I have a love hate this with this story. On one hand it was immersive and eerily beautiful and it held my interest. On the other hand, this mystery was lacking and our characters weren't my favorites. I'm a bit unsure of how I feel about the ghost chapters. They felt necessary but also unnecessary? Overall I would give this 3.5-3.7 stars.

There was a lot happening for poor Scarlett. This cozy mystery had so many clues and twists. This didn't feel super predictable and the banter was great. First time reading anything by this author and I'm impressed.

Honestly, I didn't vibe with this book. I didn't particularly care for the plot, storytelling, or the characters. The mystery/suspense was fine. This book was very meh for me.

Erica Waters never fails to bring me an amazing story. This was haunting, eerie, mysterious, chilling, and beautiful. The dark academia themes are spot on and the plot twists were great. Whenever I thought I knew what was happening, Erica proved I was wrong. I will absolutely be buying a physical copy.

Erica Waters never fails to bring me an amazing story. This was haunting, eerie, mysterious, chilling, and beautiful. The dark academia themes are spot on and the plot twists were great. Whenever I thought I knew what was happening, Erica proved I was wrong. I will absolutely be buying a physical copy.

Adina was such a well written character, I adored everything about her. She also made a fantastic final girl. The storytelling and action was impeccable and this was one of the more unique books I've read this year.

There was a lot more complexity to this story than I originally thought there would be. It was heartbreaking, heart healing, and real. There were real conversations had about topics in this book, like with immigration and the reality of that. It was so much more than an "enemies to lovers" or "fake dating" romcom.

My heart couldn't take this book! It was sweet, magical, whimsical, cozy, and adventurous! Our main characters were so fun and lovely and I adored watching them grow together. I also love anything witchy and romantic so that it was a great element as well!

This absolutely blew me away. It had everything I could possibly want in fantasy... pirates, mages, dragons, and a little romance. I can understand how some would find it slow, as it did take a lot of building up for the ultimate action scene, but it was so worth it. This was some of the best world building, characters, and storytelling I've read. I cried, laughed, gasped, and even got angry. This was so captivating.