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I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.

While I was incredibly excited to read this book (The Great Gatsby meets witches? Yes please), it just didn't quite work for me. I'm a stickler for a good magic system that makes sense, and the one in Wicked and Wild Things made absolutely no sense at all -- it had no real rules to follow and was never really explained in a satisfying way (side note: I struggle with blood magic because often the characters bleed so much that there is simply no way for them to actually survive their own story). For me, this is one of the ways a fantasy book falls apart. In addition (and honestly, probably more importantly), I never warmed to the characters. I found both Annie and Emmeline totally two dimensional and flat and honestly, just not that interesting. I didn't get the chemistry between them or really understand why they even liked each other. Ironically, the character I liked was totally despicable and probably we're supposed to hate.

Wild and Wicked Things is a book that will definitely be loved by some readers, but it wasn't one that worked for me. It was pure vibes, but didn't really contain anything of substance. I did, however, really like the author's writing style -- I look forward to checking out her next book.

CW: lots of cutting and blood, on- and off-page domestic violence