I adore this book. Not so much for the story, but for the writing! What beautiful writing! In all my years never have my eyes flown across the page so fast. I even stopped to go back and read the descriptions. I hate descriptions. I usually just skip them. Don't get me wrong, the plot itself is good too, but I wasn't expecting the writing alone to appeal to me so much. I was so gripped! This story left my body feeling empty and hollow but also my heart is warm with love?

I didn't like that for so long it all felt confusing. It felt like something was missing, like something was supposed to be between the lines, but not in the metaphorical sense of a book; like there was literally supposed something in between the spacing of the sentences that was missing. I figure, it's a horror/thriller type book, so maybe other horror/thrillers are like that, and even though I knew answers would come at the end it wasn't so frustrating that I wanted to stop. But I did want to add that note in my review.

I also personally don't like when people don't answer questions, and that happens throughout the book. It works as a plot device when you wanna do the misunderstanding / miscommunication type trope, and again I knew all the lore questions would be answered when the pages were getting really thin, but many if not all the characters except Arthur are aloof to their core. Stubbornly aloof. Like it made me dislike the characters a bit more.

Even still I breezed through 200 pages before I realized the sun was coming up again.

Of the handful of things I disliked, that all is made up for in how much I loved the writing. The writing really did something for me. I would love to read another story in this world, even if it's not including any of these same characters. I'm gonna read Szabo's next book. They've got a real craft for words.

I love that everyone's either fruity or implied to be fruity. 5 stars for the fruity family.

In my journal notes i simply wrote "VORE?!?!!" idk leave it to a fellow nonbinary to write vore as a character detail!

I removed .25 because of Arthur. We could've had a happy polyamorous couple living it up in the 1910s with no family curse but no! How can you be so miserable you think "Damn, I gotta strangle that baby." And not even because he thought Rhys was dangerous, just because he was... sad. :/

The fact that Grandmere was centuries old and a supernatural creature and somehow still homophobic?! Girl. She got what was coming to her. Her other major sin was, of course, being French.

I wanna buy this book.