This story stumbles into itself accidentally on purpose. I love the research quality elements weaved in with a fairytale fantasy story. The plot is more complex than it seems and you leave the pages still wondering on the details, mulling them over and considering the more mysterious little bits.

Bambam was a real piece of work to start—and our wee nerdy academic bookworm Emily paints him as the pretentious know-it-all gets-it-easy-as-a-man kind of character. A real charmer. Ugh. But there something about him… the lassies love him. Makes you wonder…

Emily is a bit one-sided in her many established opinions, misreading all the social cues and signals because her specky eyes are glued to a text and her emotions are all absorbed in her life’s endless research.

Fascinating stuff. 

The first 70% is witty, intelligent, engaging, and unique, and then…

…vibes of Sarah J Maas took over —and if you know me, I didn’t love that world of arsey Faeries and dumb little helpless girls who started off as warriors— no, but Emily, even if her head is in a bucket, maintained her intelligence and backbone throughout. That was a relief.

I was expecting a minor cliffhanger ending to manipulate me into putting a preorder on the next instalment—but it was a surprisingly satisfying and positive girl-power ending.

So, apart from 10% of the story in the final third, and some improbable bits against the established storyline, this was delightful all the way. 

I’ve put a reservation on #2 anyways. Can’t wait to see what comes next…