This was one of my most hyped releases this year, and while I did enjoy it, it didn't quite fully live up for me.

I think the biggest let down for me overall was the romance. Altan and Ahn were very clearly obsessed with each other, constantly sneaking furtive glances and pining from afar (or not afar), but I felt like I never actually felt their chemistry myself. I wasn't invested in this relationship at all, beyond just liking them both individually as characters. It made some scenes feel weaker to me, because they seemed to hinge on their love for each other, but I just never felt it.

Spoiler

I also generally am not a fan of YA books using the word love when the characters only know each other for such a short amount of time, as it often feels so fast and ruins it for me, even if I'd been liking the relationship so far up until that point.

I think this world and setting has a lot of potential, and I enjoyed the role that history and lore played in the plot and background of the characters. I also quite enjoyed the characters overall, even if I sometimes found Ahn or Altan a bit frustrating or shallow (in terms of writing and development, not as a personality) at moments. The side characters definitely intrigued me more than the main characters on multiple occasions, and I wish that overall we had gotten more time with some of them.

While things were overall fairly predictable, I didn't find myself minding too much overall. However, this led to me liking the story rather than loving it, because it never felt like it really came into its own. I mainly just liked everything, but I was never obsessed, racing to find out the ending. In that way, it's a book I enjoyed and don't regret spending time on, but I don't think I'll be thinking of this story for months to come.