Despite dealing with difficult subjects, such as PTSD in the immediate aftermath of war, and having a fairly this book feels cozy and quiet. It’s focused on healing in all sorts of ways, and while I felt that some of the nuance was simplified greatly, I appreciated the overall hopeful, gentle vibe. The whole hurt/comfort aspect was pretty well-done, and I’m definitely going to recommend this to those  who are into this trope.

The romance felt kind of rushed, with the characters going from the initial twinge of attraction to deep mutual pining in under 24 hours. I think it more or less made sense for Henry, because he starts off in a really vulnerable state and Theo shows him immediate kindness right when he needs it the most. So he latches on Theo, and there’s that attraction, and it all escalates rather quickly. With Theo, I’m not so sure, but then, I’m overall not sure I’ve got a good understanding of him as a character. Mostly because he’s like… 80% OCD symptoms, 20% personality traits? I’m always very here for mental health rep, but in this case, it felt pretty heavy-handed. On the whole, though, there was some pretty effective chemistry between the two and a lot of nice, tender moments. Even if it sometimes felt like both characters spent more time in their own heads than with each other, lol. I personally enjoy introspection like that, but I can imagine a lot of readers getting a bit frustrated, and this approach really did some not-so-good things to the pacing for sure. 

The magical system turned out to be pretty fun, once I got a good feel for it and for all the small sub-systems like oneiromancy and sortilege. At the very beginning, though, things were a little confusing, which made it harder to get into the external plot with the curse that was stealing Henry’s magic, except the first thing Henry did on the page was *use magic*, and entirely too many chapters passed without giving me enough material to mentally patch this hole in a satisfying way. There were also some other worldbuilding inconsistencies, such as the whole magic college being described in a way that brought to mind a really busy, boisterous campus with students wandering everywhere between studies and entertainment, but then it’s stated at least twice that only about ten students join every year? The math is not mathing.

Despite all those setting-related issues on the bigger, worldbuilding level, I really enjoyed the smaller-scale descriptions. Theo’s rooms, the library, the roof Theo takes Henry to—there wasn’t a single location that didn’t feel real and lived in. The descriptions are lovely and engage all the senses so well. I think a lot of the books coziness comes from how grounded the narrative is in safe, pleasant physical spaces, and that's something I really enjoyed.