This woman knows how to write a book! My stomach was in my mouth for a good portion of this read and geez the range of emotions I went through. I'm exhausted (in a good way). This series is all of my dystopian loves wrapped into one...plus dragons (which, by the way, I didn't think I'd like but was REALLY wrong about).

The dialogue is fantastic and these characters are just *chef's kiss*. They run the gamut on personalities, but they are all so incredibly well fleshed out that they truly feel real. Also, I'm a big fan of the snark.

There is a nice smattering of smut and it's written in all the right ways. Once again, Yarros knows just how to wield that pen (pun intended).

Twists and turns and surprises and absolute emotional destruction. Phew. It was a wild ride. Also, mad props to her for keeping this all as one novel because she could have easily gone for the money grab and split this into books 2 (part I) and 3 (part II) for the extra buck. I will now sit quietly in the corner with my book hangover while I wait rather impatiently for the next installment.

Gothic fantasy/horror with a splash of retelling and romance. What? A time jump, a dual POV, a plot that covers several decades (and an additional century). Could you go ahead an check off the boxes for all the things I like in books please? Solid plot tropes that are twisted on their heads and a great flow to the plot. Did I want more? Absolutely. At nearly 500 pages, this story was still not long enough. How often can you say that? The writing was excellent with a great feel for the characters, including the slight alterations in writing style between the two main POVs. So clever an well constructed. This is one of those books I wish I was capable of writing.

Is it perfection? No. There are still things that I wish were fleshed out slightly more. But was it entralling? Absofreakinglutely. I was glued to this book. Something about it has a bit of a Daisy Jones and the Six feel, but it's also very Beauty and the Beast Provencal France an something that felt like a side of Eyes Wide Shut in it's creepy factor. I fell right into the the mystery of it all and could not get enough.

Go ahead and shelf this one right next to The Library at Mount Char. A little dark, a little weird, and definitely one that will be getting an over and over again reread.

This woman can write just about anything and grab my attention fully. Such a fun and cute read. I know very little about chess, don't really care to learn that much by way of actually playing it myself, and yet I was wholly absorbed by this plot. Shelved as YA, but reads as New Adult. Less "spicy" than her adult fiction, but with the same romantic style and a super slow burn. The ending wasn't quite as involved as I had hoped for, but still wrapped up nicely. Hazelwood is an autoread author for me for sure...which is saying a lot since romance is one of my least read genres.