Something about the blurb of this book clearly appealed to me, because on two separate occasions I've picked it up 'oh a whim' - firstly (I assume) as part of a SYK day, and second from the Audible Plus catalogue! I ended up hitting the audiobook first; while it's not bad, the story didn't really 'do' anything for me.

I do like the fact that the first few chapters of the book do feel like the start of the horror stories out main character, Lydia, so enjoys. It's not jump-scary or particularly graphic (if it was, I wouldn't be reading it), but it has that creepy vibe. But then it takes a sharp turn into fantasy land later on, and while the horror vibe remains, it's not as prevalent or effective. I feel like this could have been quite a good dark fantasy book, but it's missing the depth of either the darkness or the fantasy genres.

Lydia is certainly interesting, but there are a few contradictions in her character that made me a bit confused about her. For example, she's clearly got medical training, but decides to do a bit of home surgery without even an attempt at some kind of local anaesthetic?! Nope, we'll just slice our skin open while fully cognisant - that'll go well! I'm not sure how to describe it, but she also may as well have a big pointy arrow over her head with 'I AM THE MAIN CHARACTER' in neon lights. Of course the main character should be the focus of the story, that's the point, but I got the sense that the secondary characters were all just there as filler to populate the world - for much of the book, there's no real reason or explanation for why Lydia is being sought out over any other person.

That being said, I do like Nick and am definitely interested to know what his destiny is! He's a good mix of comic relief, wise-ass best friend, protector and damsel in distress, and for the majority of the time acts as a good foil for Lydia. Their friendship is probably the thing I believed in most in the book. 

There are moments when you think you know what's going to happen, and that I am guessing will follow the romantasy template as the series progresses. But there is precisely zero payoff in this book. Although there is a good amount of action in the first half, the pacing of the story arc is so slow - you don't get any kind of explanation as to what's happening and why until at least the half way mark, and even then it doesn't really give you that confidence in understanding. And the ending of the book feels more like the end of the first act in a play - you expect maybe a brief intermission, then to retake your seat and for the story to carry on. But in this case you have to come back on a whole other day to see part 2. The worldbuilding is there, but there's just not enough of it to paint that vivid picture in your mind. 

I may come back and finish the series one day, but I have so many other books screaming at me that need to be read RIGHT NOW. And unfortunately, I'm just not invested enough to shift my TBR list around to accommodate the next books at this time.