This starts out with dark intrigue in a world we can taste, the brine and salt of a relentless sea dripping incessantly off clothes, the walls, seeping into carpets and curtains, hair, and always right there on your tongue. 

 

One young naive, ill-prepared girl finds herself tossed and handled in a man’s world, and her tiny resistant voice goes unheard—until she travels south and finds her power. 

 

The novel is an allegory, one great big obvious metaphor. Its fantasy setting is used as the illustration for a world rotten with sexual abusers and a sneering, misogynistic patriarchy to oversee what passes for justice at the highest levels. As an allegorical study on overcoming abusers, groomers, harassment, etc. it has worth. There is a lot in here for discussion. 

 

As a story, it held my interest for the first half, but then the resolutions for several interesting threads dissolved into improbable scenarios or cliche fixes or the sudden addition of random fairytale tropes that didn’t seem to fit with the story—or add to it in any way. 

 

I know it was meant to be a predictable rivals-to-lovers storyline, but being told so in the synopsis doused any element of surprise from our expectations, stripping the authenticity from the development of the relationship. We were just waiting for it to happen, and then when it did, it was like… meh. 

 

Preston deserved more story, more depth, just more as a person. I feel he had much more to give, we just never saw it. I was waiting for it. 

 

4 stars for the allegory 

3 stars for story development and execution 

4 stars for writing style, narration, and overall setting (very inventive) 

2 stars for denouement (I really wasn’t impressed by the ending) 

 

3.25 overall…