I was gifted an ARC of this book by the publisher on NetGalley.

First off, the body horror was excellent as always with T. Kingfisher, especially in the nightmare sequences where flesh and faces fell apart with such ease. So gross, but so captivatingly vivid, especially with the horses and the spirit haunting them. There was quite a bit of lore and backstory for Easton and their time as a soldier, which helped build their character and give context for how they react to certain situations. 

I found the first half of the story fairly slow and wasn’t a big fan of the main character breaking the fourth wall to speak to me, as well as some of the humor just not being for me personally. However, I felt similarly during the first novel, so I should have remembered to expect these things. I feel that the story wasn’t as fleshed out as What Moves the Dead and that in comparison to that story, it felt like nothing happened. To me, it felt like the only things of consequence that happened plot-wise was that a few characters got sick, had sleep paralysis, and then recovered. Although there were reappearances of characters who were in the first novel, they felt kind of flat and inconsequential to the story, especially Miss Potter, who seemed to have a lackluster and domestic role compared to how dynamic, independent, and important she was in the first book. It also frustrated me that Easton was so skeptical of anything happening in the novel being due to paranormal causes after everything that happened in the first book, which other characters did bring up, but I think it took way too long for Easton to come around to believing in the supernatural or their townspeople’s beliefs. Overall, I was a little disappointed reading this sequel, and I wish it had more substance to it. If the series continues, I hope that more happens in the next book because I did really enjoy the fungal/body horror and relationships explored in the first book.