I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

As I’m reading more and more fantasy, especially YA fantasy, I’m finding myself becoming more and more critical of what I read. Books that may have been favorites years ago may not even stand out now, and that’s just because I’ve read so many books at this point, that I need more from a book before it stands out for me. This book is an example of one I might have loved years ago, but just didn’t entirely work for me now (even though I do have plans to read the sequel, and I’m excited to see where the story goes from the ending!)

I was given the audio ARC for this book, and I’m honestly really happy I was! I really enjoyed the narrator, and it felt like there was an emphasis on properly pronouncing Korean words and people, which I always love in audiobooks. I’m always one to get a word wrong the first 50 times, especially if it’s from a language I don’t know, so I always appreciate when books like this get audiobook narrators that seem to know what they’re talking about, and I feel like I get to learn a bit about the language while reading! I also thought the narrator did a good job of bringing the story to life and keeping it interesting, and I feel I might’ve enjoyed the book less had I just read it! It definitely made it easier to get through some scenes that felt a bit too slow or repetitive.

I think the biggest reason this book didn’t work for me is because of the following combination: Lina is very isolated throughout almost the entire book, and I didn’t find Lina particularly compelling yet. While Lina’s isolation makes sense, as someone recently betrayed and struggling with the loss of nearly all her friends and loved ones, it also means there aren’t many other characters we get to really know well, or to learn about Lina through. We only see Lina as she sees herself, and that’s honestly just not very positive for most of the book! It also quickly begins to feel repetitive, if you never get a reprieve from a character’s direct thoughts, and that also made the beginning and middle of the book suffer for me. It felt like there was almost too much space to fill as we were waiting for more things to happen or develop, and while I also don’t like when a book moves too quickly in ways that don’t make sense, it did feel like parts of this book were stagnant.

A few other reviews mention that this book suffers in the way of many debuts: overused tropes, too shallow, etc., and I have to agree. While there’s a spark inside this book that has me excited to see what else there is to this world and story, it often felt bogged down by a bit too much, and not having time to truly dive deep into things. It felt like the book was also a bit too action-based, which did feel like it kept me as a reader in a surface-level connection with Lina, even though this book is largely an emotional journey for Lina. However, this does start to get better further into the book, which is why I’m still planning on reading the sequel!

I also just really loved learning more about Korean mythology, and seeing so many various myths blended together, and I hope that continues to be a large part of the sequel! I also think there are some fascinating aspects to the ending and to the relationship that developed between Lina and Rui, and I’m curious to see if this will develop into something truly unique (which I hope!)

Overall, while this won’t be a favorite of mine, I did still generally enjoy the book, and am intrigued to see where the story takes me next!