Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a really interesting start and I have to say that the world building was amazing. I really liked the idea of the quell that provided magic to a chosen few and how it had gotten less over time causing a bit of a panic in magic circles. I also adored the descriptions of the forest in the Coquells, I absolutely understand Tristys' fascination with them.

I also really liked Calyssa, she was amazing and a great character and I wish we had gotten to know more about Telia because she also sounded fascinating. I also really liked Salice, another side-character, who I'd have loved to know more about.

However, these are sadly the only things I enjoyed.

The main characters Tristys and Rami were... mostly annoying. Tristys was... okay I guess. He changed a lot over the novel and not always in ways that made sense, so reading about him was really confusing sometimes since his personality changed quite often, but he was still an interesting character. I have a bigger problem with Rami. He's supposed to be the love interest and... I just don't really see it. He is rude and says hurtful things and he's just really not a character I could imagine falling in love with. But then a lot of Tristys attraction seemed to be based on looks, so there's that.

Now to another part, I didn't like. Their relationship. I really wanted to like their relationship more, but due to the constant will-they, wont-they, the cheating, and my dislike for Rami made it hard for me to really enjoy it.

There are some parts of the novel that don't really make sense to me. (What kind of teacher in their right mind would let a student believe they killed someone for years? Why didn't they just talk to each other? (oh, and you can apparently go deaf from a silence this loud. Not once, but quite a few times actually) A letter that somehow got delivered to an island that no one knows exists to a guy that no one knows is there? Yeah, not buying that) A lot of plot points just seemed dragged out for drama.

I was also a bit annoyed in the end of the book since it spends so much time talking about the limits of quell magic and then? it suddenly? doesn't matter anymore? What?

There are also some problematic aspects of the book, that I absolutely hated.

There is a fatphobic comment in the book right after we are supposed to believe in a happy ending for our characters. But good to know that Rami will always love Tristys. Unless he gets fat. Because fat people are unworthy of love. Yikes.

And another comment about how terrible same-sex slavery would be because the female character just isn't into women that much. Yup, the bad part about same-sex slavery is the same-sex part, not the rape and abuse. If this comment wasn't right at the end of the book, I'd have probably stopped reading at that point.

Also, of course, the lesbian character doesn't get a happy ending and also gets fetishized by the ugly homophobe, but she's sooooo nice and puts up with him. Apparently, that is not at all uncomfortable for her. Seriously, what the fuck?

Oh, and a throw-away comment about agoraphobia, as if thats not something that people struggle with heavily.

All of them, every single one of these comments, could have been taken out easily. They are at most a sentence long. They didn't need to be included at all. But they were and it really ruined my reading experience.

There's also a load of homophobic slurs and homophobic violence going on in the story, but they are at least challenged in the story.

So yeah, all in all, it's an interesting story, great world building, okay characters, awesome side-characters, but sadly also a lot of terrible micro-aggressions and plot twists that make little to no sense at all.