Beauuuuutifully written!!! Rochelle Hassan had an amazing knack for intimating complex emotions . The characters all felt rich and real. Diverse, morally grey, internally conflicted, and universally relatable.

I love that this story had a romantic element, but it wasn't the trope-tastic hormone fest that most YA delivers. In fact, the heart of this story was refreshingly platonic: The challenges and comforts from navigating familial relationships (both blood and found). There was a theme, a question throughout, of whether secrets were better kept to spare someone's feelings, or if buried truths had a way of outing themselves and binding generations with trauma. (Major Encanto vibes!!!) There is no clear right answer, and watching each character wrestle with the question was deeply moving. The feels, my friends!

The classic fairytale setting was *chef's kiss* for highlighting the themes and conflicts! The Fae in this book are deep, earthy, ancient. The ones who trade in pain, secrets, memories, and precious momentos. All the feelings we bury, all the important pieces of ourselves that time will obscure, are important and powerful magic. We are all bound to a vast web - our communities, our ancestors, our homes, nature - and personifying those invisible threads as a magical force fueled by heart, choices, grief and sacrifice was deeply profound.

This book resonated with me! Run and get a copy IMMEDIATELY!!!