I had no expectations when I picked this up. The cover lured me in and then a book group I follow was reading it, so I dived in.

Early on, I found some of the language choices odd, or jarring and there were elements of repetitiveness within the language which always sits funny in my brain and niggles at me.

But it's minor quibbling really. I loved this world. There are Fae and dragons and brooding villains who aren't what they seem. All good stuff. It was harsh and unforgiving, brutal and jagged. The FMC is struggling with some real trauma resulting in a great love of slaughter and bloodlust.

And this story is letting us work through that with her. Unfolding a secret history that even she isn't aware of and opening both her and the reader into a world that is softer and loving.

It's not particularly challenging to pick apart, but I like that - I don't need my stories to be an unfathomable mystery - I want to be able to connect the threads. And here, they are dropped into your lap before she becomes aware of them, and that anticipation of how she will react and cope and heal is what makes this story so compulsive to read.

Ended on a complete cliffhanger and I have to wait OVER A YEAR for the next one!