For someone who enjoys atmospheric books, I sometimes wondered when something would happen in this one. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself, but I think the blurb is slightly misleading because it gives quite some importance to the hunt when in reality this book is all about the characters’ portraits & relationship. I do love a good character study, and here I was delighted. Maggie and Wes are complex, relatable and deeply human characters and it was a privilege to witness their journey so closely. I also loved that the worldbuilding was limited but the concept of society and tolerance was at the heart of this novel. The author explored religious prejudice with a depth I’ve rarely encountered in a fantasy novel, let alone a YA one.

I enjoyed this book but it did feel a little slow because I kept waiting for what was in the blurb to happen, and that’s unfair to the book. The good thing is that I absolutely loved the author’s writing style so I’m delighted to have another one of her books on my TBR and this time I won’t look at the blurb again before diving in.