to the Capri fans out there, C.S. Pacat is trying to reach a larger audience this time around, and it shows. almost all the elements of her first trilogy appear here, but in ya form, unfortunately. the first half makes you wonder if it's really a Pacat's book, but then even a collar shows up. so the good news is that Pacat still knows how to write an enemies-to-lovers; the bad is that Capri readers won't be surprised by any of the twists (not that the revelations in Capri are exactly unpredictable) and might end up facing some disappointments. 

first of all, be ready to cry over the lack of chapters under the blonde antagonist's pov, especially because most of the time there's no one as remarkable as him leading the narration, and, unlike Laurent, James is seldom on page. 

and when he's off page the writing is extensively explanatory, providing reminders of the same things over and over again, to the point of becoming too digestible even for a ya book (and making this first volume unnecessarily long). i don't know if this was intended as a resource to shift the reader's attention and contrast with things that come later on, or just the author testing the waters of a new genre, but i found it very weird. even without the knowledge of Capri's prose, you can see from some scenes in this book alone (like the unicorn chapter and James' appearances) that Pacat knows how to build atmosphere, smart dialogue and compelling characters. 

another thing the writing fails at (unsurprisingly) is the multi pov. Will eventually gained my respect, although he only seemed to access his intelligence and personality when close to James. however, considering Violet's backstory and personal struggles, as well as her role as a lead character, her chapters should've been more impactful and her reasons, more convincing (i liked Katherine’s couple of chapters way better, and she’s literally a dumb bitch). on top of that, i didn't see or feel the progression of their friendship, nor of their training with the stewards, even though the first half of the book lasted literally months. i also didn't care about the stewards and their sacred fight: in the grand scheme of things, they serve a purpose, but their order was just suspicious and boring to me, not intriguing. 

which leads us to the world-building. the two sides of the same coin also resemble Capri now that i think about it, but how many times was i supposed to read the words "dark king" and "final flame" without cringing? i felt like the narrator wanted me to be as amazed and terrified at everything as the characters, but i was.. not. the external plot is high-stakes from the beginning, yet it doesn't feel like it. things get real only when Pacat plays with the characters’ personal and inner conflicts, which is, ultimately, what makes the last chapter so fucking good: not the upcoming apocalypse, but what two boys carrying the burden of men want and cannot have. here, too, a character keeps a secret from the other while sharing it with the reader; however, what both of them do in this situation has a slight difference that will be crucial to the development of the story in the next books. 

so, despite everything, the ship has sailed. the sexy interactions, the hard-hitting dialogue, the strong connection, the power dynamics —it’s all there. the last sentence is haunting and opens a lot of (juicy) possibilities. actually, considering the reincarnation theme, what the characters supposedly did in their past lives and the current course of things, i wonder why the story was planned as a ya series in the first place. there's a collar of rubies at stake and you want me to believe these "teenagers" won't do anything about it? we'll see about that.