include fae, fantasy, dual POV, prophecies, and romance. I couldn’t wait to explore the author’s unique take on their world and meet their characters.

The novel opens with scenes of children preparing for war. Whether they are practicing in battle formations, or described going onto the battlefield to collect treasures from the dead, these first scenes really set the tone for the harsh realities our characters are forced to live in. While some of the descriptions can be graphic, there were also mentions of killing magical creatures and using their furs and organs for their magical properties. If you are squeamish, or just love all creatures (even fantasy ones) this might be something you’d need to skip.

Our two main characters whose POV’s we follow are sisters: one is a soldier leading troops into battle, and the other has studied the art of prophecies. I appreciated having their narrative spaces to travel back and forth between, but they aren’t written in first person, and I did occasionally get confused about whose POV we were supposed to be in.

The descriptive language this author used was the strongest part of the book. It was so stunning that there were times I found myself rereading sentences just so I could fully take in the poetic prose, and see how it was interwoven into the mundane. Descriptions of eyes, skin, plant life, and magic were lush and full of metaphors and similes.

Unfortunately the writing was my favorite part of this novel. While I appreciated the diverse cast of characters, and respectfully crafted representation, despite the high stakes created throughout the novel I just didn’t care what happened to our characters. At one point they discover a secret and become trapped in a new location, and the entire rest of the novel is them trying to find a way out. Whether they managed to escape or stayed trapped forever didn’t matter to me.

I wasn’t drawn into the story or the fantasy/magical elements enough to hold my interest. While I appreciated that the romantic elements included sapphic representation, the romance in the novel didn’t leave me rooting for any of the characters to end up together. As I was reading I kept trying to ask myself why I felt this way? What was I missing, or what could have been added to hold my attention? What could have made me more emotionally invested?

After briefly skimming a few reviews it seems I’m not the only reader who felt this story was lacking…something. Though this appears to be the less popular take on this novel, and many people did seem to enjoy the writing and the world building overall. There were a few twists that might excite readers, but were things I had already seen coming well before they were revealed. Ultimately I’m happy I read this novel so that I could sit with the descriptive language for a few days, but the story overall fell a little flat for me.