4.5/5

I'll be honest, I ordered this book because of a bookstagram post that made me go "Oooh! Shiny! My precious!". The cover is gorgeous and, thankfully, the story very much lives up to that promise. A teenager called Briseis finds out she has inherited an old estate from her birth mother's family. Mystery ensues.

- I loved the aesthetic of this book: a mix of gothic mystery, modern mythology and plant-infused witchcraft.

- The plot was great and kept me guessing most of the way through, with only a few things I completely guessed right. The ending has left me eager for the next book to be released.

- Bayron has done a wonderful job with the LGBTQIA+ representation in this book. It's just there and that's a good thing. There's no big deal made out of any of it and it exists and is accepted completely within the narrative. 

- There were lots of little details that made me smile that felt just right in this book. Particularly one bit about appreciating the value of another person's time and expertise.

If you like any of the above aesthetic points or are looking for a gripping, inclusive and twisting YA urban fantasy, you could do much, much worse than this book and I would highly recommend checking it out.