give authors a third chance! although i still needed to fully focus while reading this book, just the writing at times would be too verbose, which didn’t couple well with the short and snappy attempts at wit. love when an all-powerful entity adopts a human being and learns what it means to Feel and Love! 

despite the blurb suggesting vi and fox are the main characters, the book becomes very fox-centered. which was a shame, since we start off with vi, as she comes off as very likeable, with an intriguing backstory. every other supporting character is also related to fox, apart from isis. although i didn’t particularly enjoy her character, i found her to be more of a reactionary figure and with little backstory. mayra and cal were interesting from what we were given (which again, was substantially little - i still don’t get what cal’s reaper responsibilities were), but i wish their ending was a bit more fleshed out. 

there’s a lot of angst in the romantic relationships in this book, in particular with fox and brandt. i do think mayra and cal’s relationship was shown rather than told, and diminished to serve the main couple. it paid off though; the tortured betrayed heartbroken dynamic between fox and brandt kept me engaged throughout. fox came off very petulant though. 

what confused me was the switch in plot. initially i thought it would be a murder mystery with a bigger bad, but when the murder is revealed it’s a very ‘…that’s it?’ moment, and reduced tom’s importance as a character. both this and the actual plot (which tbh, was a very nothing plot) had this big buildup of tension only for it to be solved rather quickly, which left me disappointed. 

i do think i will pick up more of olivie’s books, just because i can finally withstand her writing style.