I picked this up as a last minute read to round of May and my two reading challenges, and I never thought I'd end up loving it as much as I did. This fairytale style book (a genre/style that I already dearly love) took all my favorite parts from some of my other favorites ([b:The Bear and the Nightingale|25489134|The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy, #1)|Katherine Arden|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470731420l/25489134._SX50_.jpg|45268929], [b:The Dark Tide|52411049|The Dark Tide (The Dark Tide #1)|Alicia Jasinska|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580777187l/52411049._SX50_SY75_.jpg|69845950], [b:The Starless Sea|43575115|The Starless Sea|Erin Morgenstern|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554996038l/43575115._SY75_.jpg|66444785]) as well as drew so much from other 'actual' fairytales. I could feel the stories layer over each other and create something unique, and I think this particular story will stick with me for a long time yet (I also really love the title, it fits perfectly).

I love Echo so much. She's strong and resilient and loyal and so full of love for the people around her, even if not for herself. I loved watching her find that love for herself, and the amount of care and love she had for everything around her (from horses to people, from stories to wolves). She just had so much empathy, yet was still strong enough to fight for her beliefs, for her love. I also just absolutely loved the twist at the end, that

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she's lived her life twice, that she begged the winds to turn back time and allow her to try again to hold on to Hal. And I loved that this showed that while her scars did impact how the people around her viewed her, it didn't largely impact her or her overall story. I think that can give her comfort, can help her love herself a little more

I also really loved Hal and Echo's relationship, especially how it was resolved. Neither of them were perfect in the relationship, both made mistakes

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though Hal's was larger, more 'relationship-ending.' I loved their story wasn't a sudden happy ever after, that the pair weren't suddenly okay with everything they went through to get to their ending. Instead, there were awkward silences, unsurety, etc. and it made the relationship feel more authentic. Echo was honest to Hal about how while she loved him, his betrayal hurt, and their communication through this allowed them to move past this. I loved that.

Overall, I loved this book and it was a great way to end the month. I'm also definitely going to look at what else this author has published, and hopefully there will be more great books like this one.