I have to admit, I'm having a difficult time getting my thought together about this book. When I first started reading, I loved it. The setting, the premise...I was here for it 100%.
Unfortunately, while I feel like the potential for this story was really high, the execution just left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

The world building in this book is only so-so. I was expecting much more from a story about a girl going to the Underworld (or Otherworld, as they call it in this book). I had a difficult time understanding some of the descriptions as well, because the author would use words that the reader had no context for, until you finish the book and realize there is a glossary in the back of the book. But even then, the glossary only had a few of the words that were thrown into this book.

The characters were good, but I wanted more. The first half of the book, there really isn't much interaction between Maya and Amar. He is always off doing his thing and she is wandering around trying to figure out what is going on. There are a couple of scenes where he is trying to teach her things, but I just wanted more. In the second half of the book, Maya repeatedly professes her love for him. But I don't really felt like we saw their relationship progress at all. They kiss once and then the story skips forward a couple weeks and even then she doesn't fully trust him. But then, all of the sudden she's madly in love with him? Eh...I'm not sure I can suspend disbelief to that extent.

Mostly, I just felt like there wasn't enough detail in the story. There are some absolutely beautiful phrases, and I look forward to reading future books by this author, but I felt like so much of this book was really rushed. I wish that she'd let it breathe just a little bit. Give me more of the romance. Tell me more about the culture she was raised in. Actually, I felt like this could've and maybe should've been two books. The two parts really feel like two separate stories to me. The first book could've been her choosing Amar and being introduced into the Night Bazaar and Otherworld, ending with her betrayal of him and being cast out of the Otherworld. The second could've been her finding her way back to him, with a side trip into the town she grew up in, helping her sister. There is enough material there for a really good duology.

All in all, I'm very intrigued by this writer, but I was left feeling slightly disappointed in this book. However, considering this was a debut novel, I'm optimistic about her future works. I will definitely be picking up her next book at some point (I really liked Gauri), but it's not at the top of my to-do list.