Hot and cold over this one. The story was somewhat enjoyable and I liked the character interactions towards the end.

The first 60% was insufferable to get through. I would have dropped it if not for following the FairyLoot readalong. The character interactions were god awful cringe. These characters are supposed to be in their late teens, but act like they’re middle schoolers. Cara, the protagonist, is the absolute worst. She is incredibly stuck up and annoying and has zero concern for how her actions affect others.

The addition of the third traveling companion felt like a half-baked afterthought. She faced no development and her appearance was just too far-fetched of a coincidence to feel real. In the end, she served zero purpose. It felt like the author thought “hey, this character idea sounds neat” and tossed her in there without building the story around her. Her storyline didn’t even end up tying into the main couple’s storyline at all. She didn’t add anything to the story and could have easily been left out with very small rewrites.

I’m also annoyed at just how many loose ends there are. There will obviously be a second book, despite being marketed as a stand-alone and there being zero announcements about a sequel. So I get that this will be an ongoing series, but it’s frustrating that the main plot wraps up so nicely without answering a bunch of questions.