I was able to read this book early via e-arc, which I got from Edelweiss. So thank you, Edelweiss!

tw // self-harm, blood, animal death, molestation, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape, implied domestic abuse
I think the if I had to pick one word to describe my reading experience while reading this novel, it would be: fascination. All throughout the novel, I was fascinated by the world, the story, the characters, and the themes present in this book.

As I just mentioned, first thing I noticed was the world building- specifically, the atmosphere. When reading, you can clearly feel the suffocation within the society that Immanuelle (our main character) has grown up in. Henderson's writing paints a vivid picture of the setting, including the infamous and frightening Darkwood, that Immanuelle and everyone else in her city is forbidden to enter. Speaking of which, the writing in this book strikes a nice balance between being straightforward and being flowery, and that made the story have all the more of an emotional impact.

Something else I really enjoyed reading about were the themes of corruption, and how its not just the perpetrators who are at fault for the corruption in society, but also the bystanders that chose to pretend nothing is wrong in order to remain comfortable in their complicity, and thus furthering the cycle of trauma and harm to victims. I felt that the story also posed the question of whether it was possible to reform such a society, or whether it would be better to just destroy completely and start anew.

In the end, I would highly recommend this book, of course while being highly mindful of the content warnings.