This book was such a wonderful, pleasant surprise. Although it looked interesting, my heart sank at the words "she is drawn to the mysterious Sean" on the blurb, but I'm so, so glad that I picked it up regardless.

The characters were subtle and understated, but still well-rounded, interesting and complex. The story went from strength to strength, and I was very pleased to find that the romance was a by-product of the plot, and not the other way round - in fact, it was more than 100 pages before the two of them properly met. It was so atmospheric that by the end you feel like you've been living on Thisby all your life. I just loved how the story was so small-scale while also feeling heavily significant; the character's don't want to change the world, or save a country - their motives were small and personal, but that in many ways helped them to achieve even more.

There was absolutely nothing that I did not adore about this book. Beautifully crafted and sublime.