Unlike most people this was my first time reading an Olivie Blake book and I had high hopes. I liked her writing style and the concept of the novel was great. A Shakespearean retelling with dashes of Russian fairytales intertwined. I particularly liked our leading characters Marya and Dima but found I didn’t care much for many others in the novel which was a shame. I did like Sasha and Lev but found their arc to be a little too ‘Insta love’ for me. I felt like this book could have been much shorter - there were definitely chapters, pages and sections of dialogue that didn’t necessarily need to be in the book (in my opinion!) and I did contemplate putting it down a number of times because it felt so slow. I’m glad I hung around for the last few chapters as there was one emotionally charged scene that I loved! Overall an okay read but not one I’d rush to reread.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange of a fair and honest review.