I appreciate the fact that this is a novel perspective to have in a fantasy world -- we do not often get sapphic Jewish fantasy stories with imperfect protagonists. I was overwhelmingly excited for this book and read it all in one sitting. Unfortunately, it made me irrationally angry due to some of my pet peeves, such as the audience being treated as stupid in the delivery of the message of the book and the worldbuilding. I understand that this book will be amazing for some readers, it just did not work at all for me. 

I cannot stand being beaten over the head with a message, I detest it and there are excerpts of stories which immediately summarise the moral after them. It’s just not subtle at all, you never get to draw a conclusion on your own.

To be quite honest, the lacklustre world building makes this book feel like a disgrace to fantasy. There is barely any effort put into it — the country names are barely changed, traditions and historical people are carried over from the real world. Wilhelm the Second!!! The Reunification of Germany and Nazism!! Not only are those overplayed rewritings of history but they were alos not done well here at all. Somehow, science, magic and technology all exist simultaneously at different levels and this is never explained. One of the nationalities is Ganish. It draws so much from history that it’s barely even fantasy— if it was made to be magical realism historical fiction it may have fared better because it wouldn’t have pissed me off so much.

The characters are supposed to be 25+. They do not behave that way. They behave like teenagers at best and children at worst. Their knowledge and capacity for critical thinking also equals that of children — SPOILER but how on earth is using lemon juice as invisible ink seen as a smart move???? Children learn to do that when they are five years old!

It tries to be Six Of Crows? Except it doesn’t succeed because the book loses its own plot all the time. For most of this book, it feels like the characters putter around aimlessly and it’s just so annoying. There is no sense of urgency because the mc and the li are constantly goofing off. Some major things don’t even turn out to be really relevant.

Speaking of — I do not care whatsoever for the romance. I thought it was cute until I realised the one dimensionality of the love interest and then I lost all interest.

There is so much info dumping. Most of this book is info dumping and summaries of fairy tales and I cannot stand it.

Honestly?? I am done with this, I don’t know why I pushed myself through it, I was so excited!! But it feels like the sapphic fantasy equivalent of Divergent: a flat paper cut out that’s barely filled in. It feels like a cash grab due to how badly thought out everything is and I cannot tolerate it, I am getting too old to put up with books I dislike.

Sorry for ranting but also NetGalley did ask for an honest review. 

I am a big fan of this series! I adored the first book, and was incredibly happy to receive this copy for review. 

The format is quite original -- there are not that many journal format books anymore and especially not for the fantasy genre as it is difficult to worldbuild at the same time as divulging the character's innermost thoughts and feelings. However, Heather Fawcett pulls this off immaculately. 

Emily is a wonderful character to follow, she is complex and unique and flawed. There is nothing worse than a flawless character. Emily's dedication to academia is also wonderful to read about. 

The world is complex and intricate and revealed slowly. We never fully understand it, quite, which is something I like in my fantasy novels. 

The dynamic between Wendell and Emily is absolutely delighful and reminds me of Howl and Sophie from the book. They were a joy to read about and more books should utilise this type of dynamic, in my opinion. 

Overall, I adore this series and I am very excited for the next book to eventually come out!