Quick Stats
Over All: 3.5 stars
Plot: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3.5/5

This is a fast paced, magical, and diverse fantasy book featuring an all Black and Brown cast of fae, sirens, witches, and humans.
There was a lot of potential in this book, especially in the plot and the characters, but the execution needed more. As I was reading this book I just kept thinking this needs more development. There was a lot going on, but all of it felt surface level, unexplored.
The general plot of this book, though it had some holes, was engaging and interesting. I wanted to know what was happening, how it would play out. It was not the most unique plot I’ve ever read, but it didn’t feel like every other YA fantasy either. It was typical to the genre without feeling overdone.
The weakest part of the story, and the source of most plot holes or weak points in the plot, was the worldbuilding. From the start it was a lot, yet underdeveloped. It felt like the author took a bunch of different cultures and threw them at a wall, waiting to see what stick. The mythological creatures were celtic based; there was rune magic, which is typically scandinavian/norse; Saoirse’s (and most other people’s) names are gaelic, but her last name is Russian, and the characters wear dashikis—traditional African clothing.
I love books where the worldbuilding and magic system is inspired by multiple cultures, but this one didn’t have anything tying them together. It was a bunch of things awkwardly stitched together instead of skillfully developed into an interwoven tapestry of a world.
Generally, the entire magic system needing development and elaboration. What ties all these creatures and magics into one world? For the most part, the creatures have intrinsic magical abilities, but the witches’ magic don’t follow any of the laws that seem to govern the fae, and even siren, abilities. They use runes to enchant objects, and we don’t get any discussions or reasonings as to why. They don’t fit with the rest of the worldbuilding, and they feel thrown in as a way to get around plot holes.
The writing and narration itself was decent, but it had its struggles. A lot of the dialogue, especially in the earlier chapters, felt awkward and unnatural. The narration was also very light for a book that calls itself a darker fantasy. We do address Saoirse’s bloodlust, but its always a tell instead of a show. It never digs into it. It’s just her saying kill I want to kill over and over. I wish it had gone there and shown us, describe it in detail, and actually get dark, because what we did get was easy to brush aside and made her internal anguish around these impulses hard to connect to.
Similarly, I feel like the book awkwardly brushed over what Rain is, why she’s different, why she needs to be protected. Saoirse is constantly saying she needs to make sure no one finds out what Rain actually is, but doesn’t actually say what she is until the very end of the book. I think the goal of this was to build tension and anticipation, but in actuality, I felt as if it removed tension from the scenario. It got repetitive and tedious to keep having it flaunted in front of me as I read. Not to mention, Saoirse’s main motivation is protecting Rain, but its hard to connect with that motivation when you only have half the information. When we do learn what Rain is, it feels extremely anticlimactic after so much build up.
My final complaint is that both Saoirse and Hayes have to make really stupid decisions—that don’t make sense for their otherwise intelligent characters—in order for the plot to keep moving forward. Hayes literally tells this person he barely knows the secrets of the kingdom that put him and his entire family extremely at risk because she’s pretty and batted her lashes, and trusts her because she promises she won’t tell. What??? And Saoirse thinks, and I quote* “I assumed [my marks] were all assholes. Why else would assassins want them dead?” The state of your character is completely unrelated to whether the black market assassins want you dead. In fact, good people are often assassinated because they get in the way by being good people.
Both of these things didn’t make sense based on how genuinely smart these characters seemed 90% of the time, but geez.
*quote is from ARC and is subject to change in the finished copy.

I did more enjoy this than not, and I thought the pacing was especially strong for a debut novel. I think there’s a decent chance I pick up the sequel, because I want to see more of Saoirse and Hayes, but I wouldn’t guarantee it.