Am I going to immediately add A.G. Slatter's entire backlist to my TBR after reading this? Absolutely yes. The Briar Book of the Dead was a cover buy for me and I went into it barely reading the synopsis - which I think was the best decision I could have made as it really let the story tell itself without me having any preconceived thoughts and theories about the characters or plot. While the pacing could be considered a little slow, the character development and world-building, without massive info-dumps, was so beautiful and intriguing that I honestly would have loved another 100 pages to this book. The Briar family dynamic, expectations, and secrets sets this book apart. 

There's so much I want to say about this book, but I think it's so worth it to go in blind and fall in love with the story along the way.