We love a dark gothic story!
I had so much fun and nerves while reading this debut, and I still cannot believe it’s a standalone. A good one at that!
Wren is one of my favorite types of characters these days. She’s compassionate. She heals. She values life- most importantly. It’s so uncommon to find these elements now because every protagonist needs to be a fighter, assassin, or ready to throat punch into the next century. There’s nothing against that, but I find so much joy in protagonists who invoke negotiation, empathy, and non-violence. It just makes me love the character even more because the market it just so over saturated with the other.
Also can I get an applause for having a character that doesn’t suppress their emotions?! Wren is soooo in touch with them, and while her comrades tease/ sometimes look down on her for those feelings, Wren doesn’t let it get to her. It doesn’t change her.
The stand out element to this book was for sure the descriptions and setting. Allison Saft immediately has a gift for writing dynamic and enthralling scenery. I had to reread some paragraphs a few times because her figurative language was just phenomenal!
Overall, I just wholeheartedly enjoyed this book a lot! It was a breath of fresh air to have a murder mystery/ thriller like storyline in a fantasy book. That’s a genre I’ve never encountered before, which is crazy to say. You may be able to guess “who did it” early on, but that enhances the fact that characters then have to outwit the others with their new found knowledge.