Thank you, Netgalley and Erewhon Books, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book takes place in a world that doesn’t let women have agency over their magic. When she marries, a woman has to give up her powers and wear a collar, so she can’t put her unborn child at risk. This book has feminist themes running through it, which I appreciated. The reader follows Beatrice Clayborn and Yesbeta Lavan, both powerful sorceresses, as they try to hold onto themselves in a world that wants their lives to be run by men. Beatrice’s family intends to marry her off to a rich husband so they can get money. And Yesbeta’s family also wants to marry her off, but Yesbeta wants to pursue her magic.

This novel is an adult Sci-fi Fantasy Romance, but it reads like YA. The characters are underdeveloped, and so is the world that the characters live in. The magic system is very lacking. For the characters to use magic, the characters make a bargain with a spirit that becomes apart of them. They summon the spirit by conducting a ritual. Many people will enjoy this book, but it would better if it were placed under the YA Fantasy Romance rather than Adult Fantasy Romance.