Despite going into this thinking there was no need for it to exist (which, to be honest, I still stand by) I did enjoy it more than IEWU.

I thought this book did a really good job of making sure to point out the abuse Lily was still enduring through Ryle, when he was gaslighting her or trying to guilt-trip her into forgiving him. Lily and Atlas' story was nice - if incredibly cringe - and I really enjoyed watching Atlas take care of his younger brother and how he adapted to that new situation.

I didn't appreciate the pages of diary entries that were copy-pasted from IEWU and I would be mad if I'd actually paid for the book and not just borrowed it. I don't know if I can pin-point exactly what it was about Alyssa in this book that felt very off to me compared to the last one, but I enjoyed her character significantly less.

A quick and easy read, and if you liked IEWU I would recommend reading this, but I wouldn't personally pay to do so (at least until the paperback is out)

..... did anything happen in this book?

The characters got even more insufferable than the first book (not in a morally grey anti-hero type way anymore either, just in a whiny way) and I feel like even though a year passed from the start to the end, outside of Libby's story nothing major happened to the other characters.

The best part of this book by far were Libby's chapters, all building up to that catastrophic use of her powers that has been hinted since the start of book one, only for it to be glossed over in a couple of pages with little pay off.

Luckily I only read book 1 a month before this came out so I hadn't spent long waiting. I think I'll read the next one just to see the story out, but I don't have high hopes for it.

TLDR; this book was 400 pages long and I feel like it could have been at least 100 pages shorter.

I sobbed, full on struggling for breath, chest heaving, devastated sobs for at least the last 60 pages. A masterpiece that has me scared to read the next books because I don’t know if I can go through that again.

This was a book that made you work for every glorious word that was written. It's on the longer side and the first couple hundred pages are slower paced, but with every page you turn you're rewarded.

What really made the book for me wasn't so much the characters but the world-building - Oxford becomes a comforting home, a centre of unspeakable power and a terrifying an alienating place all at the same time. The use of the historical setting and the academia of Oxford and Babel, the pinnacle of scholarly study, to highlight the problems of empire and colonialism and the innate greed and self-destruction that comes with this. This is all layed out unapologetically to the reader and having it as a theme within the story and not the clinching synopsis really gives it that element of surprise.

I don't think I need to say much about the use of languages themselves but suffice to say I am astounded at the knowledge that is poured into this and want to delve myself into this world of match-pairs forever.

An absolute five star read for me!

An accessible exploration of the presentation of mythical women throughout time, which is deeply engrossing and utterly addicting.

Natalie Haynes is an amazing writer - proven by the emotions (namely anger) her words provoke, her passion is evident when reading this book.

old school enemies to lovers